Book Review: Online Bookselling
Subtitle: A practical Guide With Detailed Explanations And Insightful Tips
Author: Michael E. Mould
Overview
Provided as an e-book, Mould's Online Bookselling is a mixed bag - some great information combined with some not-so-great. We also have a problem with the spreadsheet provided, which is almost a direct copy of the information provided in The Windwalker Book. Our copy (release date Feb. 22, 2006) suffered from disk read errors, too; which can never speak well for an e-book release.
Content
Much of the landscape in the book is covered in other books, but at 209 pages, Mould's e-book probably covers the landscape more thoroughly than anyone. Some of the information borders on the too-simple (such as the "What does it take to get started?" section), while other information will be more easily accessed by a simple Google search (such as the list of packaging suppliers).
At its best, Mould's book can offer insights into improving your book sales. The section on "Where To Buy Your Inventory" is a clear winner; unlike other books, Mould gets into the details of each source and lets us know his personal view on each. He also gives some important details (including graphs) about his sales experience, including the effects of costs and prices on his sales and profitability.
Mould also uses some interesting techniques in this e-book. For example, the section on product packaging is packed with photos, but with a twist. He replaces the typical clear packaging tape with black gaffer tape for his demonstration, so it is completely obvious where he suggests the tape goes. Unfortunately, we would disagree with his suggestions!
One part of his packaging demos has him completely covering the shipping label with cellophane packing tape. Given some of the technical issues with both the 1-D and 2-D bar codes used by the postal system (as generated by Endicia and others), it's not a great idea to have any reflective overlay of the label's barcoding. I've read a lot of people saying "Gee, I've never had any problem"; however, we aren't really willing to gamble on these sorts of issues.
And this points to the problem with Mould's e-book: at its worst, it's pretty bad. Some sections either sound like bragging (as with the section "Examples of Gems I Have Bought and Sold", which seems to exist solely to fill up two pages of text) or are incomplete (such as the "Terms" section, which dips a toe into describing book defects, but leaves the reader wanting).
Then there is the spreadsheet. It is the spreadsheet created from content in The Windwalker Book, with only a few numbers changed. This is, to me, plagiarism, plain and simple. I've got a huge problem with that, and it's something that subjects Mould to some serious consequences - at the least, disrespect from other writers. If you are going to use it, at least credit Windwalker for the work!
Tone
It's personal, but somewhat authoritative. This would be fine if a) we knew how experienced Mould is, and b) we didn't notice obvious "bugs" in the suggestions. Overall, it seems alright - but reading some of the text seems like a waste of time. Succinct it is not...
Helpfulness
Sigh. I don't know - I found the discussions about scouting source and selling venues to be interesting, and the pricing information to be unique among bookselling books. On the other hand, I consider the packaging information to be wrong, and much of the text to be almost useless (in comparison to 10 minutes with a Web browser and Google connection).
And, of course, I have a real problem with the spreadsheet. Much of Mould's marketing of this e-book points either directly or indirectly to this information, but he never credits Windwalker for the work he pioneered. In fact, in an Amazon review of Windwalker's book, Mould states that he purchased his rival's book a week before his book was published, and hadn't had a chance to read it before he published his own. This is difficult to believe, given the easy-to-spot use of the data provided by Windwalker's book.
Conclusion
As you can tell, we aren't big fans of this e-book. In fact, even the fact that (at the time of purchase) it was e-book only was disappointing; one would think that a book seller would have a desire to create a book out of paper. We realize that printing costs are high for a paper book, but at $40 for a poorly produced CD-R, we ended up feeling somewhat ripped off.
