What Are Your Books Worth?

Here's something I tell people at the start of every evaluation: roughly 95% of the books I look at are worth under a few dollars each. That's not a pessimistic guess — it's what years of sorting through estate libraries, donated collections, and garage sale hauls has taught me. The publishing industry printed a lot of books in the 20th century, and most of them were printed in large quantities.

But that other 5%? That's where things get interesting. A single signed Tony Hillerman first edition can bring several hundred dollars. A clean copy of an early UNM Press title can surprise you. A pre-statehood New Mexico territorial publication in decent shape is genuinely rare. And if you happen to have a first edition of Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya in a near-fine dust jacket — well, I need to talk.

The point of a book evaluation isn't to get your hopes up. It's to make sure you don't accidentally donate or recycle something valuable, and to help you decide intelligently what to do with the rest. I offer this service free because finding the good books is how I keep my SellBooksABQ eBay storefront stocked — it works for both of us.

Last verified May 2026 · Original research by Josh Eldred

How the Evaluation Process Works

I've kept this as low-friction as possible because I know most people asking "what are my books worth?" are in the middle of clearing out a room, an estate, or a house they need to sell. You don't have time for a complicated appraisal process, and most of what you have doesn't warrant one.

Step 1: Text Me Photos

The fastest way to get a preliminary read is to text photos to 702-496-4214. For each book you're curious about, send three photos: the spine, the full title page, and the copyright page. If there's a signature or an inscription, photograph that too. You don't need to be a professional photographer — a reasonably clear phone photo in decent light is plenty.

If you have a lot of books and aren't sure which ones to photograph, start with anything that looks old, anything with an author whose name you recognize, anything signed, and anything related to New Mexico or the Southwest. Those are the categories most likely to have surprises.

Step 2: I Give You a Quick Assessment

I'll respond with an honest read. I'll tell you whether something looks promising, what would make it more or less valuable, and whether I'd want to see it in person or buy it outright. I won't string you along or give you vague answers to get you to call me — if the books in your photos aren't worth anything significant, I'll say so plainly.

For some books, I'll need to look up recent sales data before I can give you a number. I use sold eBay listings as the primary pricing reference — that's actual market data, not aspirational asking prices. A book is worth what someone actually paid for it, not what someone listed it for.

Step 3: For Large Collections, I Come to You

If you have a substantial collection — a professor's library, a lifetime of collecting, a full estate's worth of books — I'll come to you for a free in-person assessment. Large collections are almost always worth an in-person look because you can't evaluate 500 books by text. Some of the most valuable books I've found were tucked in unremarkable-looking stacks, not sitting on display.

For in-person visits, I cover the Albuquerque metro area — the North Valley, Northeast Heights, Nob Hill, South Valley, the East Mountains, Rio Rancho, Corrales, and Los Ranchos. Just call or text to schedule. There's no fee and no obligation to sell or donate anything. After the evaluation, if you'd like help figuring out what to do with the rest — the books that aren't valuable — see my guide to where to sell books in Albuquerque and my free pickup scheduling page.

How to Take Good Photos for a Book Evaluation

Good photos make a big difference in how quickly I can give you a useful answer. Here's what to capture:

The Spine

The spine tells me the title, author, and usually the publisher — enough to know whether the book is in a category worth evaluating carefully. Photograph it straight-on with enough light to read the text clearly. If the spine is faded, get as close as your phone will focus cleanly.

The Title Page

The title page gives me the full title, author's name as printed, publisher, and location. It's also where signatures usually appear. A signature on the title page is more valuable than one on the half-title or a random page — collectors prefer title page signatures.

The Copyright Page

This is the most important page for determining edition and printing. It's the verso (back) of the title page. Look for: "First published," "First edition," a number line (like "10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1" — the lowest number tells you the printing), and copyright dates. This page is make-or-break for collectors.

Any Damage or Notable Condition Issues

If the book has water damage, a torn dust jacket, writing inside, or a library label, photograph that too. I need to know condition to give you an accurate value — a book in fine condition can be worth ten times a copy in poor condition.

The Dust Jacket

If the book has its original dust jacket, photograph both the front and back. For 20th century collectible books, the dust jacket can account for 50–80% of the book's total value. A book worth mid-range collectible prices in a near-fine dust jacket might be worth common reading copy prices without one.

