The Billiards Workbook

[macguy]

I don't think I ever knocked the book or it's quality. I just don't know what the original intent was with the book. I'll tell you a story. I used to have a welding shop years ago. I had a guy come to me and ask about building him a wheelchair ramp for his restaurant. I designed a very nice one and installed it. I began to get inquires from people about ramps for private residences when they saw the ramp I had built. So I designed a smaller version of the original ramp for the public. The problem was, It was over done and cost too much to build and install for the average person. I was used to building the best I could because most of my customers in general were boat owners and money was no object. Many thousands for a tuna tower was nothing to them. When I never sold one ramp I soon realized this was a different market and I had to adapt. I re designed the ramp to make it more affordable. Instead of everything being welded I made it like a kit with everything pre-driled and assembled with bolts. I also eliminated the diamond plate aluminum deck. Instead I designed a grid system where the customer would use a 5/8 inch plywood deck they would supply themselves. When it was done I had a very good ramp that did not require an installer could be self leveled and cost the customer 1/4 as much as the original. Over the next couple of years I must have sold 1500 to 2000 of those ramps. The best part was the people were getting a high quality product for a reasonable price due to my design and these were people who needed it. Back to the workbook, if her original intent was to help the average player and really bring something to the game, she has failed. If her intent was to make a book so good and so expensive to produce no one could afford it or would just plain balk at the price she has succeeded.
As far as your comment about cues, the truth is, Yes the average player does play with cues in the range of a Cuetec and they make up the largest part of the pool playing public. The actual quality of the content of the book as I said before is a moot point, since so few players will buy it anyway. It's value, if any, is lost, that is just a reality. I can't help but wonder, why do you assume I have never seen the book? I also don't see why you don't think prices is an issue, price is always an issue. Something may sell easily for $99.99 yet not sell for $109.99. There is always a barrier that seems to be the limit

You know, I am not a computer person so I don't know but. How hard would it be to put something like that on DVD and eliminate most of the on going production costs? Is that a big deal to do? I just got a huge catalog on CD.

I happen to know quite a few players who use $1000.+ cue, on a daily basis, and think nothing of it. I happen to be one of them, myself.
Is that because we are all great players? Not hardly. We just appreciate quality cues and we are willing to save our hard earned dollars and buy them.
Do they make us better players? No, they don't do that either. Only practice will do that.
Just go to the cue gallery section of this forum and look at the pictures of cues, that people post every week. They are beautiful cues and I'm sure many of them are in the $1000.+ range. But then, I guess you prefer your Cuetec.



It is very obvious that you have never looked at the Workbook. There are many drills in that book that the average player would not be able to do, without help, regardless of the price of their cue.


I guarantee, she has sold more than 10 of these Workbooks.

My question to you is, why do you insist on bashing this Workbook, and Dr. D?
You obviously have not seen and read the content of the book. Your biggest gripe seems to be with the price. Have you ever looked into what it would cost to put together a Workbook of this magnatude? I think not.
You would rather sit at home and bitch about its price, without knowing what is in it.
When she developed it, in the loose leaf notebook style, do you believe she didn't know that some people will copy drills and pass them on? I think not.

If you don't want to buy the Workbook, DON'T.
I really don't care. I am not a salesman for the Billiards Workbook and it will not affect my income at all.
I just don't think you should bash it, when you have made it obvious that you don't know what you are writing about.

Like I stated before, George Fels gave it a favorable review. If a highly respected writer, in the pool community, said it is a good book, why would any one listen to some one who has not even looked inside the cover?

 

[Williebetmore]

Not that anyone cares, but I think Macguy has a point. I have definitely tried to accumulate every book of at least decent quality on pool, including paying $70-$150 on some out of print biographies (Jean Balukas, Willie Mosconi, Minnesota Fats). But I have no interest in the workbook. It would be hard to believe it has anything in it not already found in the excellent works of Henning, Martin, Byrne, Stauch, Cappelle, etc. Not knocking anyone, just not interested in it at the price, even to complete a collection.

 

[Bob Jewett]

If so, what's your opinion?

