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I've been hesitating to ask this for a long time. Does anyone even have an opinion?
Did Mike Stern really read the book being endorsed?
Does it make a difference to you when deciding to buy?Last edited by JohnoL; 01-01-2024 at 05:24 PM.
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12-23-2023 06:07 PM
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I think that endorsements are often by other clients of the publisher. But, I've never really checked that carefully.
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I’m guessing they are friends and I assume they in most cases look through the book before making an endorsement.
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I received a nice unsolicited note from Vic Juris after my book was published and I asked Mr. Juris if we could use his recommendation on the publisher's website. He also gave a glowing revue on a Bulletin Board. (I can't remember which one).
When a player of Juris' calibre contacts a nobody like me for my efforts it means a lot.
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I have the book and I am glad I bought it, still got a lot of work to do though :-)
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12-30-2023, 05:37 AM #6joelf Guest
I'm going to do the reverse, I think, in the coming year: publish a book of my compositions with the forward written by a big name in jazz composition coupled with a companion CD performed by name players and singers and I suppose I'll play on it too. But the 'star' will be the material. I'm applying for a grant to fund paying the performers, maybe to self-publish if it's not picked up by an existing publisher, and promotion. I'm in ASCAP as a writer-publisher. My publishing name is Exemplar. Gonna ask for $15,000. A guitarist friend, a name many know here, applied and was successful. He laid the grantor's name on me. We shall see. All they can do is say yes or no. If I don't apply there's no chance of yes.
I don't know who-all I'll ask yet, but I have some people in mind. I deem it necessary b/c I'm not that well-known and they are. I envision marketing both to colleges/universities with jazz programs and selling the CD separately and having it streamed for sales and royalties. The book can also be made available online. Maybe parts of it can be available on google books? I've never seen engraved music there, but it's worth a shot.
And I'm open to suggestions. This is all new to me.
I sort of had celebrity endorsements in liner notes for 2 self-produced CDs. 5 name guitarists helped out for the asking. I haven't pushed those b/c I'm not that way, but it's the only way to get better known. You do need to sort of ride other coattails. Then again when bigger names agree to help out it means your work is good. And I have confidence in my playing and writing, or I wouldn't have asked. So once they are manufactured again I will market them and put them on places like Bandcamp, and send copies to my friends in radio or just 'blind' to stations. And there are indie companies that will distribute, especially if your project is already wrapped. You also need good reviews, so there's that, sending out review copies to print or online (or both) media. There's also youtube channels for teaching and performing, which I haven't yet done but I guess I'll try---though I'm leery about how I'll be found among the glut already there. Guess there are ways to promote that too. I will be interviewed in February about my life in jazz and music generally by a jazz egghead friend who's own star has been rising lately. That'll probably help some, as it will be posted wherever he posts things, including youtube I'm certain. You can't do without exposure today and the digital world can really help with that. Maybe there's no immediate money in it, but it can lead to sales or bookings. If you stay home and hope for miracles---good luck.
To me all this belongs under the rubric of personal growth. We in the creative arts struggle to even make a living, so a higher profile can certainly help. So I don't mind asking my famouser friends or even approaching people I don't know personally for that help. It's part of taking care of business, and these people will understand b/c they are good and generous and went through similar things themselves.
Wish me luck!
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"Jazz Theory: A Creative Approach" by Kenneth Stanton has a foreword by Teddy Wilson.
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A selection.
The Jazz Guitar: its evolution and its players
Maurice J.Summerfield
Hal Leonard, 1978
Foreword by Barney Kessel
Barney Kessel – A Jazz Legend
Maurice J. Summerfield
Ashley Mark Publishing Company
Foreword by Howard Alden
The Jazz Guitar Stylings Of Howard Roberts
Mitch Holder
Mel Bay, 2006
Foreword by Lee Ritenour
Voices in Jazz Guitar
Joe Barth
Mel Bay, 2006
Foreword by B. Milkowski
Advanced Rhythmic Concepts for Guitar
Jan Rivera
Foreword by Alex Machacek
Snoozer Quinn: Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar Pioneer
Dan Sumner and Katy Hobgood Ray
Foreword by Steve Howell
Follow Your Heart: John McLaughlin song by song — A listener’s Guide
Walter Kolosky
Abstract Logix Books, 2010
Foreword by Chick Corea
100 Gypsy Jazz Licks For Guitar.
Remi Harris
Fundamental Changes, 2021
Foreword by Martin Taylor
The New Complete Guitarist
Richard Chapman
Alfred
Foreword by Les Paul
Improvising Jazz Guitar
Joe Bell and Peter Pickow
Foreword by Steve Vai
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12-30-2023, 08:05 AM #9joelf Guest
The Black Composer Speaks has David Baker as co-author. I think some academic wrote the forward, but it has very interesting interviews with Ulysses Kay; Oliver Nelson; Herbie Hancock; Coleridge Taylor-Perkinson (who was Barry Harris's conductor on his yearly concerts) and others. Published ca 1978
A fascinating read, as well it should be at $50+ a pop online, since it's long out of print. Get it IIL from your library...
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This man’s word is gold.
Originally Posted by A. Kingstone
I received a nice unsolicited note from Vic Juris after my book was published and I asked Mr. Juris if we could use his recommendation on the publisher's website. He also gave a glowing revue on a Bulletin Board. (I can't remember which one).
When a player of Juris' calibre contacts a nobody like me for my efforts it means a lot.
(I love Vic)
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Publishing in general is notorious for bogus blurbs, but I would guess it’s not really all that bad in this context. Did Jonathan Franzen really sit down and read all 600 pages of the hot new thing? Ehhhhh maybe?
Did Mike Stern really study the method carefully? Theres not much new under the sun, so Probably not, but it wouldn’t take long at all for him to go through a 75 page book and see that the information is good and it’s thoughtfully presented. So I generally kind of trust the blurbs.
Do they make a big difference for me if I’m buying something? Not really.
Exception to both of these would be blurbs on very old books. Like I heard Julian Lage comment on the old Van Eps Harmonic Mechanisms and I guarantee he worked through that one and probably still does.
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Get it from the Internet Archive Originally Posted by joelf
The Black composer speaks : Baker, David, 1931- : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
The Black composer speaks : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
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12-30-2023, 10:09 AM #13joelf GuestReally? Wow. Is it like in ebook form? Originally Posted by Bop Head
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12-30-2023, 10:29 AM #14joelf GuestGonna eventually buy it though, to support the people involved, b/c it's an important work, b/c I like sitting or laying down with an old-fashioned book you can put an old-fashioned bookmark in---and just because... Originally Posted by Bop Head
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01-01-2024, 08:27 AM #15joelf GuestI did, and thanks! But I still want it on the shelf... Originally Posted by Bop Head
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