Write a book?

[Automatic Monkey]

My choice would be to write something less likely to become dated, that will provide you with royalties for the rest of your life. Not much, but something.

Chapter 1- Blackjack

History
Basic Strategy
The High-Low count
Alternative Count #1
Alternative Count #2
Alternative Count #3
Sidebets (1,2,3,4,5,6,7...)
Basics of Shuffle Tracking (methods 1,2,3)
Basics of Card Sequencing (methods 1,2,3,4,5)
Holecard strategy
Dealer cheating
Player cheating
Scavenger plays with other players
Comps at blackjack

Chapter 2- Blackjack Derivatives

Spanish 21
Superfun 21
BJ Switch
6:5

Chapter 3- Table Card Games

Thee Card Poker
TCP holecard strategy- one-card game
Caribbean Stud- holecard
Baccarat
Pai Gow
Using coupons at table games
Comps at table games
Cheating at table games

Chapter 4- Other table games

Craps
Roulette
Coupons & comps at craps and roulette

Chapter 5- Working With Partners

Partners who have a lot more money than you- methods
Partners who have a lot less money than you- methods


Chapter 6- Video Poker

Finding good machines
Variance at VP
Strategy tables
Cashback and comps
Progressive VP

Chapter 7- Slots

Comps at slots
Progressive slots

Chapter 8- Enjoying the AP lifestyle

Room, food, show ticket comps
Getting drunk at a casino
Getting laid at a casino
Travel comps
Safety and security
Transporting money
Converting comp to cash
EV = Eternal Value- keeping AP in perspective with your role and purpose in the Universe.

 

[rrwoods]

So in other words, the AP encyclopedia. Not comprehensive (it would be thousands of pages) but enough to get you started in every area. I kind of like it

 

[moo321]

Automatic Monkey may be on to something here. No way I could write that myself unless I took 5 years to do it.

 

[Richard Munchkin]

I think the book is a very good idea, but if you are doing it to make money, books are not the way to do it.

I published through Huntington Press, and was very happy with the job they did and the way they treat me. If you are interested in them contact Anthony Curtis because this sounds right up his alley. You should probably have sample chapters first if you don't already know him. Feel free to email me or PM me if I can answer any questions for you.

 

[moo321]

I think the book is a very good idea, but if you are doing it to make money, books are not the way to do it.

I published through Huntington Press, and was very happy with the job they did and the way they treat me. If you are interested in them contact Anthony Curtis because this sounds right up his alley. You should probably have sample chapters first if you don't already know him. Feel free to email me or PM me if I can answer any questions for you.

What kind of money would you say there is publishing a moderately successful (several thousand copies sold) book?

 

[Richard Munchkin]

LOL, $2 an hour?

To be serious, a standard deal is the writer gets 18% of what the publisher gets. So if your book is selling retail at say 14.95 at Amazon then the publisher is getting about $7.50 and the writer is getting about $1.35. Those are very rough numbers and there can be some variance because of sales and different pricing etc, but if you sell 5,000 book which is good in this genre you might make between 5k-10k.

 

[Craps Master]

LOL, $2 an hour?

To be serious, a standard deal is the writer gets 18% of what the publisher gets. So if your book is selling retail at say 14.95 at Amazon then the publisher is getting about $7.50 and the writer is getting about $1.35. Those are very rough numbers and there can be some variance because of sales and different pricing etc, but if you sell 5,000 book which is good in this genre you might make between 5k-10k.

That's kind of the old way of doing it. You can self-publish through Amazon (CreateSpace and/or Kindle) or another DIY publisher (iBooks, Lulu, etc.) and retain a much higher percentage, though DIY does entail more work. Of course, selling 5,000 copies of a blackjack book is no small feat. I imagine most sell less than 1,000 copies.

 

[QFIT]

If you publish through LuLu, you will still make most of your sales through Amazon. And you will still realize about the same as in Munchkin's post. You can see a higher percentage via Kindle. But, getting a technical book to format well on a Kindle is a royal pain. At this point, eReaders work best with novels.

 

[Craps Master]

If you publish through LuLu, you will still make most of your sales through Amazon. And you will still realize about the same as in Munchkin's post. You can see a higher percentage via Kindle. But, getting a technical book to format well on a Kindle is a royal pain. At this point, eReaders work best with novels.

You will make more than 18% royalties through Lulu or CreateSpace than through a traditional publisher, and way more if your book happens to be suitable to publish through Kindle. But, like you say, Kindle is not great for technical books. The other advantage of a publisher is the editing and marketing they can provide. DIY entails more work, but the creator does ultimately retain more $ per sale.

 

[QFIT]

For print sales on Amazon and B&N, I get 7% from Lulu. And, of course, I had to pay Lulu fees, buy an ISBN #, license cover background photos, purchase books to verify them, etc. Of course I could raise the price and get more. But, I priced it at the lowest I could. It's no way to make money. But, I knew that going in.

 

[Daggers]

I don't thunk I would suggest putting too much info in a book because the more APs th more likely casinos are to catch them IMO. But then again it could mean that more wanna bes lose money but some of them might be scared off by the seriousness of the book and the amount of information.

 

[kewljason]

. Many of kewljason's posts would prove helpful.

BillyC1

On the contrary, William. Taking advantage of comps is the weakest part of my game. I am so consumed with longevity that I over compensate by playing unrated a lot, especially in the chain stores that I don't want to lose them all. this means I leave a lot of money on the table as far as comps go.

I could and would benefit a great deal by a book such as this, especially from such an experienced player as Moo. The only thing I wonder is how much you can really say in such a book without risking the casinos changing up how they do things.

 

[rrwoods]

On the contrary, William. Taking advantage of comps is the weakest part of my game. I am so consumed with longevity that I over compensate by playing unrated a lot, especially in the chain stores that I don't want to lose them all. this means I leave a lot of money on the table as far as comps go.

I could and would benefit a great deal by a book such as this, especially from such an experienced player as Moo. The only thing I wonder is how much you can really say in such a book without risking the casinos changing up how they do things.

You would do well to read Rubin's book if you haven't already. As an AP you do need to be a bit more conservative than he suggests, but it's still a fantastic resource. He even has a section specifically devoted to card counters.