UKC

I have been trying to get hold of a copy of How to Climb Harder by Mark Reeves, I pre-ordered one off of Amazon but I got an email last week saying that they are out of stock. I have rung the Covent Gardens Cotswold in London but they don't have any in stock either. I really want to get this book before Thursday as I am leaving for Pembroke/Stanage/North Wales to get in the last bit of climbing before the season ends and would like to see how much I can push my grade.

I don't suppose anyone has a copy of the book and would be willing to sell it or knows where I can get a copy of it in or around the London area before Thursday?

Those of you that do have it, is it worth buying?

In reply to kit perry:

at cots covent garden they have the two bibles of climbing harder, Dave Macs, nine climbers make the same mistakes and The self coached climber.

In reply to Scarab:

are they better then how to climb harder? I have heard mixed reviews about 9 out of 10 climbers..

In reply to kit perry:

Most of the negative reviews about 9 out of 10 climbers seem to be because it has no shiny pictures and can be daunting to read through without any breaks in the text.

If you are buying a book for the actual content (ie what's written down) then i'd definitely reccommend it.

In reply to kit perry:

You cant get hold of Mark's book yet, because it isnt out until the 25th of this month, if I remember correctly.

In reply to Dan Lane:

Ow really?

According to Amazon it was out last week!?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Climb-Harder-Practical-Essential/dp/1906095116

In reply to kit perry: Hi Kit

I have been in contact with the publisher, the book is on its way from the printers in the next few days. It should be in the Cordee Warehouse on the 20th, so I am afraid that no one has it at the moment.

I woud say it will be worth the wait. I am keen to here reaction of people who see the book, as I am flying out of the country on thurdays, so won't get to see a copy before I leave, gutted.

In reply to Mark Reeves:

Well I can say i'll be getting one at some point, after Mike Raine made it sound so good, do you pay him? I am more than happy to tell you what i think of it.

In reply to kit perry:
the best way to climb harder is just climb more of everything and make observations of other peoples climbing

In reply to kit perry: I would also say that having found out about books sales, that whilst Amazon will save you pennies, they buy at a vastly discounted rate, and therefore the writers and publishers lose out considerable (about a 40% reduction in royalty). Personally I have started buying all my specialists books from local outdoor shops like V12Outdoor and Joe Browns in Llanberis. They both do email orders and it is helping to support local businesses.

Alternatively you can try the publisher direct on http:// www.pesdapress.com

At the end of the day buy the book from where you like, but sometimes I prefer to spend more and shop locally.

In reply to Dan Lane: Hi Dan I look forward to hearing about it. Email through here.

You should gets Mike's Book as well

Yes we do run a cartell!

In reply to Mark Reeves:

How exactly do authors loose royalties if people buy from Amazon?

Surely there is a set amount of money per book that goes to the author regardless of who sells it? If anyone loses out from amazon selling books I would imagine it would be the gear shops like V12 and Joe Brown which I spend a lot of time in during inclement weather and end up buying half a dozen things I had no intention of buying on the way in.

In reply to kit perry: http://www.redroom.com/blog/andyross/the-book-deal-royalties

I have some other links, but basically publishers discount to Amazon, and reduce the royalty I am afraid.

In reply to Mark Reeves:

They don't do that with mine, although mine are in a niche market and it may be different elsewhere, of course.

jcm

In reply to Mark Reeves:

That's a bit cheeky!

Looks like I'll have to wait till the 20th then.

I'll let you know how I get on with your book, I am climbing at VS at the moment but am aiming for E1 by the end of the year.

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Alan James has said the same thing as Mark for Rockfax books. I tend to always try to get less mainstream content from local/specialisst retailers as a result.

In reply to Monk:

I never buy from Amazon, mainly because i like to support the more specialist shops who know what they are selling, rather than just selling anything. I never realised amazon paid less for the books in the first place.

In reply to kit perry:

Surely amazon pay less per book because they buy (and sell) so many more than independent shops. There's nothing wrong with it - they sell so many more copies that presumably the publishers get similar value overall in cash margin terms. And if writers and publishers don't want people buying via amazon there's a pretty simple solution..