What Makes a Book Valuable: The Real Factors

Let me walk through each factor that actually moves the needle on book value. Understanding these will help you spot the potential gems in a collection before you call me — and will save both of us time.

Edition and Printing: The Most Misunderstood Factor

People often say "I have a first edition" as if those three words guarantee value. They don't. A first edition of a book that sold 500,000 copies and was reprinted forty times is common. What collectors want is a first edition AND first printing of a book by an author with an active collector market.

The distinction between first edition and first printing matters. A publisher might print 10,000 copies in the first printing and call the entire run the "first edition." A second printing might have the same "First Edition" statement on the copyright page but be worth far less. The number line — that row of numbers on the copyright page — is often the key. The lowest number present tells you the printing. "1" present = first printing. "2" present, no "1" = second printing.

Some publishers used different systems. Knopf often stated "First Edition" without a number line for decades. Random House and others used different conventions at different eras. This is one reason an in-person evaluation by someone who knows these conventions is worth more than a quick Google search.

Condition Grading: The Five Tiers

The book trade uses a standard condition grading system. Understanding these grades will help you describe what you have accurately:

The Dust Jacket: Often More Valuable Than the Book

For books published after about 1920, the original dust jacket is enormously important to value. Collectors will pay a significant premium for a book that has retained its jacket versus one that hasn't. This seems counterintuitive — the jacket is just paper — but it's a fundamental truth of the modern book market.

Condition matters here too. A jacket with small edge tears and slight fading is graded separately from the book itself. Collectors often describe a book as "Near Fine in a Very Good+ dust jacket" — two separate grades. Price guides will show a value with jacket and without. For significant books, the without-jacket price can be 50–80% lower.

Occasionally someone has a very nice jacket and a mediocre book. In those cases, the jacket can still have value — dealers and collectors sometimes buy jackets separately to pair with books that lost theirs.

Signed vs. Unsigned Copies

A genuine author signature adds real value — but the amount depends entirely on who signed it and what the context is. A signature from a major collectible author (Tony Hillerman, Rudolfo Anaya, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Cormac McCarthy) in a first edition can multiply the value several times over. A signature from a mid-list author most people haven't heard of adds very little.

Inscriptions are more complicated. A personalized inscription ("To John, with warmest regards, Tony Hillerman") is generally worth slightly less than a plain signature because it's harder to sell — the buyer has to be comfortable with someone else's name in the book. But an inscription from the author to a notable person (another author, a public figure, someone connected to the book's subject matter) can actually add value above a plain signature.

Association copies — books signed to someone significant, or with provenance connecting them to the author's life — are a specialized collecting area where values can be very high. If you have a book that was signed to a notable person, or that came from a famous library or collection, mention that when you contact me.

Book Club Editions: Almost Always Worthless

I want to be direct here because this disappoints a lot of people: book club editions (BCEs) have essentially no resale value to collectors. Not modest value. Not a few dollars. Usually close to zero. This is true even for BCEs of major authors and important books.

The reason is simple — book club editions were produced in enormous quantities using cheaper materials, and collectors want the real first trade edition. The tell-tale signs of a BCE: a small blind stamp (indented square, circle, or star) on the bottom right corner of the rear board; no price on the dust jacket front flap; lighter, cheaper paper; and often "Book Club Edition" stated on the copyright page or jacket.

I see BCEs constantly at estate sales, often sitting in a place of prominence in someone's collection. The owners are sometimes shocked that a book they bought at a premium in the 1970s — a beautiful hardcover edition of a beloved novel — has essentially no monetary value today. It's not that the book isn't good. It's that the collector market is very specific about what it wants.

Ex-Library Copies: Significantly Diminished Value

Books that were once in a library — public, university, or institutional — carry a heavy condition penalty in the collector market. Library processing typically involves: stamps on page edges and title pages, spine labels, pocket inserts glued to the rear board, security tags, and general wear from multiple borrowers. None of this is fixable without damaging the book further.

An ex-library copy of a book that might sell for mid-range prices in very good condition might bring modest value–12 as a library withdrawal. For common books, ex-library status makes them essentially unsellable at any price — the market is saturated with clean copies. The exception is books so rare that any copy has value, and even then, a premium copy will exist somewhere and will be preferred.

