"Taylor Kingston" wrote in message
oups.com...
The recent discussion about ChessCafe, the USCF, Eric Schiller etc.
has shown a surfeit of disinformation and biased or uninformed opinion,
and a serious paucity of facts. While I have given up arguing with
rgcp's resident mud-slingers, I post here a few things here in hopes
of providing some relevant information:
1. The claim that ChessCafe carries nothing by authors Keene, Evans
and Schiller, or the publisher Cardoza, is false. Several books by
Evans, and at least two by Keene ("Aron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal"
and "A Complete Defence for Black") are now or have recently been
on the catalog. Several books by Schiller that came with USCF's B&E
inventory were carried. Schiller's CD "The Ultimate Tarrasch" was
reviewed favorably by Carsten Hansen at ChessCafe in February 2002, and
was carried until it went out of print. Books by Cardoza are on the
catalog, and just last week, "202 Checkmates for Children" by Alberston
and Wilson, published by Cardoza, was highly praised by Steve Goldberg
in the weekly featured ChessCafe review.
FACT: Chessville books by Schiller = 20, USCF/Chesscafe books by Schiller =
ZERO
FACT: Chessville books by Keene = 9, USCF/Chesscafe books by Keene = 1
2. Concerning the claim that books by Schiller are good sellers, no
one here seems to have presented any actual sales figures. The fact
that Schiller books appear in many mainstream bookstores (Borders,
Barnes & Noble, etc.) does not necessarily indicate good sales.
Laugh - are we to assume that B&N and Borders are naive about their stock?
Mainstream bookstores rarely order specific titles in such
special-interest subjects. They usually lack the expertise to stock a
chess section, or any section requiring specialized knowledge (e.g.
science, history, psychology, computers etc.) They generally work with
several large distributors. The distributor meets with a buyer and
suggests that he can provide a selection of books on a topic. So, one
or more Schiller books would be included with perhaps another dozen or
so chess titles provided by that distributor.
However, these big bookstores have the ability to return books if
they do not sell. That means their being offered on the shelf may be
more *_a function of the distributor putting together assortments of
chess books_* than of any particular book being a good seller, let
alone being requested by a store.
This would be a sufficent /experiemtn/ but if these two mass retailers
continue to represent the titles /at all/ can this mean that there is merit
[profit] in doing so? I think so.
Cardoza books are distributed by the big firm Simon & Schuster. This
explains why they appear in many bookstores. The big question is: how
many actually sell? If 100 books are sent to bookstores and 98 are
eventually returned to the distributor, the author is paid for only
two. So the mere fact that a book appears on the shelves of a B&N or
Borders is not proof of good sales.
Without some valid sales data, the claims of Schiller partisans must
be viewed skeptically.
Without some elbow-grease from book-banners, suggestions that major
retailers don't know their books from their elbows might also be viewed
sceptically.
3. None of the Schiller apologists have mentioned it, but he owes the
USCF approximately $20,000 for the U.S. Open fiasco he ran in Hawaii
about seven years ago.
Can this be the real reason why his books are banned? I would have thought
that any adequate contract would have been enforced by normal means - but
apparently not! A mere $20 grand is not worth collecting!
He badmouths the USCF,
USCF policies - did he ever suggest the organisation itself should be
trashed?
in print and on his
website. The generally dismal quality of his work aside, should the
USCF support and promote such an individual?
What makes USCF so able to distinguish dismal from the publishers and the
public's confidence in continuing to publish and purchase the books?
I leave it to rgcp/rgcm readers to make up their own minds on the
above points. I have lost all interest in mud-wrestling with our
resident liars, distortionists, sleaze-mongers and loonies, not to
mention their pseudonymous sycophants, and so will be arguing little or
no further on this matter.
What nonsense - if you had lost interest you wouldn't continue to back up
chesscafe's policy and effectively ban 2 popular authors, Schiller and
Keene.
The facts of actual representation by chesscafe compared with chessville are
given above, the rest are words unrelated to business decisions, but
seemingly about a political decision by chess politicians to not represent 2
popular writers because they do not brown-nose to the politicos, disagree
over policy details or major aspects, and speak their minds [right or
wrong], like this was still a country in which you could do that.
Phil Innes
Business Manager,
Chessville.
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