Wood Worker's Book Club

**gatordogs2** · 01-15-2008, 07:25 PM

Ryan, they are similar to the those mail order music companies (Columbia House or BMG) that were popular in the 80's/90's selling tapes & cd's by sending you a offer once a month. They make their money back by hopefully you buying more books at club prices which is higher than the industry standard.

I recently received their offer to join as well. But the offer I see is to buy 4 books for the same price, not 6. Where did you see 6 total books for $18? Do you have a code so I can try it and get the 6?

**MilDoc** · 01-15-2008, 07:31 PM

Yes, you will get their monthly mailing. You can say "no" at their internet site. If you don't see any new books to buy in a year or so, they will drop you. But if you don't say "no," you get that month's book.

**DonHo** · 01-15-2008, 08:23 PM

I've been a member for a few years. I'm not sure if it's still available but I'm on "order only" basis, which means they only send books when I've ordered. At first I had to decline or they shipped but I emailed them saying that unless they would only ship IF I ordered I was going to drop out. They changed my status and I've been happy with their service. If you pay when you order they don't charge shipping and you get points when you order toward free books. They recently changed to 6 points for a free book but it used to be 4. I've received 5 or 6 free books(you choose from their catalog). I'm happy with them.
DonHo

**chopnhack** · 01-15-2008, 08:34 PM

Yes please Ryan, I too got one in the mail but the offer was only for 4 - and where did u see Flexner's book on Finishing on their website?
thanks

**ryan.s** · 01-15-2008, 09:21 PM

Originally posted by chopnhack

Yes please Ryan, I too got one in the mail but the offer was only for 4 - and where did u see Flexner's book on Finishing on their website?
thanks

In the middle of the catalog where it describes the steps 1 through 4 step 4 is 2 Free Gifts which were the flexner and shanesy books. Also on the mail in order form it also lists the 2 free gifts along with the books that you would be choosing.

I like the fact that there is no minimum purchase like the BMG or Columbia house deals were back in the days but don't know if I want to deal with the hassle of saying no for 9 months. Still on the fence. I guess I'll check out the books and if I can come up with 3 that I really want then what the heck, 6 books for around $20, not too bad I guess.

**Jeffrey Schronce** · 01-15-2008, 09:25 PM

Originally posted by ryan.s

In the middle of the catalog where it describes the steps 1 through 4 step 4 is 2 Free Gifts which were the flexner and shanesy books. Also on the mail in order form it also lists the 2 free gifts along with the books that you would be choosing.

I like the fact that there is no minimum purchase like the BMG or Columbia house deals were back in the days but don't know if I want to deal with the hassle of saying no for 9 months. Still on the fence. I guess I'll check out the books and if I can come up with 3 that I really want then what the heck, 6 books for around $20, not too bad I guess.

I found most of the publications to be of little worth. The Flexner "book" is not a book, rather it is a booklet.

All of the books except for a couple are published and printed by this company. I forget how many pages they have but they are all around 100 pages, which is apparently the limit for their bindery or something. They have Tablesaw Magic which a lot of folks like (I personally didn't like the book too much, very jig heavy with little details on the jigs). Otherwise, most of the publications were wrote and printed just for this little publishing company.

Edit : Having just wizzed on the deal, I should point out that it may not be a bad deal. Quite honestly if I spend $20 on a book and take away one great idea or even a few good ones I feel that is pretty valuable.

**ryan.s** · 01-16-2008, 01:35 AM

After thinking about for a while I decided to go for it. I convinced myself with the following reasons;

1. 6 books for under $20 seems like a great deal.

2. Jeff had some good points that most of the publications are from Popular Woodworking but then I was looking through my library of WW books to see what I had and noticed a lot of them are published by Tauton press the publishers of Fine Woodworking mag. Most of them are about the 130 page range. I have no complaints about the books by Tauton and figured Pop. WW's version of books couldn't be that bad.

3. Unlike the BMG and Columbia house clubs I'm not obligated to buy any more books. I just need to make sure I decline when the offers come in during the next 9 months which might be a hassle but in this case good outweighed the bad.

4. Found 3 books with good reviews on amazon that I'm interested in. I'm not sure what others do but for me a lot of the times I get woodworking books mainly for the pictures to get ideas for the shop. It may sound silly but it's what I enjoy.

The books I settled on are

Workbenches by Chris Schwarz - I already have the Landis workbench book but this book got rave reviews on amazon and is suppose to provide a fresh look at workbenches.

Building Woodshop Workstations by Danny Proulx - This was actually already in the cart on amazon and was eventually gonna buy a copy anyhow.

