Cheap books on eBay

[Titus]

[/COLOR]I suspect Fred C did catch a cold with his last offering as did the couple of dozen 'investors' (me included) who coughed up a substantial amount for a copy.
I'm guessing there are a couple of unopened boxes of them in storage somewhere on the Welsh borders.

 

[Judas Priest]

I can see what you mean Sean about paper books dropping into the realms of .....

I called in on a very good friend the other day and he had a load of stuff out on the table. We sat and chewed the cud about some Victorian pike bungs, Harcork floats and especially a 1/4 pint aluminium bait tin he had. So called useless in this modern age but these are the things we both treasure for the history of the things, imagining who and where they've been used before, the fish they've caught, the hands they've passed through. Unfortunately We do appear to be in a shrinking minority.

 

[plaadug]

Re: Cheap books on eBay - books on float making

Hi, can anybody recommend a book on float making except Allan Haines' "bible" "The Complete Book of Float Fishing"?

 

[mark brailsford 2]

I am very fortunate to own books that are collectors items but I bought them to read and not hoard like some do!
Funny thing is I bought a book about fly fishing from one of those high street outlets some years ago and found out that its now selling for around £30!
My dad had a copy of Brian Plumbers lurcher book bought him about 15 years ago and he cannot get his head around the fact that its worth a lot more than it cost new... Made him smile though!

 

[nicepix]

Chris
I never said wanting a shortcut is a crime. What I said is that some folks can't be bothered reading a book to find the required information held within preferring to use the web to glean which fishery, bait etc instantly using little effort and in my book that is lazyness.

Reading books builds knowledge and understanding, a far deeper and longer lasting knowledge than the instant angler can ever have and one that leads anyone to the ability to draw on that knowledge without realising that they actually are. The building of, retention of and understanding of that knowledge over a period of time, and the use that is put to sets the thinking angler apart from the rest.

A bit simplistic. Just reading a book doesn't mean that you understand it. I used to work with a police dog handler who had every book and DVD about dog training you could possibly imagine, but he knew nothing about training dogs.

I agree with Titus in that books can be inspirational and can be worth more than their technical content in that respect; Gammon's 'I know a good place' is one such book as are Zane Grey's fishing tales. I've got some books that are technically brilliant, or were in their day but are quite dreary reading; Buller's Pike books for example.

I think that the Internet has changed the way that we acquire knowledge. The biggest danger is that with most fishing books of old, the angler had to show some sort of competence to get past the editor. Now, many online articles go out unedited and their content value varies considerably.

 

[goonch]

Re: Cheap books on eBay - books on float making

Hi, can anybody recommend a book on float making except Allan Haines' "bible" "The Complete Book of Float Fishing"?

The Floatmaker's Manual by Bill Watson. The only book you'll need on the subject.

---------- Post added at 17:53 ---------- Previous post was at 17:48 ----------

The biggest danger is that with most fishing books of old, the angler had to show some sort of competence to get past the editor. Now, many online articles go out unedited and their content value varies considerably.

Unfortunately the same thing is happening with some books. Authors either self-publishing or essentially paying a publisher to put the book together for them. In those cases very little editing or even proof-reading gets done and you can, in a lot cases, end up with a pretty shoddy book. I can think of many recent examples but it would be unfair to name them.

As for cost, I was in a newsagent today and had a flick through a flyfishing magazine. Looked quite interesting so I had a look on the front cover for the price..... £7.99 Thank god for books.

 

[nicepix]

Re: Cheap books on eBay - books on float making

Unfortunately the same thing is happening with some books. Authors either self-publishing or essentially paying a publisher to put the book together for them. In those cases very little editing or even proof-reading gets done and you can, in a lot cases, end up with a pretty shoddy book. I can think of many recent examples but it would be unfair to name them.

As for cost, I was in a newsagent today and had a flick through a flyfishing magazine. Looked quite interesting so I had a look on the front cover for the price..... £7.99 Thank god for books.

There have always been vanity publications, those where the publishing costs are met by the author and the author is then responsible for marketing the book. What has changed is that some publishers are now relaxing their standards for those who agree to restrict their books to online publications. It doesn't cost as much for an author to have an e-book made as a paper edition so there are loads of low quality e-books now hitting the market.

I had a book published in 1999. It took me several weeks to put together and I did my own black & white photos to illustrate it. Then there was a load of checking and agreeing with the sub-editors proposed changes. John Hale & Co. the company who agreed to publish the book paid me £300 up front and that is all I received as the book only sold its initial 3,000 edition run. I reckon I put in at least 200 hours work for that £300. Not a way to get rich.

 

[tiinker]

I have an extensive library of books the angling and assoiated interests run into many hundred. I buy mainly from dealers but in the last few years charity shops can be a goldmine. Because of the rules that govern charity shops even rare books can be bought for as little as 50% of their known price on the internet if you enjoy reading get out there you will be surprised what you can pick up.

