FTR PUBLISHING

In the beginner's forum, Aokrongly has posted his intention to write and get published a poker book. We all know this guy can write.

Someone else brought up the idea of FTR publishing. I like the idea, but have no idea how or if it could work.

You have players on this site (the legendary ones), that most of us newer members get very little exposure to. Such as Soupie for instance. What I have gleaned from old posts is that he had a lot of material on here in the past, but it is gone now.

I would pay money to get a compilation of key posts from the great players on this site. I would pay money for any book of original material from some of these players on strategy, etc. I would pay money for some kind of subscription newsletter with articles from these guys. I would even pay money to have access online to these posts that are no longer available or to a separate area.

The revenue potential for the site and for the authors could be significant.

Any possibility?

I've been thinking about this for a while...I've got a background in magazine publishing and advertising from a previous life, and was just reading that a whole whack of poker books are hitting the shelves this year. FTR has credibility up the yin yang, and an incredible depth of knowledge to draw upon...

A mag, a series of FTR books..."The FTR Guide to winning at no-limit hold-em" ...they all have potential.

Soupie had a legendary thread. I read it. Are you jealous?

-'rilla

Originally Posted by a500lbgorilla

Soupie had a legendary thread. I read it. Are you jealous?

-'rilla

Yes, actually...(I'm assuming it's gone now)...which is why I think FTR should look at publishing. Gather together the best posts to form the meat of a book, put it in the hands of a editor, let the editor pull it all together into a cohesive whole, then publish the fucker. Bet you could probably get a book deal just on the basis of a pitch.

YES!

We'd talked about this many times before. We just don't have any contacts in the publishing business (or know any editors) and don't really know how to go about it.

Starting with an E-book is an option that might be easier to tackle the first time out.

Originally Posted by MNMP2

I would pay money for some kind of subscription newsletter with articles from these guys.

We are working on putting together a monthly FTR newsletter. However, we are thinking it will be free and that it will have other content in addition to poker strategy(gauntlet updates, poker vacation package deals, poker room bonus codes, freeroll announcements etc).

Maybe once we have the general newsletter software technology in place we can see if there is a desire for a premium subscription service.

I see in the terms and condistion that FTR has copyright over the contributions of its members. It also requires its members to warrant that the material they post does not belong to a third party. I assume this means that if elements from this site were published, FTR would be free from any risk of legal action? Or would it be the case that, by publishing in hard form, any areas later found to be copyrighted by a third party could cause the books to be withdrawn?

If you want contacts in the publishing business, I'm sure a general plea to the FTR user base (and not just those who read this rather unloved forum) would get a lot of potential contacts to come forward.

Originally Posted by biondino

I see in the terms and condistion that FTR has copyright over the contributions of its members. It also requires its members to warrant that the material they post does not belong to a third party. I assume this means that if elements from this site were published, FTR would be free from any risk of legal action? Or would it be the case that, by publishing in hard form, any areas later found to be copyrighted by a third party could cause the books to be withdrawn?...

Yeah, plagarism can be an issue, intentional or unintentional. That's why an editor is essential, for a book at least. I wouldn't suggest lifting posts "as is" direct from FTR anyway...I'd suggest picking a handful of respected contributors and getting them to each write or re-write similar length articles on this particular aspect of the game, then this aspect of the game, and so on...to give you a complete strategy guide from the viewpoint of a number of good, respected players. The editor would would edit for length and language and supply the connective tissue. All the writers would be credited and, I assume, paid, perhaps sharing in a percentage of the proceeds from sales. I'm just blue skying here but I think it can be done, and done well.

And, yes, I'm sticking my hand up for the editor role. I spent many years in the advertising and magazine publishing business and am not a half bad writer myself, but I would expect the articles to come from winning FTR players of some badass repute, and that's definitely not me - yet.

Originally Posted by Warpe

I'd suggest picking a handful of respected contributors and getting them to each write or re-write similar length articles on this particular aspect of the game, then this aspect of the game, and so on...to give you a complete strategy guide from the viewpoint of a number of good, respected players. The editor would would edit for length and language and supply the connective tissue. All the writers would be credited and, I assume, paid, perhaps sharing in a percentage of the proceeds from sales. I'm just blue skying here but I think it can be done, and done well.

Wow. Sounds like you know what you're talking about.

And yes, of course we'd work some sort of deal with the contributors.



Warpe, do you have any publishing contacts? Can you get a better idea of whether any publishers would be interested in our particular pitch, i.e., reputable and respected poker forum and its foremost contributors sharing insight on poker?

We now have three members listed in pocketfives and we have plenty of other good tournament players.

I am just wondering how realistic chances we would have publishing and selling a tournament book and a ring book, I know there is demand for the latter at least but we really dont have any ring gurus in our site. Some pretty descent players though.. Perhaps we could come up with a book like Winning at Low Stakes No-Limit Hold'em.

I have no publishing experience but I am pretty familiar with marketing and selling so I might be able to help on that matter, at least.

Sorry for the delay in answering on this...been giving it some thought...

First off, given the number of poker titles hitting the shelves, many by high profile players, the competition is/will be fierce to get a publisher to bite, so you need an angle that hasn't been done a lot. My suggestion would be to focus on the online side of poker.

Second, we'd need to line up the contributors and put together an outline and a proposal for a publisher. Publishers are easy enough to contact, although it's preferable to have an agent do it for you because they can open more doors. Writers Market lists all US and Canadian based publishers and the types of books they handle...I'll go get a copy and also peruse the poker bookshelf to see who's publishing what.

Thoughts on contributors? soupie's name has come up big time...others? You guys would know better than me...

Also: self-publishing is definitely an option, although you'd be reliant on online sales for the most part...

I have another person who I want to get some more advice from as well.

Let me know what you find out, Warpe. Thanks.


{Stickied for future reference}

I could read a book of nothing but Michael1123's writing, personally. It'd be a crying shame if he couldn't be majorly involved.

I think this is a great idea, but I would choose two areas to focus on... Lower level NL ring, and Sit and Gos. These areas seem to ALWAYS have the highest demand for applicable books, and there's never a good answer when someone asks for one.

Be that answer.

Any progress on this?

I think a "How to beat low buy-in online SnGs" book has tremendous potential

Not to mean a bump but i never saw this the first time.

I would definatly write for this if I was asked to and I have previous experience in writing a weekly business column for the local newspaper.

As would I. I've been a writer for years. Maybe jeff and I can collaborate on some limit pieces.

Originally Posted by euphoricism

As would I. I've been a writer for years. Maybe jeff and I can collaborate on some limit pieces.

Yeah, sure, whatever. Just send me the check.