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Out-of-print books may be found at libraries or specialty book stores.

An out-of-print book is a book that is no longer being published. Out of print books are often rare, and may be difficult to acquire.

A publisher will usually create a print run of a fixed number of copies of a new book. These books can be ordered in bulk by booksellers, and when all the bookseller's copies are sold, the bookseller has the option to order additional copies. If the initial print run sells out quickly, the publisher will probably have more copies printed. When the book is no longer selling at a rate fast enough to pay for the inventory costs, the publisher will cease to print additional copies, and may remainder or pulp the remaining unsold copies. When all of the books in a print run are sold to booksellers, the book is said to be "out of print", meaning that a bookseller cannot get any further copies from the publisher. If a book sells surprisingly quickly, a book may be out of print briefly when its initial print run is exhausted, but soon reprinted.

A reader who wishes to purchase an out of print book must either find a bookseller that still has a copy, wait for another print run (if another is anticipated), or find someone who will sell their own copy as a used book. The advent of the internet has made this process much easier, as numerous sites (www.half.com, www.amazon.com and www.abebooks.com to name a few) offer rare used books.

Some publishers intentionally limit the print run of some or all titles to fewer copies than the anticipated demand, in creating limited editions marketed to collectors. In these cases, there is an implicit or explicit promise to collectors that the book will not be reprinted, at least in the same form as originally published. For instance, Madonna's Sex was sold in an sealed envelop and it is, according to BookFinder.com, the most sought after out print book in the US.^[1] BookFinder.com releases every year the BookFinder.com Report, a list of the most sought after out of print books in the US.

The longer a book has been out of print, the more difficult it may be to obtain a copy. If there is enough demand for an out of print book, and all copyright issues can be resolved, another publisher may republish the book with a new cover and title page. In some cases, an out-of-print book, even one that sold very poorly, may be republished if the author becomes popular.

In the United States, the Thor Power Tool decision (1979), by limiting the circumstances under which publishers can take a loss on their inventory for tax purposes, has probably caused some books to go out of print more quickly than they otherwise would.^[2]

An alternative has arisen in recent years. Amazon.com, in addition to selling every book in print, is now able to sell many books that are out of print, but few that are truly rare. Amazon has made an arrangement with numerous used-book dealers, allowing them to sell their wares through Amazon. First, the bookseller creates a database of its inventory, in a format specified by Amazon. This database is merged with Amazon's and those of the other booksellers in the program. When a customer orders a book through Amazon—say, War and Peace—they get a choice: if they choose the "Buy new" option, they will naturally see the latest translations, which are still in print. If they choose the "new or used" option, they will also see a list of previous translations. Clicking on a title brings up a list af descriptions of actual copies: features, condition, price. The customer can order any of these books, in exactly the same way as they have bought new books before. If a new book is in Amazon's inventory, it will be shipped immediately. If it is in print, Amazon will order it from the publisher

Barnes & Noble has a similar service. The two are competitive. Searching each of them on 14 November 2007 for a "Variorum Yeats" (the Variorum Edition of Wiliam Butler Yeats's Poems), both were able to find (more than) one: Amazon had a signed first edition (!) for $2200 (plus $3.99 shipping) and one other copy for $90. (Curiously, the rare book cost no more to ship than a remaindered book selling for under a dollar. Of course, it is possible to choose Two-Day or One-Day Delivery delivery, via FedEx or other carrier, at higher rates.) Barnes and Noble had two copies for $54 and $85, respectively, plus shipping.)

Finding a signed, first-edition Variorum Yeats is an unusual event even at Amazon, but it is about the limit. If one were looking for incunabula—such as a Gutenberg Bible or a first Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays, one is advised to call Christie's and Sotheby's—and to have a book budget denominated in millions of dollars. Very few collectors or libraries possess such rarities.

• Self-publishing
• Orphaned works
• List of publishers
• Possible crisis in Western publishing

• AddAll - an on-line utility to search for out of print books
• AbeBooks - A network of independent bookstores selling online
• Biblio - out of print booksearch of independent bookstores
• BookFinder.com - an on-line utility to search for out of print books
• BookFinder.com Report - A list of the most sought after out of print titles in America
• Out-of-print bestsellers - an article in the Christian Science Monitor
• Bibliophile Bookbase - antiquarian book metasearch site