Finally found a copy of Rags to Rifleman

[Black-Balled]

I wonder if Buddy owns the copyright to his book? If the publisher owned it, then what happens when the publisher no longer exists? does it go back to Buddy?

If there is any money to be made, you will quickly see who has the rights.

 

[Black-Balled]

Rain man knew some shit too...

And you are spot-on with your recollection of buddy's book. I was unsure I would make it to the middle of the book...but I is be glad I stuck it out.

I have a copy that I bought when it first came out and I got Buddy to sign it. I had no idea it was worth that much but I will say this. It is a great read once you get past his childhood years which is the first chapter or so. The print is small but if it was larger the book would have been twice as think and it's a thick book as it is. If the price is right, I would might be willing to let it go. I think I read it twice over the years...(PS...I was in the stands when he won the US Open in 91. He played great that week.)

As for the comment on Grady, I got to hang with him for a few hours when he did a exhibition back in the mid 90's. He was very interesting to talk to and pick his brain. For a so called nincapoop as someone stated, he sure knew the diamond system, kicking and banks. Great player.

 

[Chi2dxa]

I enjoyed this book more than any book I have ever read. I really hated for it to end.

 

[jasonlaus]

I read Hall's book and can't believe anyone would pay even $50 for it, but then again I know Buddy for 30 years or more. He's not that exiting Johnnyt

I read the first 10 pages maybe and havent picked it up since
Jason

 

[franko]

Hi John..I am not really surprised that a pool nut like you, would think Buddy's book was a 'great' literary achievement!..It is poorly written, and full of contradictions, and half truths, and as you said "unbelievable" stories!..It is barely better than Grady's book, which is/was, a complete disaster!

Thanks to Woody, some of the stories are mildly entertaining, but for the most part they are just re-hashed, boring recollections, of a somewhat seedy, wasted youth, not unlike what any other hard core pool hustler could assemble!..You are right about one thing though..Stick to Dyer or Tevis, for a better look at how the pool world really was..'back in the day'!

 

[u12armresl]

What exactly are you posting new from a 4 year old thread?

 

[Mike the Beginner]

Why is this book so valuable and sought after? Has anyone made a pDF of the darn thing?

Low but consistent demand. A reprint isn't warranted, but eventually the supply dries up and with the steady demand still there, the price goes up. It's a common occurrence in the book world.

 

[Pin]

Low but consistent demand. A reprint isn't warranted, but eventually the supply dries up and with the steady demand still there, the price goes up. It's a common occurrence in the book world.

It could now be done print on demand, but would need the copyright holder's approval / involvement. If anyone knows who has that, there's a very small amount of money to be made!

 

[Bob Jewett]

It could now be done print on demand, but would need the copyright holder's approval / involvement. If anyone knows who has that, there's a very small amount of money to be made!

I suppose it could be reissued in a legible font.

 

[Pin]

I hope the OCR can cope!

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

It could now be done print on demand, but would need the copyright holder's approval / involvement. If anyone knows who has that, there's a very small amount of money to be made!

Correct someone own this intellectual property.

Don’t know if copyrights expire, and then it could be reproduced.

How Long Does Copyright Protection Last? (FAQ) | U.S. Copyright Office

Brief answers to questions about duration of copyright, and renewal of copyright.

www.copyright.gov

Now we need lawyer to chime in.

 

[Pin]

Correct someone own this intellectual property.

Don’t know if copyrights expire, and then it could be reproduced.

How Long Does Copyright Protection Last? (FAQ) | U.S. Copyright Office

Brief answers to questions about duration of copyright, and renewal of copyright.

www.copyright.gov

Now we need lawyer to chime in.

70 years after the author dies, so we'd probably never see it.

 

[Tennesseejoe]

I suppose it could be reissued in a legible font.

...and make it two volumes.

 

[Fatboy]

I suppose it could be reissued in a legible font.

For the price it should come with a magnifying glass.

