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Originally Posted by Mgellis
Connoisseur (Literature) = You can predict which books will be "hot," which contemporary authors are darlings of the smart set, which editions of a book are valuable and how much they're worth, etc. <-- it seems to me this is almost two separate skills, though...would a book dealer know if a new book is going to be a critical hit?
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Depends. If you're really going to worry about these distinctions - and frankly they may be below the level of resolution that GURPS can handle comfortably - then the division is between Connoisseur (Literature), which is all about knowing what makes a good book and being able to judge what'll be a hit among readers (perish the thought that these are two completely separate judgements), including of necessity knowing what's been a hit in the past, and Connoisseur (Rare Books), which is about the physical structure of books and the sometimes bizarre cultural history of the publishing industry, including knowing what old rare volumes will sell to the sort of weird collectors who tend to judge a book by its cover and who may have a slightly shaky grasp of the whole idea of good writing.
Both could have a default from Literature, though I'd tend to give Connoisseur (Rare Books) a rather bad default because it's only tangentially related. Connoisseur (Literature) would get a default from Writing - knowing how to perform an art includes knowing what's good work, by definition; Connoisseur (Rare Books) could have a default from Pro Skill (Bookbinding) for
some purposes.
Connoisseur (Literature) is handy if you're running a branch of Borders. Connoisseur (Rare Books) is required if you work in the books division of an auction house.
But frankly, this character might do better just to crank Literature skill up to a gross level, chuck a few points at Pro Skill (Bookbinding), and run everything else off the defaults if necessary. Simpler, and saves a lot of nitpicking.