FIRST EDITION BOOK DETECTIVES AT WORK. What are our tools? Some are no-brainers, yet in the heat of the chase, we stumble. For example, you see a Dan Brown book that you KNOW was his first book ever - "Digital Fortress," written before "The DaVinci Code." That makes the "Digital Fortress" novel a major coup for your collection!

Even if on the dust jacket does it nowhere make mention of "The DaVinci Code," you turn to an inside front page and right there in front of you, under "Other Books by Dan Brown," you see "The DaVinci Code" listed.

How could a VALUABLE(?) and GENUINE(?) copy of his first novel EVER have "The DaVinci Code" listed inside? (That's a stumble in the heat of the chase - and why it's important to deal with a Professional Book Seller. A true pro won't list this Digital Fortress as a Priceless True First.)

P.S. To prove how easy it is to stumble more than once with an author, do you know that Dan Brown's first book ISN'T Digital Fortress? It's actually the non-fiction "187 Men to Avoid: A Survival Guide for the Romantically Frustrated Woman." It was written in 1995 by "Danielle Brown," Dan Brown's early pen name.

So far, in your belief that the Digital Fortress you uncovered above is Brown's very valuable first book ever written by him, now for the REAL kick in the pants. Did you catch the THIRD stumble? (Here's a hint. And I'm providing only a hint because you MUST learn how non-professional book sellers can deceive you in their book descriptions.) Ready? Re-read the previous paragraphs and notice how I USED, DIDN'T USE, and ABUSED three simple words: BOOK, NON-FICTION, and NOVEL.

Don't feel you're an idiot for missing the subtle tricks amatuer book sellers often unintentionally use on you. ("Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.")

Okay, let's lighten things up a bit now and go for some SIMPLE book collecting tips you can easily identify - well, ALMOST easily, because once again, exceptions exist. Here goes:

MEMORIZE THIS PARTIAL LIST OF PUBLISHERS BELOW:

• A.L. Burt
• Altermus
• Avenel
• Blakiston
• Blue Ribbon Books
• Blue Star
• Bracken Books
• Cassel
• Collier
• Cupples & Leon
• Dial
• Dover
• EASTON PRESS
• Fiction Library
• Franklin Library
• Garden City
• Greenwich House
• Goldsmith
• Grosset & Dunlap
• Hurst
• Little Blue Books
• Modern Library
• Reader's Digest
• Saalfield
• Sears
• Street and Smith
• Sun Dial
• The Book League
• The Literary Guild
• Tower
• Triangle
• Walter J. Black

Why memorize this partial list? A LOT OF PEOPLE AREN'T GOING TO LIKE TO HEAR THIS, BUT ALL OF THE ABOVE PUBLISHERS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS REPRINT PUBLISHERS, meaning that most of the time, whenever you encounter a book published by the above, THERE IS NO WAY THE BOOK CAN BE A TRUE FIRST EDITION.

Mostly, the above publishers are Reprinters. What that means is that these publishers often used the same printing plates of the True First Editions. Not only that, they usually failed to correctly alter the copyright page, meaning that SOME books look exactly like True First Printings when they are in fact reprinted copies. These books are a First Thus.

Please read some of my other Guides. Pay close attention to the phrase FIRST THUS, and you'll see why the above publishers rarely can claim that they publish True First Editions or True First Printings.

This guide was assembled by booksuncommon.  Any errors are mine. For those I apologize.

IF YOU FOUND THIS GUIDE TO BE HELPFUL, PLEASE VOTE "YES" (Thank you!)