 

[Judas Priest]

Oi Tiinker don't tell everyone

 

[tiinker]

Oi Tiinker don't tell everyone

Share good fortune with your angling brothers it can do no harm.

 

[goonch]

£300 for selling 3,000 copies. Ouch.

 

[plaadug]

Re: Cheap books on eBay - books on float making

The Floatmaker's Manual by Bill Watson. The only book you'll need on the subject.



Unfortunately the same thing is happening with some books. Authors either self-publishing or essentially paying a publisher to put the book together for them. In those cases very little editing or even proof-reading gets done and you can, in a lot cases, end up with a pretty shoddy book. I can think of many recent examples but it would be unfair to name them.

As for cost, I was in a newsagent today and had a flick through a flyfishing magazine. Looked quite interesting so I had a look on the front cover for the price..... £7.99 Thank god for books.

Dear goonch, thanks for the recommendation. Looks like a great book and I would love to have it. Unfortunately the books seems to be highly sought after. The cheapest offer I found is 99 £ and on the German Amazon they even offer a copy for more than 2.500 €. Though the book and the information it contains may be worth some money, this is a perversion. Don't get me wrong, I am collecting books but the prices for this book are disproportionate, especially if one keeps in mind that with 92 pages it is a rather thin softcover.

In Germany we wittness an even worser development. Until the 1990's German angling books used to rely on British originals - same is true for most "German" coarse fishing methods - and used to be quite informative. On the contrary most recent books published in Germany by Germans are written by semi-professional anglers trying to advertise their own products or product lines of their employees. Therefore they fail and their books turn out to be complete disasters. Therefore I chose the British classics and haven't been dissappointed so far.

 

[Sean Meeghan]

A good choice for well written books Plaadug. Welcome to the forum by the way.

 

[jack sprat]

I was in conversation with several well-known angling authors last year and the sales and the amounts they made back in the late 70s/early 80s don't bear comparison with what is happening today - I'm talking tens of £thousands. Some books coming out now aren't making any money at all for the authors, and as for that £300 deal, well, words fail me but it must have been a mean contract!

The OP ebay books' prices still intrigue me. I had a good look through the ebay list last night and it's hard to know what the books will fetch as in most cases it was well before end time. If you want a book badly but the prices seem high the best bet is to bide your time, eventually you'll get one at sensible money. Last Sunday I got a book I've wanted for a couple of years at the price I wanted to pay not the dealer's list price.

 

[plaadug]

What astonishes me is, that there are no reprints of these classic and well sought after books. There seems to be a demand and commonly the market economy reacts rather quickly on these demand situations. Same is true for trotting. As far as I know there hasn't been a book/monograph dedicated to this technique. A technique that seems to gain in popularity not only in Britain. The "hype" is now arriving in Germany and although you rarely find a centrepin on the German eBay those that are offered reach top prices.

 

[Titus]

Can someone tell me where these charity shops are with cheap books? In my experience most charity shops nowadays have well educated retired professional people sorting and sifting with ever finer sieves and very little finds it's way onto the shelves which could be considered a bargain. The 'rare' books which don't get diverted to dealers or sold on line are normally priced in accordance with the highest price on Abe books with little regard for condition. One example was a very tatty copy of Peter Wheat's Fighting Barbel Which was displayed in a locked glass case with an asking price of £299; that is extracting the micturition!

Jack Sprat said,

"The OP ebay books' prices still intrigue me. I had a good look through the ebay list last night and it's hard to know what the books will fetch as in most cases it was well before end time. If you want a book badly but the prices seem high the best bet is to bide your time, eventually you'll get one at sensible money. Last Sunday I got a book I've wanted for a couple of years at the price I wanted to pay not the dealer's list price."

That is true but if you do an advanced search and look at completed listings you will be able to see what books actually went for.
I missed a first edition copy of a book I have been after for a while tonight, It went for less than 12 quid but I went fishing instead of sitting around waiting to snipe it.
Like you say, another one will come along eventually.

 

[jack sprat]

I shall have to have a look at the advanced search on ebay and try and figure it out. Certainly it's pot luck on getting a bargain there. I've found the same with charity shops; 'cheap' books are cheap but no bargains. I don't go to many car-boot sales but I've had some fantastic bargains there when people have had no idea of true value, typically paying £3 for books worth from £20 to £80 at dealer prices and excellent condition as well.

 

[surreymac]

There are bargains out there to be had,my fishing club have a yearly boot sale of which I visit,at the previous one I was having a mooch about when I come across a few books on a stall,browsing through them I pulled one out of interest to me & enquired the price,the fella hummed & Arred & said giss 3 quid of which I did without hesitation as for some reason I knew this private published book might be worth a tad more,we'll to cut a long story short I kept it for about 8 months then decided to whacked it on eBay.......selling price £110

 

[plaadug]

A good choice for well written books Plaadug. Welcome to the forum by the way.

Sorry, for not introducing myself prior to posting. See my introduction on the newbie threat.