"P. Dye Golf Courses: 50 Years of Visonary Design" on sale for $1.99

[David_Tepper]

I just discovered that Pete Dye Golf Courses: Fifty Years of Visionary Design, by Joel Zuckerman, is on sale at bookcloseouts.com for $1.99. Looks like they have a good number of copies in stock.

There is a book called Classic American Courses, by Mike Stachura, on sale for $1.99 as well. I have bought a good number of golf books cheap (although never quite this cheap) from this website before.

http://www.bookcloseouts.com/Store/Browse/_/N-2jd/Ntt-golf  

[PCCraig]

Thanks for the heads up David. $1.99 for Joel Z's Dye book is a steal for any fan of his work (Joel or Dye).

[Mark Pritchett]

This book is worth its original price. 

I am looking forward to Joel's next which should be out soon.  Hopefully he will chime in and give us an update. 

[Mac Plumart]

Mark...you are correct.  Luckily, I've got one with Joel's autograph on it.  And a number of his other books, Golf Charms of Charleston, Hacker's Humiliation, and I gave out to all my golfing clients the one he did with the different personalities on a golf course...what was the name of that one?...anyway, it was/they are good.

[Ronald Montesano]

John, that's a bit harsh!

Sure, he could have avoided using Joel's name, but no author expects every book to sell at MSRP.

I picked up three books, thanks to this thread: Turk Pipkin, Tom Coyne and John Coyne. I usually use Abebooks.com, and now I have another joint to frequent.

Thanks, David.

[David_Tepper]

Ronald M. -

You are welcome.

DT

[John Kavanaugh]

Ron,

We should be the champions of architects, authors and owners.  Not bottom feeders. Joel has been generous with many people on this board and the first chance we get we hawk his book for pennies. That's modern loyalty in a game of honor.

[Ronald Montesano]

John,

"We" do not run the site to which David tepped, err, tipped us off, so "we" are not hawking his book for pennies.

I can't testify personally to Joel's generosity, but I've always like his writing style.

What's the difference between finding a book on-line for cheap and finding it in a store for the same price?

[Mike Nuzzo]

As a recent convert to analogies by Barney himself...

Its like buying golf balls at Wallmart to play at Beechtree.

[David_Tepper]

It is neither surprising nor unusual for a book 4 years past its publication date to become remaindered. That is just a fact of life in the book publishing business.

While I do not know Joel Zuckerman, my guess is he would rather see copies of this book, purchased at any price, in the hands of people who might enjoy reading it rather than dumped for land fill.

[Dónal Ó Ceallaigh]

Posting this thread is a real dick move. Joel deserves better than being undercut like this by his friends.

 

[Ronald Montesano]

Nuzz,

If analogies by Barney means What the ever-lovin F?, I agree.

[Scott Sander]

If you have a favorite Dye course, I'd recommend calling that course (or perhaps email Joel) to see if that course has a custom cover.  I don't know how many copies each club had to commit to get a cover, but a bunch of them did.  I have the version from The Fort and don't for a moment regret the $ it cost me.  It's a great conversation piece.

[John Kavanaugh]

If you have a favorite Dye course, I'd recommend calling that course (or perhaps email Joel) to see if that course has a custom cover.  I don't know how many copies each club had to commit to get a cover, but a bunch of them did.  I have the version from The Fort and don't for a moment regret the $ it cost me.  It's a great conversation piece.

Every Pete Dye course I play has these books in the pro shop for sale.  Joel also has them for sale on his site. http://www.vagabondgolfer.com/ We are a prime demographic for these sales which is why posting a link for a $1.99 dump of 500 copies is a dick move towards Joel and every Pete Dye course in the country.

In todays world of golf there is nothing wrong with getting the best deal possible.  We just need to be careful to allow those who create what we enjoy to also make a profit.  It won't destroy an individual if you steal a song or a movie but it just might if you run and tell everyone you know until that theft point goes viral. 

[Mac Plumart]

I am with John 100% on this one.

[David_Tepper]

And here I thought we were all believers in the free market and the laws of supply & demand. I guess not!

[Ronald Montesano]

I'm a believer in the diversity of opinion...I've no more to say on this topic, however.

[Niall C]

I've never met Joel and certainly wish him no harm however I fail to see how participating in the same discussion group with him means that I have to pay full price for his product when either him or people he is in business with are offering it somewhere at a cheaper price. What exactly do you sign up to when you join this site ?

Niall

[Joel Zuckerman]

I guess its time for me to chime in.

First--thank you for the kind words on this thread, and of course many thanks to the dozens and dozens of DG members who purchased Dye Book copies from me at my website, www.vagabondgolfer.com, as opposed to Amazon, or other avenues. 

As a good friend of mine (a lurker here as a matter of fact) once said when I was complaining about the book biz, 'if it was easy, everyone would do it."

Unless you are writing mass market books, selling 50,000+ copies. IMO Amazon is no friend to the author.  I have attempted to make purchasing on my site worthwhile, and ultimately a better value than Amazon, by offering either custom inscriptions, custom covers, books signed by Pete Dye in addition to myself, or additional books or brand-new sunglasses as a "thank you," and secondary gift, for ordering from me. 

Ultimately, I feel I offer more value to the purchasers at my site by including these gifts, then does the purchaser at Amazon.  However--I am obviously in no position to compete with an outfit that sells a $50 item for 2 bucks....much like trying to launch a tee shot to keep up with the likes of Ben Kodadek, for example, much as I might like to..I just cannot do it!

I have a new book coming out in the spring, to coincide with this summer's PGA Championship on Kiawah, and once again, I will attempt to make purchasing the new book from me more compelling than going to local bookstore, or Amazon.com

[Jason Walker]

Let me say that as a recent purchaser of Joel's book directly from Joel, it's a far more enjoyable experience for the enthusiast to interact directly with the author.  I didn't need a personal inscription, but I received a very nice one from Joel on the inside front cover.  I didn't need a new pair of sunglasses, but a nice pair of Tifosis arrived along with the book.  And in the age of the internet, simply being able to trade emails with Joel about South Georgia and golf while buying the book was great.  

Incidentally, the same can be said about buying a book from Brad Klein too.

I liken this situation to the town I live in and the fact that our restaurants and shops, while very nice, are not seen as "cosmopolitan" as those in Philadelphia which is 15-20 mins away.  The residents of our town are enamored of our downtown (or so they say), but are wont to complain about the establishments.  I can assure you that if they were all to disappear, the complaining would be much louder.  So my wife and I do our part and eat in an in-town restaurant once a week.

I'd happily pay $50 for a book like Joel's again.

[PCCraig]

I have a new book coming out in the spring, to coincide with this summer's PGA Championship on Kiawah, and once again, I will attempt to make purchasing the new book from me more compelling than going to local bookstore, or Amazon.com

Joel,

What's your new book about exactly?