Valuable mistakes

Earlier this week, I was scrolling on my phone and a video came up about the “The Son of Neptune” by Rick Riordan. This is the second book in Riordan’s “Heroes of Olympus” series, which takes place after the Percy Jackson books.

According to the video, there were some early editions of this book that had a misspelling on the back cover. The “L” in Olympus is missing. There was a part of my childhood when I was really into Rick Riordan and everything he wrote, so I have all of the books in both of those series.

When I heard of this misprint, I had to see if my own book was like this. I couldn’t remember how soon after the book came out I had bought it. Sure enough, in the very back of my copy of “Son of Neptune,” the word Olympus is missing the “L.”

While it doesn’t look like this misprint is a valuable copy to have, that isn’t necessarily true for all books. Early copies of any book often have some misspelling or mistake, and if the book eventually becomes popular, that mistake could make the early edition very valuable.

A big example for this is the first Harry Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” In the first edition of the hardback copies of this book, the term “1 wand” is printed twice in Harry’s shopping list by accident. This mistake was corrected in all later editions of the book, making those original 500 books valuable… In fact, a copy of this book could get between $19,000 and $25,000 in auction.

Before anyone gets too excited and checks their book, notice how I said “Philosopher’s Stone,” not “Sorcerer’s Stone.” Unless you somehow have a UK first edition of the book rather than a U.S. version, you’re unlikely to fetch much money off of it.

Unfortunately, most misprints aren’t worth a lot of money. When publishing a book, no one wants their book to be full of mistakes. However, because of the popularity of some books, a few misprints have become valuable mistakes.

Another valuable first edition misprint is “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The 1925 first edition has a type on the back of the dust jacket, in which Gatsby’s name is spelled with a lowercase: “jay Gatsby.” If you have a first edition copy of this book with the dust jacket, you could get up to $194,000 for it.

A book doesn’t necessarily need a misprint to make it valuable. Sometimes, older covers and editions that have gone out of print can bring in a nice amount, though not quite in the same range as previously mentioned books. For example, the ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) books, which have gained an immense amount of popularity in the last few years.

The covers for these books changed a few years ago, making the original covers a hot commodity. As someone who has read the books when they first came out, I happen to have the original covers. In general, I don’t care about how valuable the books I have are. When I enjoy a book, I buy it. If there are numerous editions, I try to buy whichever I think looks best.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, I think the original ACOTAR covers look the best. Fortunately because I already have them and don’t have to pay an exorbitant amount for them, unfortunately because I’m afraid to lend them to anyone in cse they get damaged and I have to find an expensive copy to buy again.

For those interested, I have the four original covers, in a mix of hardcover and paperback. The books are reselling online for between $60 and $200 a copy. Could I sell these and buy many more books? Sure, but I really like these covers. I don’t buy books to make money, I buy them because I love them.

However, if you are in the search for a specific edition of any book, I would suggest looking on websites like Pango Books or Thriftbooks. Those selling copies of their own books make sure to put all pertinent information in, oftentimes including the ISBN. Just be prepared to spend a pretty penny if the copy you’re searching for is unique.