The mistake is pricing the book. You are pricing this copy of it, and the gap between those two numbers is most of what you will learn in your first few shows.
Where to start
For common titles and reading copies, start low and let the room do the work. A low start is not a low price; it is an invitation, and the bidding sorts it out.
For a genuinely scarce copy — a first with a clean jacket, a signed copy with a story — a low start is a real risk. That is what a reserve price is for.
Lots and singles
A shelf of paperbacks sells badly one at a time and well as a lot. A lot needs an honest count, a photograph of the whole stack, and a plain statement of what you are not guaranteeing.
The scarce one does not belong in the lot. Pull it out and run it on its own.
The pacing that works
Paper is slow to show. Give each book long enough for someone to read the copyright page on camera, and run the lots faster. A book nobody can see properly gets no bids.
Reading your own numbers
Watch which titles bring people into the room, not only which bring the most money. A cheap lot that fills the room pays for itself in the next item.
Questions people ask
Should I look up what a copy sold for elsewhere?
Yes, as a floor and a sanity check. Do not read a single asking price as a market.
Do I price the jacket separately?
No, but you describe it separately. A first with no jacket is a different item, not a discounted one.
Is a no-reserve start risky?
For anything scarce, yes. For common stock it is the fastest way to get the room bidding. How to price for auction.