Alas, YMMV (your mileage may vary), but this money is better spent on a copy of Windwalker, and a copy of Steve Weber's "The Home-Based Bookstore". And you'd still have enough money left over for a decent lunch. If you really want to get this text (now available in paperback, I believe), you can check out Mould's website at: http://online-bookselling.com/
Rating: 2.5 out of 10 (mainly useful for its scouting and pricing info)
Author: Michael E. Mould
Overview
Provided as an e-book, Mould's Online Bookselling is a mixed bag - some great information combined with some not-so-great. We also have a problem with the spreadsheet provided, which is almost a direct copy of the information provided in The Windwalker Book. Our copy (release date Feb. 22, 2006) suffered from disk read errors, too; which can never speak well for an e-book release.
Content
Much of the landscape in the book is covered in other books, but at 209 pages, Mould's e-book probably covers the landscape more thoroughly than anyone. Some of the information borders on the too-simple (such as the "What does it take to get started?" section), while other information will be more easily accessed by a simple Google search (such as the list of packaging suppliers).
At its best, Mould's book can offer insights into improving your book sales. The section on "Where To Buy Your Inventory" is a clear winner; unlike other books, Mould gets into the details of each source and lets us know his personal view on each. He also gives some important details (including graphs) about his sales experience, including the effects of costs and prices on his sales and profitability.
Mould also uses some interesting techniques in this e-book. For example, the section on product packaging is packed with photos, but with a twist. He replaces the typical clear packaging tape with black gaffer tape for his demonstration, so it is completely obvious where he suggests the tape goes. Unfortunately, we would disagree with his suggestions!
One part of his packaging demos has him completely covering the shipping label with cellophane packing tape. Given some of the technical issues with both the 1-D and 2-D bar codes used by the postal system (as generated by Endicia and others), it's not a great idea to have any reflective overlay of the label's barcoding. I've read a lot of people saying "Gee, I've never had any problem"; however, we aren't really willing to gamble on these sorts of issues.
And this points to the problem with Mould's e-book: at its worst, it's pretty bad. Some sections either sound like bragging (as with the section "Examples of Gems I Have Bought and Sold", which seems to exist solely to fill up two pages of text) or are incomplete (such as the "Terms" section, which dips a toe into describing book defects, but leaves the reader wanting).
Then there is the spreadsheet. It is the spreadsheet created from content in The Windwalker Book, with only a few numbers changed. This is, to me, plagiarism, plain and simple. I've got a huge problem with that, and it's something that subjects Mould to some serious consequences - at the least, disrespect from other writers. If you are going to use it, at least credit Windwalker for the work!
Tone
It's personal, but somewhat authoritative. This would be fine if a) we knew how experienced Mould is, and b) we didn't notice obvious "bugs" in the suggestions. Overall, it seems alright - but reading some of the text seems like a waste of time. Succinct it is not...
Helpfulness
Sigh. I don't know - I found the discussions about scouting source and selling venues to be interesting, and the pricing information to be unique among bookselling books. On the other hand, I consider the packaging information to be wrong, and much of the text to be almost useless (in comparison to 10 minutes with a Web browser and Google connection).
And, of course, I have a real problem with the spreadsheet. Much of Mould's marketing of this e-book points either directly or indirectly to this information, but he never credits Windwalker for the work he pioneered. In fact, in an Amazon review of Windwalker's book, Mould states that he purchased his rival's book a week before his book was published, and hadn't had a chance to read it before he published his own. This is difficult to believe, given the easy-to-spot use of the data provided by Windwalker's book.
Conclusion
As you can tell, we aren't big fans of this e-book. In fact, even the fact that (at the time of purchase) it was e-book only was disappointing; one would think that a book seller would have a desire to create a book out of paper. We realize that printing costs are high for a paper book, but at $40 for a poorly produced CD-R, we ended up feeling somewhat ripped off.
Alas, YMMV (your mileage may vary), but this money is better spent on a copy of Windwalker, and a copy of Steve Weber's "The Home-Based Bookstore". And you'd still have enough money left over for a decent lunch. If you really want to get this text (now available in paperback, I believe), you can check out Mould's website at: http://online-bookselling.com/
Rating: 2.5 out of 10 (mainly useful for its scouting and pricing info)
posted by The Well Read Blogger at 11:09 PM
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