why do u never hear about some book authors winning anything?

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Everyone:

Here's a partial explanation.

Why does McDonalds advertise. part of the reason is that their product relatively equal to their competition. But suppose their hamburgers were really ten times better than what Wendy's or Burger King had to offer. Everyone would eventually understand that this was the case, and they wouldn't need to advertise.

That's what we believe is happening with our books. Demand has been so great that we are having trouble keeping up. This includes filling orders and keeping books in print. And the reason is that new players who want to get better quickly hear that our books are the ones that you have to read.

Now with this being said, we do do some advertising and promoting. For example, right now we have a promotion going in Borders for a couple of our titles. Furthermore, it would certainly be nice if David or I won a big tournament, but I don't think the long term impact is that important.

In addition, since we do have books by Dan Harrington and "Fossilman" coming, we will have that area covered. But the main reason (I belive) that these books will do well is that they will be terrific books. That will allow them to stand the test of time and have great "legs."

Best wishes,
Mason

[M2d]

[ QUOTE ]
the proof is in the pudding.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, Greg has proven that he understands both poker and tournament poker. He's proven on these and other forums, that he has the ability to relate these concepts to a larger audience. He's proven in large limit and big bet cash games as well as local and global tournaments that he can apply these concepts.

[RowdyZ]

So you would rather buy a book by a proven tournament pro. I guess if you wanted a book by Men you would love a book by Phil Hellmuth with all his success he could write a great book on poker, maybe even make some DVDS to teach the game. I am sure with all his tourament success he would be the best person in the world to write a poker book.
<insert that sarcasm meter thing here if I knew how>.

[PokerPaul]

hi mason,

never thought this thread would generate as much discussion as it has, although it has drifted a bit.

Your explanation has merit in that superior quality products will basically advertise themself in time through word of mouth and sell well.

However, that doesnt mean that many additional sales could be generated by a more visible presence.

Compare the movie industry. Most movies are marketed huge before they even open, showing trailers and promotions on TV and at fast food chains in the weeks prior to realease. And lets face it, the majority of movies are not nearly as good as the hype they create...heck they mostly suck.

Yet still, the top selling movie each week is very rarely the best...it is usually the most heavily marketed one, and then it stops selling rapidly within 2 weeks as word gets round that its not that good. Quality wise its crap..but revenue wise huge success...

Now there are the few really good movies that come out, and those obviously then have staying power, as word of mouth carries those box office receipts further weeks.

So some movies that do not market heavily which are good, will also generate revenues (ex. full monty, scream, il postino, bigfat greek weddding), but in most cases not close to amount of big marketing flicks...

However, the biggest revenue generators by far, are the ones which are BOTH: heavily marketed, AND top notch quality (Forrest Gump, Braveheart, fill in what u want here).

So if what your saying is that you want to let your quality and reputation speak for itself to sell your books, that will surely work. But you can't say that additional marketing $$$ spent in the right places won't add significantly to it.

[jonjonmacky]

back when there was more skill than flukish dead money, and cash games duh, you think these guys play just to be on tv, they have to make an actual cash game living. Funny Web page.

[Joboo]

Well if they truly are having trouble keeping up with filling the sales, then in the short run the revenue gained from advertising would be nothing or close to it. However, in the long run, assuming that they can expand their production to fill all the orders they're currently recieving and more, it would be to their benefit to advertise, whether by Sklansky being on a TV tournament or by some other method. I knew those Economics classes would be good for something someday.

[DesertCat]

[ QUOTE ]
Men's tourney record alone, overshadows any success in poker that Greg has had, EXCEPT for his WSOP ME win. let's not forget, Greg, from the stats i've seen, has had less than 5 legitimate live casino poker tournament wins (most of which are small and hold no comparison to the WSOP ME), Men has had at least 75+ (with at least 5 being WSOP bracelets). sounds to me like nothing but clear favoriticism

[/ QUOTE ]

Desdia,

I think you are missing my point. I'm not saying Men is a cheater, but it's a commonly repeated claim (search RGP for Daniel N's first hand account). The allegations are that in those tournaments Men had groups of his acolytes dumping chips to him, both at the table and at night in their rooms. If there is any truth to those claims, then how many of his wins are legitimate?

Aside from that, you need to consider how many (and what kinds) tournaments Men has entered, and the average field size of each. Bracelets were a bit easier to come by in most years that Men was competing than in the last few years.

[Drac]

You sure talk a lot with no credentials. You must have been laughed at a lot where you are "from".

[banditbdl]

You drag on and on about the fact that Greg doesn't win "CONSISTENTLY", or have the "proven track record", or has only "One big win from the WSOP ME". The fact of the matter is that while these statements may be true at face value they do not in fact mean anything at all. Up until the WSOP ME win Greg didn't play in all that many tournaments, certainly only a fraction of the events that Men, and Pham, and some of the other guys you mentioned have played in. In the tournaments Greg has played in his quality of play has produced results with a tremendous return on investment and has drawn favorable reviews from a number of highly respected players. Throw that in with the fact that Greg has consistently made great, informative, and easily digestible posts here for quite some time and its no wonder people would be interested in buying and reading his book. This isn't to say that Greg has the market on tournament poker teaching cornered in any way shape or form. Hell, maybe Men the Master could come up with a better book, but since I have no idea what his teaching and writing style are like I'm not exactly holding my breath on that one. But to ignore the Return on Investment that Greg gets in tournaments (big or small) and his history of informative instruction in this and other formats because he hasn't racked up enough WPT wins to satiate your demands reveals the true depth of your ignorance.

[Mason Malmuth]

Hi Paul:

While what you're saying is certainly correct, you are comparing apples to oranges. No matter how good a movie is, in a relatively short time it is out of the theatres. That's not the same with books where some titles can be top sellers for year after year. That makes all the difference in the world.

However, we do spend more than you think on promotions, etc.

Best wishes,
mason