Douglas Self's Active Crossovers book

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Amazon US:

Paperback: 672 pages
ISBN-10: 1138733032
Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
$90

Hardcover: 672 pages
ISBN-10: 1138733024
Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
$190

Late April (you can pre-order now).

eBook not listed yet, but unless Doug objects, Amazon is sure to want to eBook it.
The content may worth every penny. But the price is somewhat out of range for a hobbyist, DIY speaker builder.
 
What do your speakers cost? $90? $900? More?

If the book is as good as his past work, I'm sure it can save you $90 of experimentation, trial and disappointment, etc.

I have almost never regretted buying good books.
I have a lot of respect for Doug Self and enjoy reading him. Book publishing is not cheap. I do not think Doug is getting rich off his books. It is just a comment of the current state of book prices. Doug is a well established writer. Hopefully, he does not need to self publish.

You have a good point on what we spend on projects. But they produce audio and visual effect in addition.

I have a good collection of audio books. Most were acquired when paper back were under $30 in those days. I have spent hundreds of dollars for my professional text books, but do not feel the same for hobbyist reading. It is just a personal choice.
 
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PRR

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Joined 2003
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...Book publishing is not cheap. I do not think Doug is getting rich off his books. ... Hopefully, he does not need to self publish....

The paper does not cost $90, much less $190 w/boards. It IS a lot of paper (1.5" thick??) but that's maybe half the cost. The store (Amazon) takes a cut. Also the original list price is often knocked-down after 6-10 months, and the author's cut gets very slim.

I've been through this math. I could write a (smaller) book. It would take me a year of 2/3-rd time nose-grindstone work, words and pictures. (A picture is more work than 1,000 words.) Say I sold 500 copies at $20 take/copy. $10,000 for 2/3rd of a year. Works out to $7.28/hour. Lower than minimum wage. Yes, I *might* sell 5,000 copies. But I would not know that until I quit most of my other work to spend a year writing and a year of sales dribbling in. Living on savings and beans.

I believe Self writes because he wants to. He'll never "get rich" writing technical material; he's no Sullivan, King, Block, Grisham, Paterson, Pratt, or Rowlings. However without some hard compensation, he might just as well stir-up some paid consulting work or go fishing.

As a buyer, I'd look at the benefit/cost. If I was building a $2,000 speaker system with crossovers, I sure would wonder if the book would save >$90 of trouble or get me >$90 improvement in "sound". That's not a hard economic decision, like slate or tar roofing, or gas diesel electric runabout. There is also entertainment: Self writes very well and clearly, and has clearly thought this stuff through. Even when I disagree with a detail, I find our disagreement entertaining and thought-focusing.

In fact I am not looking to build any speakers soon, and while I'd be pleased to read the book it is a bit rich for my current cash.

I see Amazon is showing "Only 4 left in stock", so somebody is buying it.
 
The paper does not cost $90, much less $190 w/boards. It IS a lot of paper (1.5" thick??) but that's maybe half the cost. The store (Amazon) takes a cut. Also the original list price is often knocked-down after 6-10 months, and the author's cut gets very slim.

I've been through this math. I could write a (smaller) book. It would take me a year of 2/3-rd time nose-grindstone work, words and pictures. (A picture is more work than 1,000 words.) Say I sold 500 copies at $20 take/copy. $10,000 for 2/3rd of a year. Works out to $7.28/hour. Lower than minimum wage. Yes, I *might* sell 5,000 copies. But I would not know that until I quit most of my other work to spend a year writing and a year of sales dribbling in. Living on savings and beans.

I believe Self writes because he wants to. He'll never "get rich" writing technical material; he's no Sullivan, King, Block, Grisham, Paterson, Pratt, or Rowlings. However without some hard compensation, he might just as well stir-up some paid consulting work or go fishing.

As a buyer, I'd look at the benefit/cost. If I was building a $2,000 speaker system with crossovers, I sure would wonder if the book would save >$90 of trouble or get me >$90 improvement in "sound". That's not a hard economic decision, like slate or tar roofing, or gas diesel electric runabout. There is also entertainment: Self writes very well and clearly, and has clearly thought this stuff through. Even when I disagree with a detail, I find our disagreement entertaining and thought-focusing.

In fact I am not looking to build any speakers soon, and while I'd be pleased to read the book it is a bit rich for my current cash.

I see Amazon is showing "Only 4 left in stock", so somebody is buying it.
I totally agree with you that "I believe Self writes because he wants to".

The cost of publishing is not just the paper nor the distribution. You have to pay the editorial staff and the overhead of the publishing house. The cost goes up dramatically when you add a few color plates for picture etc. I have never written a book. Just to publish a paper on a journal of the technical society that I belong to, the fee is $2000 when you get the peer reviewers to accept your paper. This is cheap because of their large volume operation.

Only the few accomplished writer like Doug Self or Bob Cordell has the privilege of having a publisher willing to work with them on books.
 
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A Good Book Well Worth the Money

Douglas,

I have been reading your new 'The Design of Active Crossovers' 2nd edition book for a couple of weeks and am really happy that I made the purchase.

It contains a lot of information that I can learn from and use. The book should be especially interesting for those readers that do not have your other books.

Thank you for taking the time to write it.
 
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