Jarmo
Applicant Scribe
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« on: October 26, 2006, 06:53:25 AM » |
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Hello Mr Crawford, Would you like your book "Balance of Power: International Politics as the Ultimate Global Game" to be reissued? There's now a whole new generation of professionals not able to benefit from the information contained in the book. It has been written up over the years to be an essential source for game developers, most recently in this piece by Ernest Adams: http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3962&Itemid=2&limit=1&limitstart=2The book is seldom available any more even as used copies. I have been trying to obtain a copy for a while, now. Who currently owns the publishing rights to the book? In other words, who should we lobby to reprint the book? Even an electronic imprint would be better than not being able to get a copy. I would be very interested in hearing your current thoughts about the book and it's availability. Jarmo Petäjäaho, Oulu, Finland P.S. For others looking for the book, these two strings -- besides the title -- are good Internet search terms: ISBN 0-914845-97-7 0914845977 |
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Chris
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« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2006, 11:30:32 AM » |
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Hmm... I'll dig through my old floppies and see if I can find the original text source. Perhaps I can post it.
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Jarmo
Applicant Scribe
Posts: 18
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« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2006, 01:52:09 PM » |
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Great! Thank you.
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Chris
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« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2006, 03:09:44 PM » |
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Bad news. I found the floppy, but I can't load it. I tried it on three different Macs and every one refused to recognize it. The floppy is 20 years old. I fear that the source text is lost forever. <sniffle>
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Laura
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« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2006, 03:16:54 PM » |
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With the latest optical character recognition technology, you can get 95-99% accuracy on a scan of your book. I did it with an old mss. of mine a couple of years ago.
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-l.
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Jarmo
Applicant Scribe
Posts: 18
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« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2006, 11:22:57 AM » |
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Thanks for trying!
Maybe one of the original publishers has an electronic format back-up?
... What? Hey, it's possible!
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Jarmo
Applicant Scribe
Posts: 18
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« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2006, 01:05:49 AM » |
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Yeah, thanks for the tip, I'll do that if I cannot find a copy for sale. I'd prefer a printed copy of my own, though. I tend to highlight the good bits in non-fiction books to facilitate finding them again in a hurry. It seems that the library copies nearest to Finland are in the UK. No problem, I've loaned books from there before through the local library.
Mr Crawford, would you be willing to let a publisher reprint the book? I originally thought about trying to rekindle e.g. Microsoft Press' interest in reissuing the tome but there would be no point in expending any energy on that without your consent. I'd like for other new developers to be able to peruse that said-to-be fount of algorithmic delights, too.
[Edit: corrected an annoying typo]
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« Last Edit: October 30, 2006, 02:44:52 AM by Jarmo »
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Chris
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« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2006, 08:54:12 AM » |
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I have no objection to it being reprinted, but I think the best thing would be for it to be scanned and posted on the Internet. Perhaps you can interest Google in this? They're scanning a zillion books.
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BlackTerror
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« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2006, 10:31:23 AM » |
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They're scanning a zillion books.
Heh, even despite the multiple lawsuits from authors' and publishers' groups? |
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Chris
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« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2006, 10:40:35 AM » |
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I'm happy to give them clearance to scan it in.
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Jarmo
Applicant Scribe
Posts: 18
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« Reply #11 on: October 30, 2006, 02:42:20 AM » |
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You are very generous in letting the book be electronically reproduced free of charge, thank you very much!
Before contacting Google and possibly Amazon.com, did I correctly infer that you currently own the publishing rights to the book and the previous publisher (publishers?) have no say in the matter?
Searching for the book, I have run across mentions of the following publishers:
Microscope Pubns Ltd (1986)
Microsoft Press (1986)
Did the book in fact have several publishers or are these the same publisher?
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« Last Edit: October 30, 2006, 02:50:27 AM by Jarmo »
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Chris
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« Reply #12 on: October 30, 2006, 10:10:04 AM » |
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Yes, Microsoft Press is the publisher. I am fairly confident that I own the rights to the book; the copyright statement in the front of the book says "copyright 1986 Chris Crawford". Moreover, it's been out of print so long that I cannot imagine Microsoft having any continuing interest in it.
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Jarmo
Applicant Scribe
Posts: 18
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« Reply #13 on: October 30, 2006, 10:38:02 AM » |
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OK, thanks for the clarification, I'll contact Google about scanning the book in. I asked because I was unaware of the exact nature of your publishing contract with Microsoft Press. I have heard of contracts where the publisher has e.g. the first right of refusal for any reprint efforts and other such clauses effecting the matter at hand.
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Jarmo
Applicant Scribe
Posts: 18
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« Reply #14 on: October 30, 2006, 03:30:37 PM » |
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I have now electronically mailed Google. I carbon copied the message to you, Mr Crawford. I hope you will find it to your liking or at the very least not to your complete and utter distaste.
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