OUT OF PRINT BOOKS

Out of Print Books are of great value to book collectors. A book that is no longer being published is called an Out of Print Book. These books are often rare and difficult to find. The publisher initially creates limited number of books and later on reprints according to demand. If the selling rate is high, then the publishers often reprint a book, but if the rate is very low, then they stop printing additional copies. The booksellers order these books in bulk and when all the copies are sold they can order for more. This way when all the books are sold to the booksellers and no more copies can be supplied, the book is called an Out of Print Book.

When the initial prints of books are sold very quickly, the book becomes Out of Print for a short period. But immediately it is reprinted and released in the market.

To make a book restricted to collectors only, some publishers often deliberately print limited number of copies of that particular book. These rare books are sometimes reprinted but not entirely in the original form.

If there is a lot of demand for a particular Out of Print Book, another publisher might reprint the book with different cover and title page, provided that the copyright issues are resolved.

To buy Out of Print Books, readers must find a bookseller who still obtains a copy of that book. Several local antiquarian and used book stores sell Out of Print Books. These books are also available in libraries as rare books . There are numerous websites where one can get all the required information about the Out of Print Books and even book copies of the same online.

The Out of Print Books are usually expensive because they are hard to find in the market. With time, the price even increases with the book becoming more and more rare.

Examples of Out of Print Books:

•  ‘Baghdad By-The-Bay' by Herb Caen (1949)

•  ‘A Window in Thrums' by James Matthew Barrie (1899)

•  ‘Prince Otto' by Robert Louis Stevenson (1908)

•  The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (1888)

•  ‘A Dictionary of Geography – Ancient and Modern' (1834)

The Out of Print Books are most of the time second hand books as they are not being produced anymore.