The variety and range of books available is forever increasing, and for book readers this is great news. Both online bookstores and the traditional walk in bookshops are now offering variety and selection, that was hard to find as little as 10-15 years ago. Especially before the internet really opened the gateway to worldwide shopping. You can now order from around the world more easily than ever before, and hunt down the books you always wanted!
But even now with so much variety, sometimes there are books you may not be able to easily find. If you have an interest in buying books in one particular area or genre, or you are simply after a one-off book on a specific subject, a specialty bookstore may just be what you need! Specialty bookstores are just as the name suggests, specialists in a particular area of bookselling.
Some examples of a specialty bookstore include:
- A bookstore that only sells books on one subject. e.g. 'Military Books', or even a sub-specialty like 'Unit History Military Books' or 'Military Biographies' or 'Military Reference'.
- Or may specialize in 'The History of Country' e.g: Australian History.
- Or sells books on all subjects, but only offers books that are considered 'antique'.
- Or offers limited edition and signed books.
- Or niche market books, (books you may not find in a general bookstore).
- Or books only from one popular author, or publisher.
- Or today, even just e-books, not paper copies.
These are just examples only, and you may find a combination of the above. But in general, specialist booksellers do not try to cover all markets, and prefer to narrow down their range in the hope to provide a service to a particular and specific book buyer &/or market.
Like many booksellers, specialist bookshops may also combine New & Secondhand books in their range. This is a bonus for niche or rare book collectors, as a large selection of the rare and hard to find books are usually out of print, and now only available used and secondhand. You will also have a bookseller who spends their day around a specific subject, or interest. That is great if the interest is also yours, as you can easily ask for recommendations from someone who shares that same interest. You could also ask if they offer a rare book search, if so, you will have an experienced pair of eyes looking out for your wanted books! Many bookshops offer this service of course, it is not unique, but specialist booksellers, from dealing with publishers, authors and Customers in the same field everyday, may have a few extra places to look, that others may not be aware of.
Regardless of your interest, there are sure to be specialty bookshops that cater to you, either online or off.
With the increasing presence of the internet in today's world, more and more bookstores, and specialist bookstores are popping up everywhere, and for today's readers it can only get better, and thankfully so!
James is an online bookseller, operates Booksforever, an Australian Online Bookstore, specializing in Australian History Books
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