Manuel Avalos

Science Fiction Resource Page

Book Collecting and Internet Resources

One of my hobbies is collecting Science Fiction 1st editions. As a small collector I've found that finding both new and used books even in a city as large as Phoenix are often difficult and time consuming. So if you are tired of going to Borders, Barnes & Noble, Bookstar, Waldenbooks, or any of the other big trade bookstores and not finding the science fiction/fantasy books you want, the world wide web offers both new and used bookstores that specialize in the science fiction genre. Below are a list of my favorite websites that I think you would enjoy checking out for both new and used 1st edition hardcovers and paperbacks both in the United States and Great Britain. Happy hunting!

NEW BOOK AND SF RESOURCES

• The Speculative Fiction Clearing House
  If you want a place to start on the Web to find information and links on every aspect of the genre, from authors to fanzines, this is where you want to go.

• Science Fiction Resource Guide
  This is another cool place to go to. This site contains information on everything from authors, movies, book reviews, writers resources to fandom conventions.

• Science Fiction and Fantasy Net
  A fine site which contains author maintained web pages, publishers, literary agents and agnecies, EZines and rags and other general interest links.

• Fandom Domain
  This is a websit of interest for fans of sf, fantasy, horror, anime and gaming links. This seems to be a very up to date website with new links being added quite regularly.

• SF-Lovers Digest
  This website contains the archives for the SF-Lovers Digest (an electronic fanzine that has been a network tradition for over 10 years). A really cool place to go to from time to time.

• SFWA Home Page
  This is the website of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, founded in 1965. If you have any aspirations as a writer in the field this is a site you should visit. The site also includes links to books and bookstores in the SF field.

• Science Fiction Weekly
  This site provides a weekly electronic newsletter of SF happenings in print, in hollywood, and televsion as well as occasional book reviews and links to games and other cool Sci-Fi stuff.

• The BookWire Science Fiction Booksellers
  This website is an index of many Science Fiction Booksellers, both new and used as well as some other neat resources.

• Amazon Books
  Amazon books is one of the largest electronic bookstores on the web with over one million titles. They are not soley a SF specialty store but they have a great search engine for locating those titles still in print but not usually available at your local trade store. A great place to browse.

• The Internet Book Shop
  Oh man, manna from heaven! Ever tried to find British first edition hardcovers? Ever waited more than a year for those British editions to be published in the U.S.? Frustrated? Well now you don't have to wait. IBS welcomes you to the world of British publications. If you read some of the new British Sci-Fi writers like Stephen Baxter, Paul J. McAuley or other fine British writers such as Holdstock, Priest, Watson, Stableford, and many others you know how hard 1st editon hardcovers of these authors are to come by. Some authors like Baxter and McAuley have never published U.S. hardcovers of any of their books. Now you can get em' at this site. You can even pre-order releases scheduled for later in the year. Such a deal! Prices listed are in British pound sterling. Exhange rates with the U.S. dollar changes quite frequently but usually hovers around $1.60 - $1.65 per pound. You gotta check this site out.

• Del Rey Books
  A lot of Sci-Fi publishers now have home pages which provide information on new releases, upcoming releases as well as sample chapters from some of their books. Del Rey and Tor (below) are two of the larger Sci-Fi book publishers. Other publishers like Baen and Warner also have home pages out there

  .

• Tor SF and Fantasy
  The best of the big Sci-Fi/Fantasy publishers in my mind. See above.

• Sprectra Science Fiction Forum
  Bantam's webpage which provides sample chapters from their latest books, interviews with authors and news from the sci-fi world

• Aspect
  Aspect is the Warner newsletter featuring new and forthcoming releases.

• PB Plug PB Plug is the new online newsletter brought to you by the Ace and Boulevard imprints of Putnam Berkley Publishing Group.

• Future Fantasy Bookstore
  Future Fantasy is a bookstore specializing in Science Fiction, Fantasy and Mysteries. This website also provides some other links to Sci-Fi resources.

• Nebula Bookstore: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and More
  Here we have Montreal's only specialty SF bookstore on the net. They issue monthly catalogs and provide some nice links.

• Darkest Heart Books
  Another bookstore specializing in horror, science fiction and mystery literature. They seem to be in the process of reconstructing their home page, but it looks cool.

• Phantasia Press Inc.
  Now to the small presses! There are a few small presses who specialize in publishing some really high quality writers in very fine hardcovers. If you are a true sci-fi reader you should support these small presses. These people are not into publishing to make big bucks, but for the love of genre in my opinion. Phantasia produces some of the nicest editions I've ever seen. They are all printed on long-life, acid-free paper and sewn in reinforced bindings. They have published titles by authors such as: Orson Scott Card, David Brin, Spider Robinson, C.J. Cherryh, Philip Jose Farmer, Alan Dean Foster, Harlan Ellison and others. Many of their titles have gone out of print and are now worth a considerable amount to the book collector. Take a look at this website!

• Donald M. Grant, Publisher
  Donald M. Grant is another small publisher who specializes in producing books in the fantasy genre. They've been publishing books for over 45 years. Like Phantasia their forte is the production of fine editions designed for the book collector. The artwork in their books is truly outstanding. They have published titles by authors such as Stephen King, Robert Howard, Roger Zelazny, H.P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber, Peter Straub and many more.

