ABSTRACT
Starting a list from scratch is something of a rarity. It most commonly happens, of course, when a new publishing house is founded. However, entrepreneurs setting up in publishing often buy lists from other publishers so that they have titles to sell the moment they open up for business. If these lists are for sale, it might be concluded, they are probably not very successful ones. Possibly, but often they are for sale because the seller has developed his or her publishing house in directions that no longer fit the list that is up for sale; or did not have the resources to sell the titles to maximum effect. In any case, caveat emptor operates as much in publishing as elsewhere. The buyer must ask some searching questions about what is for sale before deciding to go ahead and take the risk or not.