It just occurred to me that for what the workbook is, it's in the wrong format. It could have been a small three-ring binder with the background pages and such, and a CD-ROM with all of the pages for the drills. Pretty much everyone can print pages on their computers. Print off the pages you need to practice, put them in the back of the small binder, and off to the pool hall. That way you save bundles on shipping, and the whole thing could sell for a tidy profit at $30.

I hope the publisher is listening. I wouldn't mind a free copy.

One point that a lot of people are overlooking is that the workbook is intended to be used as part of a course and is not I REPEAT, NOT!!! intended to be a stand-alone instructional manual. So, the first thing you need to do after you get the workbook is get a good instructor who will work with you on it.

 

[drivermaker]

It just occurred to me that for what the workbook is, it's in the wrong format. It could have been a small three-ring binder with the background pages and such, and a CD-ROM with all of the pages for the drills. Pretty much everyone can print pages on their computers. Print off the pages you need to practice, put them in the back of the small binder, and off to the pool hall. That way you save bundles on shipping, and the whole thing could sell for a tidy profit at $30.

I hope the publisher is listening. I wouldn't mind a free copy.

One point that a lot of people are overlooking is that the workbook is intended to be used as part of a course and is not I REPEAT, NOT!!! intended to be a stand-alone instructional manual. So, the first thing you need to do after you get the workbook is get a good instructor who will work with you on it.

If it was supposed to be a money making venture, there's more than one way to skin a cat. She could also have put it on CD and offered it to everyone for FREE, just like the guy that's on TV with the CD for "How to Operate A Computer". Big deal...it costs him less than $.50 cents to reproduce one of them and he charges $7.95 for shipping and handling that actually costs about $.70 cents to mail out. Work those numbers out real fast for 1 million copies. Every pool player in the country would dish out $7.95 for a (free-ha,ha) CD and she'd be laughing all the way to the bank just like the millionaire computer guy.

 

[Rich R.]

Macquy, you retargeted your market and you were successful. That is a choice you made. At this point, Dr. D. has not chosen to do that. I really don't know if she will in the future. There are plenty of other books on the market that fill the lower priced niche.

You know, I am not a computer person so I don't know but. How hard would it be to put something like that on DVD and eliminate most of the on going production costs? Is that a big deal to do? I just got a huge catalog on CD.

I'm sure this is not a big thing to do. It is a choice to be made by the publisher. Of course, to take the lessons to the table, you would still end up printing off the lessons and it may end up costing the consumer more, in the long run. It would also make it much easier for people to copy and illegally sell the complete Workbook.
Keep in mind, this is not a catalog to generate sales, the Workbook is the end product. I'm sure it is much cheaper to produce a catalog on CD and distribute it, however, the end product is what creates the profit, not the catalog. Since the Workbook is the end product, any and all profit, if there is one to be made, has to come from the workbook itself.

BTW, I assume you have not seen or read the Workbook, because you have made no comments on its content. You have only commented on its size and price. If I am wrong, I am sorry.

 

[drivermaker]

If it was supposed to be a money making venture, there's more than one way to skin a cat. She could also have put it on CD and offered it to everyone for FREE, just like the guy that's on TV with the CD for "How to Operate A Computer". Big deal...it costs him less than $.50 cents to reproduce one of them and he charges $7.95 for shipping and handling that actually costs about $.70 cents to mail out. Work those numbers out real fast for 1 million copies. Every pool player in the country would dish out $7.95 for a (free-ha,ha) CD and she'd be laughing all the way to the bank just like the millionaire computer guy.

I suggested on this post that she place it on a CD and give the book away for free, but charge $7.95 for shipping and handling to generate quick and very high profits.

Many of you may not know this, but BILLIONS of dollars are being generated through the internet, catalog sales, telephone orders, etc., through the US Postal service by adding on extra bucks for S&H charges. It's an absolute windfall for those who have figured this out. Here's one I discovered yesterday: www.53money.com They're giving it away for free and charging $3.95 for S&H. I have no idea what they're selling or trying to market down the road, it'll just be more icing on the cake. But I guarantee that it doesn't matter. If they get a couple of million people to respond to this, they still will have pulled in a few million on S&H charges. Sorrentino could do likewise and make more of a fortune than trying to charge $150+