It’s a good book, I’ve read 80% of it. I paid $60 for my copy

 

[Mike the Beginner]

It could now be done print on demand, but would need the copyright holder's approval / involvement. If anyone knows who has that, there's a very small amount of money to be made!

Isn't Buddy Hall still alive? The internet says he is 77 and lives in Metropolis IL, but who knows if that's right. It's quite possible to self-publish e-books on Amazon; anybody can do it. But scanning all those pages would be a lot of work to set things up. If my information is not out of date (it might be), the author gets 70% of the proceeds if the ebook costs more than $4.99. Amazon gets the other other 30%. If the cost is less, then the percentages are flipped--the author gets 30% and Amazon gets 70%.

The trick might be to find someone who is willing to digitize the book, or else do a GoFundMe and collect money to pay someone to do it. I'll bet Buddy would be grateful if it brought in a little extra money, but I doubt he could do all the work to create the salable ebook.

 

[Fatboy]

Isn't Buddy Hall still alive? The internet says he is 77 and lives in Metropolis IL, but who knows if that's right. It's quite possible to self-publish e-books on Amazon; anybody can do it. But scanning all those pages would be a lot of work to set things up. If my information is not out of date (it might be), the author gets 70% of the proceeds if the ebook costs more than $4.99. Amazon gets the other other 30%. If the cost is less, then the percentages are flipped--the author gets 30% and Amazon gets 70%.

The trick might be to find someone who is willing to digitize the book, or else do a GoFundMe and collect money to pay someone to do it. I'll bet Buddy would be grateful if it brought in a little extra money, but I doubt he could do all the work to create the salable ebook.

Buddy is alive, he lost a bit of weight and is well.

 

[u12armresl]

Isn't Buddy Hall still alive? The internet says he is 77 and lives in Metropolis IL, but who knows if that's right. It's quite possible to self-publish e-books on Amazon; anybody can do it. But scanning all those pages would be a lot of work to set things up. If my information is not out of date (it might be), the author gets 70% of the proceeds if the ebook costs more than $4.99. Amazon gets the other other 30%. If the cost is less, then the percentages are flipped--the author gets 30% and Amazon gets 70%.

The trick might be to find someone who is willing to digitize the book, or else do a GoFundMe and collect money to pay someone to do it. I'll bet Buddy would be grateful if it brought in a little extra money, but I doubt he could do all the work to create the salable ebook.

I found a place to take the print and make it much bigger (which I saw as the main issue.)
However, I did not go through with it because I did not know the legal grounds along with it.
The book would pretty much be just pieces of paper when they are done, guess it could be rebound, but they have to remove the spine, scan, OCR, and then enlarge. The price was really nice.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I found a place to take the print and make it much bigger (which I saw as the main issue.)
However, I did not go through with it because I did not know the legal grounds along with it.
The book would pretty much be just pieces of paper when they are done, guess it could be rebound, but they have to remove the spine, scan, OCR, and then enlarge. The price was really nice.

As far as losing the book in the process, if you have a good, printable PDF the loss of the original is not a big deal.

The last time I looked, corrected OCR was about a dollar a page. That's not a lot for this kind of project unless you are only making one copy.

I think you would want to take the corrected text and reflow it onto more pages and maybe have two volumes.

 

[u12armresl]

As far as losing the book in the process, if you have a good, printable PDF the loss of the original is not a big deal.

The last time I looked, corrected OCR was about a dollar a page. That's not a lot for this kind of project unless you are only making one copy.

I think you would want to take the corrected text and reflow it onto more pages and maybe have two volumes.

I was quoted a very reasonable price at less than $1 a page. I think I started a thread about it.

 

[kling&allen]

As far as losing the book in the process, if you have a good, printable PDF the loss of the original is not a big deal.

The last time I looked, corrected OCR was about a dollar a page. That's not a lot for this kind of project unless you are only making one copy.

I think you would want to take the corrected text and reflow it onto more pages and maybe have two volumes.

Depending on the number of pages in the book, you can easily OCR using a smartphone app now by taking photos.