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Vance71975

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Hey all im new to the forum, and i have a question in regards to the classifieds section, I am a fellow home brewer and i am in the finishing stages of writing a home brew recipe book. I am not a Business, so i was wondering if it would be against forum rules to place a link to where the book can be purchased once it is release, i only ask because under the classified section it says "No commercial ads". It is my understanding for an add to be commercial it has to be placed by a business, which i am not, so i want to make sure its ok first.
 
Txbrew is the owner of the forums. He is a cool guy i would suggest PM'ing him since he is the ruler of these lands and see what he thinks/says. Maybe you could buy a ad on here. This website probably gets more Home brew traffic then the rest of the web combined.

Good luck on your venture.
 
A moderator is going to have to answer that question. You might want to PM one of them directly.
 
Hey all im new to the forum, and i have a question in regards to the classifieds section, I am a fellow home brewer and i am in the finishing stages of writing a home brew recipe book. I am not a Business, so i was wondering if it would be against forum rules to place a link to where the book can be purchased once it is release, i only ask because under the classified section it says "No commercial ads". It is my understanding for an add to be commercial it has to be placed by a business, which i am not, so i want to make sure its ok first.

No commercial ads. That means no. Anything produced for profit is not allowed.

The classifieds are for selling excess "stuff"- like a spare co2 tank or even brewery gear. Not for for-profit ventures. Or even in the case of some friends I know, losing money type ventures!
 
No commercial ads. That means no. Anything produced for profit is not allowed.

The classifieds are for selling excess "stuff"- like a spare co2 tank or even brewery gear. Not for for-profit ventures. Or even in the case of some friends I know, losing money type ventures!

Doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of a classified section? Because truly by definition, If you have used something for a few years, or even a few times, you got your use out of it, and are reselling it, then it is in fact profit because you have already got your moneys worth out of it.

To me, it sounds like this forum has put its rules in place to MAKE a profit by forcing members to buy a vendor account even if they are not a vendor, which i am not, nor am i a business,im an author who is trying to get the word out about his first book. I'm not some rich guy who can drop thousands on advertising or even hundreds for that matter. I am Self Publishing which means i got no big advance from a publishing house, no one paying for ads for the book, no one out promoting it, no media coverage all i got is ME and word of mouth.

As a matter a fact, I am not trying to "Sell" Anything only share information about something that will be available for sale, should someone want to look for it.
 
Vance,
Yooper's post said "Anything produced for profit" is not allowed. Just because you're not "a business" doesn't mean that the book that you are producing for profit is exempt from the rules.

"Sharing information about something available for sale" is called an advertisement. And most of the time those cost money...just like hosting a file server for a homebrewing forum and moderating it costs money.

You're going about this the wrong way, antagonizing the people who create and keep up this forum is going to get you nowhere. Next time, instead of fighting the rules, start a thread titled "I'm writing a book of homebrew recipes, anybody want to add a recipe or give me ideas on how to market it when it's finished?" Then you would have a buttload of people wanting to add their recipe...and you would get publicity without anybody knowing it's publicity/advertising. The people who ask to add their recipe will know about the upcoming book and might want buy it to see if their recipe made the cut or they'd suggest it to a friend to find out.
 
Vance, you're quite wrong about not being a business. The tax world certainly looks at you as a business. Even if you go through something like Cafe Press, who makes the sale and collects the tax. You are in this sense self-employed as an author. You are the sole proprietor of your professional business, and your city may even require that you have a business license.

If you are having the book printed and selling direct you'll likely need some sort of resale permit+ business license etc.

I think the classifieds section here should be more considered as a flea market, than a place to sell new goods.
 
Doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of a classified section? Because truly by definition, If you have used something for a few years, or even a few times, you got your use out of it, and are reselling it, then it is in fact profit because you have already got your moneys worth out of it.

To me, it sounds like this forum has put its rules in place to MAKE a profit by forcing members to buy a vendor account even if they are not a vendor, which i am not, nor am i a business,im an author who is trying to get the word out about his first book. I'm not some rich guy who can drop thousands on advertising or even hundreds for that matter. I am Self Publishing which means i got no big advance from a publishing house, no one paying for ads for the book, no one out promoting it, no media coverage all i got is ME and word of mouth.

As a matter a fact, I am not trying to "Sell" Anything only share information about something that will be available for sale, should someone want to look for it.

Sorry you don't like the rules. Advertising is advertising, no matter what you want to call it. Maybe since you're self-publishing, newspapers and TV and magazines will let you advertise for free? No, I don't think so either.

If you're not happy with my response, please take it up with TxBrew, the administrator of the forum.
 
Websters New World Dictionary:

Business: 5. commerce; trade 6. a commercial or industrial establishment.
Commercial: 2. made or done for profit

Yooper is not giving you a hard time... I think you are just trying to play a game with semantics because it isn't for sale "just yet." However, I think it is clear to everyone that you want to sell this book. Hence you are advertising the "future" sale of this book to drum up interest. As I'm sure many here would agree, we wish the best in your venture, we just want you to play by the rules that everyone else does. It's not personal. As Yooper said, classified ads are those for the occasional seller. The one who wants to get rid of an extra item, but is not in the business of selling items on a regular basis or trying to sell multiples of a book.

