Froogle provides book listings from many sites, including yours if you wish.
Of course this isn't a replacement for the book sites. They do an important job. Those sites have many regular buyers, and they place your books in front of their customers in return for the commission you pay. Most internet book sales happen this way. However, that should not stop you from directly approaching those collectors who are not customers of the book sites. There are plenty of them. Here at AE we constantly hear from people with questions about books, many of which could be answered by looking at listings on the websites, but they've never even heard of them. Just because you know Abebooks as well as Abe Lincoln doesn't mean everyone does. There are people searching the internet for books because they either don't know another way, or are not satisfied with the alternatives. They are looking for you.
Google has already taken a giant leap into this void. It's called Froogle. Froogle is simply an attempt to take product listings, including books, from anywhere on the 'net, group them together, and separate them from all the other listings on the web. It ends up looking almost like a bookselling site, except that the links go into others' sites (including yours, if you so choose) instead of their own. So now potential customers can search for books on your site either through Froogle, which separates them from library and other non-selling sites, or through Google, which includes them with all listings. Either way, people can now use the world's most popular and powerful search engine to find book listings on your site. All you have to do is let them.
Now, back to the beginning. We said there's a new search engine on the block. There is. Something old, something new. It's Microsoft. Oh, them. Yes, the folks who gave us Windows and Internet Explorer are in the process of creating their own search engine to go head-to-head with Google. Now Microsoft currently offers a search engine on its MSN website. However, that is not their search engine. They are obtaining their results from Yahoo and others. Microsoft, despite its size and dominance in so many areas of software, has never had its own search engine. Until now. As we all know, Microsoft can be a brutal competitor when it wants to dominate a market, and Microsoft has rarely been known to enter a market with intentions anything short of dominance. That said, I'm not sure they have ever run into a Google before. Google isn't Netscape or Lotus. This should be interesting.
My advice to booksellers is don't get in the middle of this competition. Just get the most you can out of both. And here is why Microsoft's new search should be of greater interest to you then their old one. The performance of the new MSN search is more reminiscent of Google than the old (and still current) MSN search. It too digs deeply into your site. Not as deeply as Google yet, as they are still building their list of sites to visit. But, it is finding things the old MSN search misses. This is one more opportunity to get your listings, as presented on your own site, out before the public.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