In reply to Conor1:

It is not as simple as that.

Amazon and WHSmiths discount new books that they don't have stock of to try and get people onto their site buying stuff. They actually take a minuscule margin on many books initially in order to try and establish a product in their buying list. Then the books tend to go up in price once sales grow unless they can negotiate a better margin, which they usually do.

Climbing guidebooks rarely sell in enough numbers to make this worthwhile so all that happens is the books sit there undercutting specialist retailers who have actually put the effort and resources to stock the book.

Only a very small percentage of Rockfax books go through Amazon but we do get a slightly smaller margin for each sale. I am not too worried about that though since we get the same small margin from continental European shops and a few other specialist retailers like Waterstones who stock books at retail price in their stores.

What I don't like about it is that it undercuts the specialist Outdoor Retailers and the end result of this will be that the shops may stop stocking anything but the local guidebook that they can sell enough of. It has always been a great feature of UK Outdoor shops that they often stock books for Outer Hebrides and West Penwith on the same shelves.

As for not letting Amazon or WHSmith sell the book; that too isn't as simple as it sounds. These places get their stock from massive distributors who buy from Cordee (our only real distributor). If a tiny publisher started saying to these distributors that they couldn't supply Amazon, then I am sure they'd tell them where to go and suddenly we would not be supplying Waterstones, and many other resellers across Europe who will only deal with the bigger distributors and not Cordee.

Basically we have to tolerate Amazon but gently ask people to consider buying their books from UK specialist shops and online retailers. Obviously I could undercut everyone on the Rockfax site and clean up, but we deliberately keep the price there at a level so as to allow the shops their margin. As a consequence, our online sales are not as high as they could be.

Alan

In reply to Conor1: If we don't use quality independant technical climbing stores then ultimately we will end up with boring multiples, with similarly boring product ranges.

In reply to kit perry:

heres a link to the publishers website
http://www.pesdapress.com/Climbing-&-mountaineering-Climbing/c10_30/p39...

They have on there website as available 20th of september. I have bought from pesda and can recommend there service.

In reply to Alan James - UKC:

Hello Alan ,

I would like to commend you on your business ethics with regards to book sales , good stuff well done stick to your guns ! Good post also , I'm a little wiser now as to how online book sales work & I will use more specialist shops from now on thanks .

regards Leon .

In reply to kit perry:

It's really good. Well worth buying, I've got a lot out of it. Lots of things to think about and loads of great hints and tips.

You could also try:- http://www.howtoclimbthreegradesharder.com/

Whether or not any of these books will jump you up two grades in one weekend is debatable tho.

Alan/Mark - What about large chains such as Cotswolds/Go Outdoors etc?

In reply to kit perry:
Its definately worth buying IMO. Its not bedtime reading though - its a training manual pure and simple. Thats not to say its badly written, its definately not but I can see how some would find if difficult to read cover to cover.


"how to climb 3 grades harder" is worth the download as well, though feels primarily aimed at sports climbers.


Cheers,

Stuart

In reply to StuDoig:
I have not read Mick's book, I probably should, but I have climbed trad with him, I am sure the book will help a trad climber. He is also a nice guy to have at the other end of a rope.

In reply to scooott:

The modern affliction, it's a wonder people can still read books:
http://www.theonion.com/articles/nation-shudders-at-large-block-of-uninterr...

In reply to mattrm:

They will both order direct from Cordee, in fact Go Outdoors actually brand the Rockfax books as Cordee publications for some curious reason.

Go Outdoors do undercut but that is their policy. They charge for delivery which makes the books much the same price as other shops and web sites.

Cotswold don't appear to stock guidebooks online.

Alan

In reply to The New NickB:
No Doubt, and I'm sure that what he writes would definately help anyone pushing their grade trad or sport.

Cheers,

Stuart

In reply to kit perry: Just to let you know the book is out now and sample pages can be view at

http://pesdapress.com

In reply to Mark Reeves:

Yeah, got it in the post the other day...unfortunatly, it's going to be a christmas present