Buying the Required Textbooks Used

        You may be able to get used copies of both the Perl "Writing Process" and the Podis & Podis "Writing Center" anthologies by now because both of them have been out for years.  If  you are near any big college town in the summer before classes begin, check out the local used bookstores by phone and see what they've got.  They're the key to preserving our stocks of affordable literature in an era when the IRS taxes back-stocked print runs as if they were new and the marketplace tends to devalue used copies unless they are new.  You also can scan online sites using ABE or Alibris.   They give you access to catalogues of a large number of used bookstores around the world.  You should check how much they'll charge you for shipping (typically $2.50 to $4.50 per volume for the first volume), but their price breaks are significant when compared with local branches of the national chains.  A  new copy of Perl lists at $31.50 at Barnes & Noble's and Amazon's online sites, and at the bookstore on campus it would cost you even more.   (They charge more because their low volume brings in less revenue and lower quarterly profits.)  However, online booksellers are a good alternative if you have time to wait for shipping.  Used copies in "Good" condition (some highlighting or note taking) now (August 2005) are available for under $21 to $25.  Podis and Podis, Working with Student Writers,  lists for $29.95, but used copies are currently being offered for as little as $18.00. 

        This is the cover of the Perl anthology, Landmark Essays in Writing Process (Erlbaum, 1995):

  But make sure you do not confuse it with its sister anthology about Writing Center research!  Their covers are nearly identical, but the essays differ.  I know it seems logical that we would be reading from essays on writing centers, but we're getting a lot of that material from the Podis & Podis anthology.  When in doubt, look for the ISBN, which, for the correct Perl anthology, should be: 1880393131.

        This is the cover of the Podis and Podis Anthology,

        It's not easy to confuse with anything similar, but if you are in doubt, this is its ISBN: 0820440329.