Popular Woodworking complete book of tips, tricks and techniques - I figure this will be a good compilation of excerpts from PW mag over the years.

Wow, after reading what I wrote it really sounds like I work for these guys. =) Trust me that's not the case, just wanted to give my spin, maybe someone else might benefit from my decision making process.

**LinuxRandal** · 01-16-2008, 01:51 AM

BEFORE you send off the card, I would contact them and see if you can get on the don't send unless ordered thing. I know a few years ago, when I was looking into them, they were offering that to servicemen, as they wouldn't be around to send the card back.

**ryan.s** · 01-16-2008, 01:59 AM

Originally posted by LinuxRandal

BEFORE you send off the card, I would contact them and see if you can get on the don't send unless ordered thing. I know a few years ago, when I was looking into them, they were offering that to servicemen, as they wouldn't be around to send the card back.

Uh oh, I just completed the membership and order online.

The way I read it was they won't send any books but will send an offer for a book which I will need to decline within 15 days. If I forget to decline I still have a chance to return the books within 15 days of receiving it. As long as I don't order anything for 9 months the membership should cancel.

Just re-read your post, if you're talking about the card/offer I think it's too late since I completed it already. Maybe I'll give them a call after the first month to see if I can get on the don't send unless ordered list.

**radhak** · 01-16-2008, 04:29 AM

I had the membership and have mixed feelings about it.

The deal is good, the books work out to be pretty cheap, and even the "decline if you don't want" works out fine because you can do it on the internet too, and they don't send it out in a hurry - allow you enough time to login and decline.

That said, I'm with Jeffrey that I did not like books themselves much. Glossy pictures and sparse text makes a number of them visually attractive, but not very substantial.

At the same time, I think your choice of books is better than mine, and you mind end up enjoying them more.

One point though - I also have Taunton books, and I can assure you, the difference is perceptible. Taunton's style is more precise, and have details where needed. I love Taunton books, as much as I like books from Woodsmith.

**MBG** · 01-16-2008, 07:10 AM

I took up that offer a couple years back and got a lot of good info from the books I picked.

Just a word of warning - even though I sent back the card, on two occasions they sent a book anyway. It's a bit of a pain to send them back. So keep a copy of the rejection letters. Plus, one of the books was on building bird houses. My wife loves birds - so I didn't get a chance to send that one back

.

Even with this problem I still would join again - books are well worth the bargain price.

**AlanWS** · 01-16-2008, 09:11 AM

If you are selective in your choices, it can be a good deal.

Many of the clubs seem to make their money using low prices and very high "shipping and handling" fees. WWBC ships for free (after the first set of books) as long as you pay when you order, rather than making them bill you. As long as you pay for one book ahead of time, the entire shipment is free, so keep that in mind if you accumulate enough points to get other books for free.

You don't need to use snail mail to communicate with them, as you can accept or reject the monthly selection or order other books on their website. I don't recall how I got on the list where they don't automatically send the book if you don't reply, but I think I just requested it. Since you can quit any time without penalty, they will let you switch to that status rather than have you quit.

If you reject a selection on the website, they will send you an email message saying so. That's what to keep, as mentioned above.

**George Cole** · 01-17-2008, 02:10 PM

I am a member. I retired a while back and am beginning, again, woodworking..I need reference books on the how to's. To be honest with the group you soon learn the simole stuff you used to know when you did not use it for over 40 years. That my friend is CRS.
George

have jus

Originally posted by ryan.s

I just received in the mail today an offer to join the woodworker's book club. By joining I can get the following books for $9.99 plus shipping and handling of $7.99.

Measure Twice, Cut Once by Jim Tolpin
Finishing Facts by Bob Flexner
Measure Once, Cut Once by Steve Shanesy
plus 3 other books of my choice

6 books total

Seems like a great deal since they claim no further obligation to buy. Sounds almost too good to be true, still trying to figure out what the catch is other than having to decline an offer once a month for 9 months. Anyone a member of this book club?

https://www.woodworkersbookclub.com/...t.cfm?usa=true

BTW I'm no way affiliated with this club. They have a big picture of David Thiel as the Executive Editor, former senior editor of Popular Woodworking magazine.

**George Cole** · 01-17-2008, 02:15 PM

Let me redo this...
I am a member. I retired a while back and am beginning, again, woodworking..I need reference books on the how to's. To be honest with the group you soon learn how much of the simple stuff you used to know but forgotwhen you have not used it for over 40 years. That my friend is CRS.
George

Wood Worker's Book Club

Wood Worker's Book Club

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment