Working in publishing, and as an interviewer and book reviewer, over the years I’ve amassed a large number of books, as you might imagine. When I moved to California a couple years ago, I only took what I considered essential books with me–namely, my anthologies and collections, since I need those for work, plus some selected novels that were important to me, etc.

I’m now selling my old house back in New Jersey, however, and that means I need to find a new home for all the books I left behind, which have been in storage the last couple of years. So: I’ve reached out to some booksellers to see if there’s any interest there, but I thought I’d also just post this note publicly as well, in the hopes that these can find a good home.

Note: You’d have to make arrangements to pick them up yourself; I can’t ship them anywhere unless you want to pay a ton of postage costs! The books are located in Perth Amboy, NJ (which is just across the bridge from Staten Island).

The collection:

1. I’d estimate it’s somewhere between 1000-1500 books.
2. It’s almost entirely science fiction/fantasy novels. There’s likely a small percentage of mystery novels, and probably with a few random non-genre novels mixed in, and maybe some nonfiction books about science, science fiction, or writing. The vast majority of the collection is SF/F novels, though.
3. It’s a mix of paperback and hardcover. If I had to guess, I’d say it’s close to 50/50, with the paperbacks being split about 50/50 between mass markets and trade paperbacks.
4. Since I was a reviewer, and a lot of the books I got were new titles, it’s largely comprised of books published from 2001 – 2010. I would guess it’s about 60% from that period, with the other 40% being older books, mostly bought used.
5. If you’re a fan of post-apocalyptic fiction, note that I believe the collection contains most of the books mentioned in the “Further Reading” list I included in my anthology, Wastelands.
6. It’s entirely possible there’s some rare valuable gem in the mix. I don’t really remember what all is in there.
7. Most of the books in the collection should be in at least “Very Good” condition; I always treated my books very carefully and never cracked the spines of paperbacks. However, I certainly acquired my share of used books over the years that won’t be as in good condition.

I’m looking for $500 for the lot, which boils down to 50 cents per book. Or if it ends up being closer to 1500 rather than 1000 books, then you’d be getting an even better deal.

If you’re interested–and remember, you’d need to go pick them up in Perth Amboy, NJ–please email me.

ETA: Buyer found!