The first step would be to read and know what it is you want to collect and why you want to collect it.
Are you trying to put together a reading collection?
First editions of your favorite novels?
Signed books?
Association copies?
Do you want to collect books on a specific topic that interests you?
You could collect very specific things or just put together a general collection of anything that you find interesting. Once you know why you’re collecting, you’ll probably want to begin by learning to scout books (finding rare books that haven’t been properly identified or valued by the seller).
This is a much cheaper way to begin than going straight to buying from a dealer, and a good way to avoid being disappointed with your first expensive acquisition and falling out of the hobby.
Some good places to scout for cheap books are:
- Thrift stores (especially goodwill bins – usually less than a dollar per book)
- Library and other book sales (use booksalefinder to find sales in your area).
- Most libraries will have a permanent stock of books for sale. Just ask at the desk if they sell any books.
- Used book stores (this is by far the most expensive place to scout, and often the least productive since the people running the store typically have more familiarity with and knowledge about their stock than the people who run the other sales I listed. Still, many used book sellers have no knowledge about rare books, and you can find very good things. Maybe not the place to start though since you might pay $20 for a mistake here as opposed to $1 at most of the others)
Once you’re there, you’ll want to just look at a ton of books and pay close attention to their publication information. Some things you’ll want to be aware of are how to identify a first edition (differs by publisher, country, and age (note that many books may state “first edition,” but only the first printing is considered a “true first”)), how to identify a book club edition (generally worthless, but look like the first edition in many cases), how to tell condition (dust jackets are often more valuable than the book itself!), etc.
A few things to keep in mind:
Age does not equate to value. If a book is undesirable or common, being 200 years old won’t make it worth more than a few bucks.
Books printed after the author’s death are likely to be less valuable than those printed during her/his lifetime. Usually means they were already well known and had a large print run. Also, obviously, not going to be signed.
An author’s early books are likely to be more valuable in first edition than later/potentially more famous books they may have written. This is especially true for mass market novelists. Generally speaking, you can completely skip over books by authors like Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, Stephen King, etc. as most of their later books were so printed they’re worthless even in first edition (you can always check them anyway for signatures if that interests you).
Most paperbacks are worthless except as a cheap reading copy (that will likely fall apart after a few reads). There are exceptions – poetry books, foreign language first editions, old sci fi and other pulp novels, etc. – but it’s a good rule of thumb that these books aren’t collectible.
The location where you’re scouting matters. You’re a lot more likely to find interesting literature and scholarly works donated at a library or thrift store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, than in Topeka, Kansas. Similarly, the quality of donations can vary from neighborhood to neighborhood even in your own region.
The vast majority of people selling books online have absolutely no idea what they’re selling. Don’t blindly trust internet prices unless the description very clearly elaborates justification for pricing (does the seller know what a number line is? do they realize there was a limited private printing that was separate from the retail edition? Do they know what the book club edition looks like? Do they know how to differentiate the first edition from later printings in cases where it isn’t explicitly stated?)
All these things matter enormously, and I can’t tell you how often I see books selling at the wrong price for what they are or, more commonly, what they’re described as. Seeing that a first edition of a book only sells for $5 on ebay means nothing if the person selling it listed it as a “true first” despite the fact that the number line goes down to 17 (indicating a seventeenth impression).
I recommend the website vialibri as a tool for pricing, just remain wary that the price you’re seeing may not be what the book is worth. Definitely go in to rare book shops and talk to owners and employees/ask questions!
The internet is full of misinformation on books, and, while that misinformation is often put there by lousy book sellers, it’s at least easier to tell if they know what they’re talking about in a face to face conversation than in a seller’s description on ebay.