If your books came from a library cleanup, a school, or an institution, it's worth mentioning that upfront. It shapes expectations and saves everyone time.

Subject Matter and Collector Markets

Books are only worth what collectors will pay for them, and collectors cluster around specific subjects and authors. A book in perfect condition about a topic no one collects is worth the same as a book in poor condition about the same topic: not much. Value requires both scarcity and demand.

Some subjects with strong collector markets: first editions of significant literary fiction, mystery and detective fiction (especially early examples), science fiction and fantasy (especially Golden Age paperbacks and hardcovers), natural history with hand-colored plates, American West and regional history, Native American art and culture, fine press and limited editions, and cookbooks with regional significance.

In my New Mexico and Southwest market, there are some specific subject areas that command a premium because the collector base is local and knowledgeable. More on that below.

New Mexico and Southwest Books: My Regional Market

Living and working in Albuquerque gives me a particular advantage with New Mexico and Southwest material. I know this market, I have relationships with collectors here, and I know what actually sells versus what just sounds like it should sell. my SellBooksABQ storefront does a meaningful amount of its business in regional titles that collectors elsewhere in the country are actively seeking.

Tony Hillerman: The Most Reliable Market

Tony Hillerman's Leaphorn and Chee mystery novels have an enormous, active collector base — worldwide, not just locally. First edition first printings in fine condition with fine dust jackets are genuinely valuable. The Blessing Way (1970), his debut, in fine condition with the jacket can bring several hundred dollars. Later titles command less but still have a real market.

Signed Hillerman copies are particularly sought after. He was a gracious signer at events throughout his career, so signed copies aren't incredibly rare, but they're still worth a significant premium over unsigned. If you have a signed Hillerman, especially an early title, text me a photo of the signature page before you do anything with it.

Rudolfo Anaya: Bless Me, Ultima and Beyond

Bless Me, Ultima was originally published in 1972 by Quinto Sol Press in a limited edition. A true first edition of that original Quinto Sol printing is quite valuable — I'm talking hundreds of dollars for a copy in good condition, significantly more for fine. The TQS Press edition that followed, and later mainstream trade editions, are much less valuable but still have collector interest.

Anaya signed extensively throughout his life, and Albuquerque collectors have many signed copies. The combination of a signed early printing is where real value lives. His other novels — Heart of Aztlan, Tortuga, the Sonny Baca mysteries — have collector markets too, though less deep than Ultima.

Early UNM Press Titles

The University of New Mexico Press has been publishing regional titles since the 1930s, and their early catalog — particularly titles from the 1930s through 1950s — has genuine collector interest. Books about Pueblo art and culture, early New Mexico history, archaeological studies, and regional natural history from this era are worth evaluating carefully. The print runs were small, the subjects are specialized, and many of these titles never got second printings.

Pre-Statehood New Mexico Titles

New Mexico became a state in 1912. Books published before that date about New Mexico, the Territory of New Mexico, the old Southwest, or the Santa Fe Trail are in a category of genuine historical rarity. The audience is specialized but will pay real money for material they need. If you have books with pre-1912 New Mexico content, especially anything territorial, they're worth a careful look regardless of condition.

Native American Art and Pueblo Pottery Books

Reference books on Pueblo pottery, Navajo weaving, Native American jewelry, and related arts — particularly older volumes with color plates — have consistent demand from both collectors and active practitioners in these art forms. A well-illustrated book on Maria Martinez or Hopi pottery from the mid-20th century, in good condition, can be worth real money. The color plate books are particularly prized.

Other Regional Authors Worth Evaluating

In rough order of collector activity in my market:

• Leslie Marmon Silko — Ceremony first edition (1977, Viking) is particularly sought
• N. Scott Momaday — House Made of Dawn (1968, Harper & Row) won the Pulitzer; first editions have real value
• Joy Harjo — early poetry collections, signed copies
• Edward Abbey — Desert Solitaire and The Monkey Wrench Gang first editions; signed copies command significant premiums
• Cormac McCarthy — early novels published before his mainstream success; first editions of Blood Meridian and earlier titles are highly collectible
• Willa Cather — Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) and other Southwest titles
• Frank Waters — Book of the Hopi and other Southwest titles
• Marc Simmons — prolific New Mexico historian; signed copies of early titles

For a deeper look at specific authors and what their books are worth, see my Pillar Guides by Author — I have dedicated pages on most of the major Southwest and New Mexico collectible authors.