• Broken Mirrors Press
  Broken Mirrors Press is another small publisher of science fiction and fantasy books, specializing in eccentric and generally uncomercial literary SF. The editor of Broken Mirrors Press, Bryan Cholfin is also the editor and publisher of CRANK! a magazine of science fiction, fantasy and other kinds of imaginative science fiction.

• Century Magazine
  Century is a bimonthly magazine, publishing stories that combine science fiction, fantasy, magic realism, surrealism and mainstream elements. This webpage provides excerpts from the magazine.

• NESFA Press
  NESFA Press is the publishing arm of the New England Science Fiction Association, which is one of the oldest SF clubs around. NESFA has been specializing in publishing out of print classics by authors such as Cordwainer Smith, Zenna Henderson and others. They don't have a lot of titles but the one's they have are special. Definately check this website out.

• Kim and John Betancourt's Home Page
  This is one of the coolest looking home pages I've ever seen. A lot of the pages incorporate Java Script. It's one of the few pages I've seen with animation. It's worth it just to see the page. Kim and John Betancourt are authors. John is best known for his Star Trek novels. They also are the proprietors of the Wildside Press.

• Mark V. Ziesing Books
  Last but not least ...... no, Mark isn't new to the small publishing business, but he's just brand new to the world wide web. Let me say right off that Mark and his wife Cindy are COOL people! I've never met them personally, heck I don't even know where Shingletown, CA is, but I've bought books from them for over a year and they deserve your support. Mark is another small publisher of fine books by authors such as Tim Powers, Gene Wolfe, Lucius Shepard, Philip K. Dick, Bruce Sterling, Thomas M. Disch, Nancy Collins and Brian Stableford to name but a few. They also issue a cool monthly catalog of new and collectable used books. As Mark says, "We're funky, we're funny, we're sort of unusual, we're a bit abnormal, and we're friendly and trusting." So I say give em' a look.

• The Arkham Archives
  A late entry is the Arkham House Archives. Arkham House Publishers was founded in 1939 by August Derleth and Dondald Wandrei to publish books by their friend H.P. Lovecraft who died in 1937. Since then the house has become one of the finest small publishers of fantasy, horror and science fiction. This site contains the Arkham Archives for collectors of their books as well current books in print and information on upcoming releases. A "must" page to visit for the serious collector.

USED, RARE AND COLLECTIBLE BOOKS

• Virtual Book Shop
  If you collect 1st editions this is where I would start. The Virtual Book Shop acts as a sort of clearinghouse for a zillion used, and antiquarian booksellers. They have a very extensive catalog which you can search by author. Prices vary quite significantly by book and author and you can get a pretty good idea what the going price is for that special book you are looking for.

• The Fantasy Collector Homepage
  This is a pretty interesting page I have run across recently. The page is a resource for collectors of fine and limited fantasy and horror books. This site lists a number of booksellers who specialize in fantasy and horror books who are not necessarily on the world wide web. Many of these booksellers advertise in Locus and the author of this page has useful comments about his experiences with these booksellers. A useful webpage for the collector.

• Cobblestone Books
  This looks like a relatively new entry to the internet. I found them by ordering a book they had listed through the Virtual Book Shop. They update their catalog frequently and if you don't see a book you're looking for be sure to ask, they may have it

• Robert Gavora Fine and Rare Books
  Robert Gavora is a recent newcomer to the WWW although he has been in rare book selling business for many years. Bob has an excellent collection of rare and collectable science fiction and fantasy books. Bob issues catalogs from time to time. Check this new website out.

• L.W. Currey, Inc
  L.W. Currey is another bookseller of collectable modern first editions in science fiction and fantasy. He has a catalog of nearly 700 items on his homepage from his stock of books. A nice collection it is indeed.

• Magpie Bookshop
  Magpie is an English antiquarian bookseller in London.

• Tall Tales Homepage

  Tall Tales is Mike Kerstetter's out-of-the-home bookseller website for used, rare and collectable science fiction and fantasy. Mike puts out a catalog periodically on his homepage with some very good stuff. Mike's a nice guy and he has a new baby to boot, so he needs your money. If you send him some cookies or home baked bread like my friend Charles does from time to time maybe he'll give ya a break on that $200 copy of Gene Wolfe's _Castle of the Otter_ you've always wanted.

• Graeme Roberts
  Graeme is a good on-line source for used British speculative fiction. Mike speaks highly of him, so that's good enough for me. Take a look.

• Adder's Choice Bookstore (science fiction, fantasy, Philip K. Dick)
  Now this is a pretty interesting bookstore specializing in science fiction and fantasy, especially titles by Philip K. Dick. They also have books available in French!

• Basement Full of Books Another interesting used and collectable bookstore worth taking a look at.

• Michael John Thompson, Antiquarian Bookseller
  Michael is a Canadian bookseller of first edition science fiction and fantasy literature. His catalogs are always interesting.

• Gerry Kleier Books Another bookseller specializing in mostly sci-fi and fantasy.

You are visitor, since March 18, 1996.