ABEBOOKS "BOOKSLEUTH" SERVICE HELPS READERS FIND LONG LOST BOOKS

AbeBooks.com-the world's largest online marketplace for used, rare, and out-of-print books-is helping booklovers find books they never thought they would find.

20th November, 2002

(Victoria, BC)-AbeBooks, the world's largest online marketplace for used, rare and out-of-print books, today announced that their free BookSleuth service has helped over 500 people find long lost books.

"Since quietly launching BookSleuth in August we've had an astounding response from book searchers around the world. We've had people in Auckland, New Zealand helping people in Mississippi find a favorite book from their childhood that they want to read again," explains Brent James, AbeBooks CEO.

The BookSleuth feature helps people who can only remember a few details about a book, such as part of the story or the name of a character, but who have forgotten the title or author. This feature expands AbeBooks traditional service, which is helping people find used, rare and out-of-print books by title, author, or key word.

To use BookSleuth, people simply send an e-mail to booksleuth@abebooks.com listing the details they can remember about a book. This BookSleuth "puzzle" is posted on AbeBooks.com and readers from around the world help solve the puzzle to find the book. A recent BookSleuth example began with a book searcher in the UK who wrote:

"As a little girl in the late 70's I read a book about a young boy who lived with his aunt or grandmother. A magician was coming to town to bring back from the dead an infamous outlaw named Crooked Neck John. It's a funny little book, with great characters that I would love to read to my little girls."

This BookSleuth puzzle was solved in under a week by a reader in New South Wales, Australia who knew the book was The Ghost on Saturday Night by Sid Fleischman. AbeBooks.com had 133 copies ranging in price from a used copy at eighty cents to a first edition collector copy at thirty dollars.

Part of BookSleuth's appeal is that it's a free service and a great example of booklovers helping each other on the Internet. "It's a rare, free, service and it's been a big hit. Basically it's booklovers helping booklovers," adds James.

The BookSleuth service is also available on the AbeBooks UK website, www.abebooks.co.uk as well as in German and French at www.abebooks.de and www.abebooks.fr

About AbeBooks
AbeBooks is the world's largest online marketplace for used, rare, and out-of-print books. AbeBooks connects those who buy books with those who sell books, providing abundant selection at affordable prices.

AbeBooks is a global company based in Victoria, BC Canada, with websites dedicated to bookbuyers in North America (AbeBooks.com), the UK (AbeBooks.co.uk), France (AbeBooks.fr), and Germany (AbeBooks.de). These domestic sites serve specific countries while making unique book inventories available to all. Through strategic partnerships with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and eBay/Half.com, AbeBooks has become the most important virtual supplier of used books while expanding selling avenues for booksellers.

AbeBooks strives to be the world's best book source where book buyers and sellers find books they want at prices they love.

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Contact
Richard Davies, PR & Publicity Mgr., AbeBooks.com
Ph: 250-412-3238
rdavies@abebooks.com