Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 5:16 pm
Moderator: Lapidary Arts and Tools
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 6:41 pm Posts: 5534 Location: Massachusetts, USA
Quote:
I just ordered a copy too. At $35 and change for the two volumes, I don't understand the economics of it. The printing and binding alone would seem to preclude making any money on this!
I do not either, despite changes in the State of the Art in publishing. The point is he had to write every word of it, prepare illustrations and dedicate time out of his life. I just shook my head. Maybe a "Donate" link on the sales page for people who feel guilty, and want to leave a tip?
"Starving Artist" is a well-worn cliché, but as someone who was raised by them, it is NOT fun.
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 6:12 pm
Gold Member
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:01 pm Posts: 1902 Location: Pine City, NY and Dothan, AL
Quote:
I've had a 1/10th completed reference book for some software remain 1/10th completed for over 5 years now. It's now too outdated and will never be finished.
It doesn't take five years. I retired in 2008 and I'm already four generations behind on software I wonder how many of today's programmers (a discipline which predates 'software engineering') can write microcode, or even assembler, for today's processors.
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 4:59 am
Gemology Online Veteran
Joined: Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:18 am Posts: 595 Location: Madrid, Spain
Gearloose wrote:
Quote:
I just ordered a copy too. At $35 and change for the two volumes, I don't understand the economics of it. The printing and binding alone would seem to preclude making any money on this!
I do not either, despite changes in the State of the Art in publishing. The point is he had to write every word of it, prepare illustrations and dedicate time out of his life.
Tom lives near Heidelberg, an ancient cradle of knowledge in Europe, with the oldest university in Germany. It is also only 140 km from Strasburg, where books printing was started in Europe in mid XV by Johannes Gutenberg… They probably have some ancient secrets about books writing and printing in that area and they pass them through generations… That’s the only plausible explanation of the economics of this book for me.
Also, the epigraph to the book from Pliny the Elder gives some idea of the philosophy of this project:
Quote:
“True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read; and in so living as to make the world happier and better for our living in it…”
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 12:25 pm
Gold Member
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:01 pm Posts: 1902 Location: Pine City, NY and Dothan, AL
The books just arrived. I'm amazed at the quality of publishing, as well as the content. At this price, these books are nothing less than a gift to the faceting community. Thank you, Tom!
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 4:26 pm
Valued Contributor
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2010 12:00 pm Posts: 461 Location: Washington DC
I just got my copies in! The third page I read at random had a tip on it that made me feel like an idiot for not thinking of it myself. I think I'm gonna learn a lot from these.
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 9:30 pm
New to the Forum or The Quiet Type
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 7:26 pm Posts: 10 Location: Leicester UK
Just received my 2 volumes today. In case anyone in UK is reading this, Amazon uk have it in stock. At £21.44 it is incredible value. Obviously have not had time to really study it yet. Can only say that since it arrived this morning I have done very little except look at it, much to my wife's disgust!! It will take months to assimilate all the data in these. Thank you Tom.
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 4:02 pm
Gold Member
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:01 pm Posts: 1902 Location: Pine City, NY and Dothan, AL
Tom gives an explanation of the low publishing cost in the introduction, where he discusses "Print on Demand" and computer typesetting. That doesn't explain why he chose not to charge more - the book's value far exceeds its price.
Print on demand has been available in some form since at least the mid-1990's. A company I worked for closed down the print shop which produced its manuals in favor of Xerox equipment which printed a manual when a salesman entered the order into the computer.
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 5:39 pm
Moderator
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:06 pm Posts: 2267 Location: Chapel Hill, NC / Toronto, ON
Books just got here this afternoon, already finished Volume 2. Tom has produced easily the single best resource for faceting in the history of faceting resources. From flawless picture explanations of various concepts, to easy-to-read text, it's perfect.
He also gives the correct answer to many of the bullshit "controversies" in faceting that were resolved decades ago by science, but stuck around the the faceting world's consciousness because people are unwilling to update their beliefs based on evidence. Excellent explanations of not scoring laps, how subsurface damage works, why the metallic Beilby layer is irrelevant to gem materials, etc.
10/10, would recommend.
From here on out, the only relevance AFAIS that the Vargas has is the index of materials in the back of the book (everything else is wholly outdated), and the only relevance that the Graham has is getting someone going who wants to start practicing first and learn theory later.
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 9:04 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
These volumes are so reasonably priced, I'm going to order them, just in case if ever decide to learn to cut stones. I've also made them "Books of the Month" on the left.
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 1:11 pm
New to the Forum or The Quiet Type
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 4:20 am Posts: 10
Hello All,
First of all, thanks so much for the positive feedback on the book, and my apologies for not chiming in earlier...the day job, and all.
Here is some quick feedback of my own:
Arya wrote: "Literally my only complaint is that Tom doesn't use G for girdle facets. I'm annoyingly anal about this kind of thing, even though there is next to no value other than making it easier to scan a design."
Fair enough. My motivation in labeling the girdle facets with "P" was to help settle the pavilion-first vs. girdle-first debate.
Duncan wrote: "There is Basil Watermeyer's book 'Diamond Cutting', if you can find a copy."
roshanravan wrote: "an e-book version would have been great"
I did explore doing a Kindle version, but the book relies heavily on graphics. At least at this stage, the quality of Kindle imagery makes this a non-starter.
Several people commented on the economics of publishing this type of book. As AlBalmer relates, recent advances in digital printing presses have changed the market significantly. The printing companies are able to print and distribute single copies of a book within hours of receiving an order, thereby eliminating the cost of maintaining inventory. As an additional benefit, the book can be readily updated and never goes out of print.
Unfortunately, what these advances have not changed is the economics of authoring. After accounting for manufacturing costs, Amazon's cut, and Uncle Sam, an author of a small-run, specialized book like this can expect to receive between 7% and 20% of the cover price. Short version: it is not a money-maker. I knew this going in, and produced the book out of an honest (if perhaps naive) belief that a more modern book on faceting may help attract a new generation of hobbyists, thereby making things better for everyone. I also have to admit to a selfish reason: I had a childhood dream of being an author, and with my 50th birthday rapidly approaching, I expressed my mid-life crisis by writing. Could have been worse...I did have my eye on a sports car...
Once again, thanks for all the wonderful feedback. It means a lot.
Post subject: Re: “Amateur Gemstone Faceting” book by Tom Herbst
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:06 pm
Moderator
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:06 pm Posts: 2267 Location: Chapel Hill, NC / Toronto, ON
FaceTable wrote:
Arya wrote: "Literally my only complaint is that Tom doesn't use G for girdle facets. I'm annoyingly anal about this kind of thing, even though there is next to no value other than making it easier to scan a design."
Fair enough. My motivation in labeling the girdle facets with "P" was to help settle the pavilion-first vs. girdle-first debate.
Ohhhhhh. Very, very smart idea. That honestly didn't occur to me
Quote:
I produced the book out of an honest (if perhaps naive) belief that a more modern book on faceting may help attract a new generation of hobbyists, thereby making things better for everyone.
I can tell you right now, that the first volume is EXACTLY the kind of book that would attract the internet generation. It's clear, contains the entirety of beginner-valuable information, it's got an appropriate level of technical information, it's up-to-date and contains visual aids, and it makes faceting approachable.
The only single thing I could suggest is including a super-summarized PDF with purchase, where you have a very summarized direct practical guide. Some of my generation won't be willing to read the book first, but if you have a "quick start" manual with the book, then you have a higher rate of capture
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