BOOK SEARCH TIPS: Originally for the Beck Valley Books website, but can be used at many online bookstores.

quick search

Use the quick search at the top of the website to enter the book title, author, ISBN, or a keyword. You can type the words in upper or lower case, getting the same results. Always be very careful about the spelling of your search information.

Keep in mind that not all books have ISBN numbers, even modern fiction. These books are published primarily for book clubs by the publisher, they are exactly the same as the original book but do not have an ISBN. By typing in the ISBN, you could be missing out on potential books for sale.

If your search is unsuccessful, you will automatically be directed to the advanced search page.

Advanced search

Advanced search is a more detailed search, allowing you to search for your book in a variety of ways, with additional options for you to choose from if needed.

Qualification:

You can enter the full title of the book, part of the title, or keywords. If you have ‘&’ in the title and the book doesn’t appear in the search results, try using ‘and’ or you’ll miss it entirely. Also, if the book title has commas, voice marks, apostrophes, etc., and again it doesn’t show up in the search results, try again by omitting them entirely.

Be careful if you are typing the full title of the book, as the book titles on the website may be slightly different or abbreviated.

Author:

You can write the full name of the author or just write the last name. If you type the full name, you can type, for example, patterson james or james patterson. If you type only the last name, the results will show any author with that last name and not the particular one you may need.

ISBN:

As explained above, please note that not all books have ISBN numbers. The book you are looking for may also have a different ISBN for the different years it was published, so if you use a particular ISBN, you may again miss out on other available copies of your book. If you use the ISBN search, use the full 10-digit ISBN number found on the back cover or on the back of the title page inside the book. The search function on the website will not accept hyphens in the ISBN, so you will need to type only the numbers, eg 0752877186.

Editor:

Particularly useful for older and rare books. You can enter all or part of the publishers details, but if your book is not showing up in the search results, it may be because the website details do not contain all the words you have entered, for example, you type ‘penguin publishers’ and the book details only contain ‘penguin’, then the book will not appear in the search results.

From Year: To:

This is useful if you’re not sure when the book was published, or if you want to search for a particular year.

Additional options

The following options are also available to you (all of these options default to any):

Cover: – You have the option of looking for paperback, hardcover or another.

Price:- You can limit the search to a particular price range of 0-5.00, 5.01-10.00, 10.01+.

Signed Copies: – You can also search only signed copies. The search options are yes or no.

First Editions: – You can also search only first edition copies. Again, your search options are yes or no.

Once you are happy with your search request, simply press go and the search results will be displayed.