What Most Collections Actually Look Like

I want to set realistic expectations, because I think honest information is more useful than optimism. Here's what I typically find when I walk into a home library or estate collection:

The bulk of the collection — usually 70–80% — is common books with minimal resale value. Popular fiction from the past 40 years, bestsellers, self-help, Reader's Digest condensed books, mass-market paperbacks, cookbook sets, encyclopedia sets, and book club editions. These are books that were purchased to be read, were read, and are now in a saturated market. A used bookstore might give you 25 cents each, or nothing. Goodwill might or might not accept them. Most end up at my warehouse, where I sell the usable ones locally for a dollar or two, give away the rest to readers who want them, and recycle what's left.

A smaller portion — maybe 15–25% — has some local resale value. Books in good condition that someone will actually read: solid fiction and non-fiction, good cookbooks, regional interest, subjects with niche but real audiences. These might sell for a few dollars–15 at my local sales or through my various book-finding channels. Worth keeping in circulation, but not worth a trip to the bank.

The gems — typically 1–5% of a collection — are the books worth real effort. First editions in collectible categories, signed copies of notable authors, regional rarities, fine press books, significant condition copies of important titles. These go to my SellBooksABQ eBay storefront where they reach the right buyers at market value.

The ratio varies. A professor of Southwest literature might have a collection where 20% is genuinely collectible. A casual reader whose tastes ran to bestselling fiction might have 0.5%. You can't know until you look, which is the whole point of an evaluation.

After the Evaluation: Your Options

Once I've sorted out what you have, here's how things typically go:

If You Have Valuable Books

I can buy them outright at a fair price, or I can discuss consignment through my eBay storefront where they'll reach the right buyers. I'll give you a clear offer with no pressure. You're always free to take the books to another dealer for a second opinion — I'd rather lose a sale than have someone feel they got a bad deal.

For books I don't buy, I can often point you toward the right buyer. If you have a specialized collection in a category outside my main focus, I'd rather connect you with the right specialist than try to buy something I can't sell well.

If You Have Mostly Common Books

Donation to the New Mexico Literacy Project is often the right answer for the bulk of a collection. We pick up for free anywhere in the ABQ metro, I sort everything by hand, and I find the best possible outcome for each book. Common books in good condition get sold locally or given to readers. Books too worn for resale get recycled responsibly — see my book recycling guide for what that process looks like. Nothing goes to the landfill if I can help it.

You can also read my detailed comparison of selling vs. donating — it covers when selling makes financial sense and when donation is the practical choice.

If You Have a Mix

Most collections fall here. I buy or take on consignment the valuable stuff, and the rest comes to me as a donation. This is the most common outcome and works well for everyone. You get fair value for the collectibles, the rest finds a responsible home, and you clear out the space you needed to clear.

My eBay Storefront: Where the Good Books Go

Collectible books I buy or take on consignment go to my eBay storefront, where they reach buyers nationally and internationally. I price based on recent sold comparables — not wishful thinking, not dealer catalog prices. If a book sells for mid-range prices in the current market, that's what I list it for. If it sells for modest value, I'm honest about that too.

This is also where the evaluation process benefits you directly. When I come to look at your collection, finding the gems is what makes it worthwhile for me — it's how the whole operation works. The valuable books fund the free pickup service, which keeps books out of the landfill and in circulation. It's a system that actually makes sense.

You're also welcome to browse the storefront to get a sense of what I sell and for how much. It gives you a realistic picture of the current market for collectible books, especially in the New Mexico and Southwest categories.

Related Services

The book evaluation service connects naturally to several other things I do:

• Free Book Pickup — for when you know what you have and just need it gone
• Estate Cleanout — full-property cleanouts that include a book evaluation as part of the process
• What's My Library Worth? — my interactive tool for estimating collection value
• Sell or Donate? — a guide to making the right choice for your specific situation
• 24/7 Book Drop — for dropping off books at my warehouse any time, day or night
• Genealogy Preservation — for estates with significant family papers and historical material

Frequently Asked Questions