WHERE CAN I BUY...
- In-Print Books
As a general rule, if a book has been released within the last few years it'll still be available. Obviously there will be exceptions with tie-in licenses changing hands between publishers and with limited edition books, but as a rule you should be able to find them fairly easily.
If you're in the UK you should be able to order any in-print book from your local bookshop with just the title, author and maybe the ISBN number.
Online there are numerous retailers, but I'd recommend sticking to Amazon and Waterstone's. Postage at Amazon depends upon the value of your order and what method of delivery you choose. Orders over £15 generally qualify for free postage if you select the relevant posting method, and with Waterstone's there is no postage to pay whatsoever within the UK.
If you want to do a quick price comparison between sites I suggest checking Best-Book-Price or BookBrain.
- Auctions
Online auction sites often get something of a bad press, but from personal experience I can honestly say they're one of the best sources for out-of-print items, with eBay.co.uk and eBay.com being the most useful.
Don't be tempted to get caught in a bidding war. Decide what you feel is a sensible price for the item on offer and place your bid. Ignore the people who say you should bid late — it only causes unnecessary stress when your browser crashes or you can't use your PC at the time the auction ends.
If you lose out on an item there'll be another one along soon and probably at a better price!
- Secondhand
The next best place to get books online is probably via bookfinder.com whick links together thousands of online retailers and provides an easy to use search facility. As with the auction sites, set yourself a limit and then shop within it.
Ignore the sellers who try and sell TV tie-in books at artificially inflated prices — several of them have relatively common Doctor Who novelisations going for prices of up to $80. Don't give them the satisfaction. As with any losing bids in auctions, there'll be another copy put up for sale by someone else in the near future.
Similarly, stear clear of some of the chancers who use the Amazon Marketplace in the hope of selling items at inflated prices to unwary buyers.
If a book is priced over £10, think carefully about what's on offer. Do you really want to buy second-hand items for multiples of the original retail price?
HAS PROGRAMME X BEEN RELEASED...
- First of all, if you're trying to locate an episode of a series that has been novelised in one of the UK books listed on this site, details of any DVD or video release will be indicated in the "Archive Details" section on the relevant page.
I try to keep these sections up to date but, as with any aspect of the site, they sometimes slip through the net. If you spot an item that has been released in the UK, and which isn't mentioned here, then please get in contact.
If the series you're interested in doesn't have a novelisation, you should probably procede directly to WHERE CAN I BUY... below.
WHERE CAN I BUY...
- Popular online retailers in the UK include Amazon, Blah!, HMV, Play and Sendit. If you want to compare prices quickly and easily between sites, Find-DVD should be your first port of call as there are some incredible bargains to be found if you shop around.
Don't forget about the postage, and if you don't live in the UK check that you are able to play DVDs and tapes in the PAL format. If it's a DVD you also need to make sure you can play Region 2 discs.
IT'S BEEN DELETED...
- Auctions / Secondhand
See Books: Where Can I Buy: Auctions.
