Get Noteboat's theory book here

[NoteBoat]

The only autograph requests I'll turn down are ones that I can't put my name to in good conscience - anything sexist, racist, etc - or any that promise something ("you've been such a big help I'm sending you my favorite guitar")

Those requests are few and far between. If you're just being funny with a request, I have no problem with it

So yep, Roy's is packed up with the word-for-word request he made.

[garlandpool]

Noteboat,
How hard was it to get Amazon.com to carry your book?
Fred

[NoteBoat]

Not hard at all - Amazon wants to have the biggest title listing on earth, so they won't turn anyone down as far as I know.

But at first they won't stock any. Instead, they'll order as they get orders - which means one at a time. You get to do the same work you would for a retail sale, but you get wholesale revenue for it. If it sells, then they'll order for stock - 2 copies to start with. If it keeps selling, they'll order more and stock serious inventory. That took about a year, roughly. If you're distributed through a major publisher it's probably less time.

[garlandpool]

Noteboat,
Thanks for the reply! That's good information. You got my wheels turning again on that topic. I actually was working on trying to do a similar thing through Barnes and Nobles. I even got an ISBN number, but that was as far as I got. At that point I just started selling my product on my own, homemade site and I also converted my then book to the now DVD-ROM. I suppose selling a DVD-ROM wouldn't be all that much different than a book. So, I wanted to ask you for clarification on the ISBN number. Was that necessary for you? Probably a silly question. And do you know if a DVD-ROM would require one?

If you don't mind, could you tell me what the most difficult step in the process of getting on with Amazon.com was?

[NoteBoat]

Yeah, the ISBN is pretty neccesary - that's what all the booksellers use as the product ID in their systems. A DVD would probably need one too, or at least some bar code number.

The most difficult part... hmm... there are really two:

1. Amazon doesn't do product updates. I'm working on the second edition of my book now, so that's something I'm currently dealing with - if the second edition has a new ISBN (as it should, under ISBN rules), then people searching Amazon will end up finding an (eventually) out of print edtion right away - placement in their search depends on sales. So the not-available copy might rank 5 in your search terms, and the new and improved ranks 2,000,000. They will not cross-reference. If I break the ISBN rules to maximize sales with Amazon, I tick off all the other distributors. If I follow the rules, Amazon sales won't capitalize on previous reviews and promotions. Definately a weak spot in their system.

2. They do things their way. My book packs 35 to a case. If Barnes & Noble wants 108. they order 105 or 140. Amazon orders 108... ship it or else. I've had weeks with FOUR Amazon orders - you'd think they could bundle them up and save me some postage? I've pointed out that their re-order system sometimes does whacky things... order 40 on Monday, 1 on Wednesday, 35 on Friday.... their response is pretty much "ship or orders, or cancel them and we'll take you off the vendor list"

On the plus side, they pay fast, and by direct deposit. And if they lose books they own up - I had an invoice go past due, they said they never got it, I sent proof of delivery, and they paid right away. That doesn't happen with other distributors.

Overall, they're a great customer.
.

[chalkoutline]

So what is the latest on the 2nd edition of your book. I was thinking about ordering one but if a second edition is coming out soon I would prefer to wait on that one.

[NoteBoat]

Afraid I've got too many projects in the works for it to be coming out soon - the music school plans seem to suck up all my available time.

[DoReMiFa]

Is it me, or is the book for sale for over $2000 on Amazon? lol

[notes_norton]

I write aftermarket fake disks for Band-in-a-Box (although they aren't really disks anymore). Since I cannot put the melodies in the songs without either violating copyright laws or paying the publishers from $1 to $2.50 PER SONG, I make my fake disks coincide with 'off the shelf' music books. That way the user can open the song on the disk, open the music book, and play along.

OK now we are getting on topic.

Hal Leonard Corp updates their fake books every few years. Dropping a number of songs and adding others. So they have first edition, second edition, and so on. However, the subsequent editions have the same ISBN number as the older ones. Technically they seem to be breaking the rules. Note: I have no insider information and don't publish any books of my own, so I don't really know the rules.

I don't have Tom's theory book. I learned theory in school and have a lot of other books at home. I've recommended "The Idiot's" music theory book to my saxophone students (when I was teaching, I'm too busy now) and when picking up the guitar, I just applied all the theory I learned in school to the guitar.

I've read a lot of Tom's posts on this forum, so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend his book to anyone interested in learning. And I believe every musician and singer (who are also musicians) should know at least basic music theory.

Notes