On a personal level, I pay for membership in the forums for the quality of the forum... I don't want to pay for others ads.
 
Doesn't that completely defeat the purpose of a classified section? Because truly by definition, If you have used something for a few years, or even a few times, you got your use out of it, and are reselling it, then it is in fact profit because you have already got your moneys worth out of it.

To me, it sounds like this forum has put its rules in place to MAKE a profit by forcing members to buy a vendor account even if they are not a vendor, which i am not, nor am i a business,im an author who is trying to get the word out about his first book. I'm not some rich guy who can drop thousands on advertising or even hundreds for that matter. I am Self Publishing which means i got no big advance from a publishing house, no one paying for ads for the book, no one out promoting it, no media coverage all i got is ME and word of mouth.

As a matter a fact, I am not trying to "Sell" Anything only share information about something that will be available for sale, should someone want to look for it.

And now that I've responded appropriately, and hours later am drinking, I feel like I can say what I think.

If your argument is as intelligently written as your book, perhaps you may want to think about a re-write.

Tip: capitalize "i" when talking about yourself, and don't capitalize "Self Publishing". Capitalizing Self Publishing and not "i" makes you sound stupid. I'd suggest an apostrophe for "I'm". Using punctuation correctly makes you seem like you could be an author. I won't even discuss grammar. Perhaps your talents as an author don't translate to "forum speak".
 
And now that I've responded appropriately, and hours later am drinking, I feel like I can say what I think.

If your argument is as intelligently written as your book, perhaps you may want to think about a re-write.

ROTFLMAO (did that just for you Yoop ;) )

Vance - why not just put the link in your next post here?

Say "Hey, here is a link to a book I wrote..." Why does it even need to be in the classifieds?

Edit: Well, I guess now that you have the attention of the mods... it could be seen in a different light
 
It's such a great book that no one picked it up. I am sure he shopped it around, self-publishing is a last resort for most people. There are plenty of GREAT brew books. Why don't you send us a link where we can download the thing for free, that we it wouldn't be against the rules. :tank:

Orlando
 
It's such a great book that no one picked it up. I am sure he shopped it around, self-publishing is a last resort for most people. There are plenty of GREAT brew books. Why don't you send us a link where we can download the thing for free, that we it wouldn't be against the rules. :tank:

Orlando
If your sure i shopped it around you would be incorrect, i made the choice not to.Great book,good book,bad book well only time and sales will decide that.
Self publishing was my first choice. The profit margins are greater. With a conventional publishing house you make between .25 and .50 cents per book. Self publishing however nets an average profit of between 2.00 and 5.00 per book.As a matter of fact i never even submitted it to a publisher, by choice not necessity.
 
And now that I've responded appropriately, and hours later am drinking, I feel like I can say what I think.

If your argument is as intelligently written as your book, perhaps you may want to think about a re-write.

Tip: capitalize "i" when talking about yourself, and don't capitalize "Self Publishing". Capitalizing Self Publishing and not "i" makes you sound stupid. I'd suggest an apostrophe for "I'm". Using punctuation correctly makes you seem like you could be an author. I won't even discuss grammar. Perhaps your talents as an author don't translate to "forum speak".

Correct, i simply don't care about grammar rules on an online forum. As far as my argument goes, well i guess you forgot that in America we have the right to our own opinions.

For that matter, Forums like this are suppose to be a place for fellow members of the hobby to share ideas and information, not insult each other over their opinions.
 
Websters New World Dictionary:

Business: 5. commerce; trade 6. a commercial or industrial establishment.
Commercial: 2. made or done for profit

Yooper is not giving you a hard time... I think you are just trying to play a game with semantics because it isn't for sale "just yet." However, I think it is clear to everyone that you want to sell this book. Hence you are advertising the "future" sale of this book to drum up interest. As I'm sure many here would agree, we wish the best in your venture, we just want you to play by the rules that everyone else does. It's not personal. As Yooper said, classified ads are those for the occasional seller. The one who wants to get rid of an extra item, but is not in the business of selling items on a regular basis or trying to sell multiples of a book.

On a personal level, I pay for membership in the forums for the quality of the forum... I don't want to pay for others ads.

Thank you for posting this, you strengthened my case for me.

Business: 5. commerce; trade 6. a commercial or industrial establishment.
Commercial: 2. made or done for profit

What i was asking about is NOT Commerce, because there is no direct sale from me to the interested party, Again I am not a commercial or industrial establishment.

Nor it is done for profit, because with what i was asking to post here there is no direct sale or profit made, what i was asking to post here is simply a sharing of information. Call it semantics if you like, but i personally like to hear when there is a new brew book on the market, so that i can look into it and decide if i want it or not.
 
Sorry you don't like the rules. Advertising is advertising, no matter what you want to call it. Maybe since you're self-publishing, newspapers and TV and magazines will let you advertise for free? No, I don't think so either.

If you're not happy with my response, please take it up with TxBrew, the administrator of the forum.

Of Course newspapers and TV and magazines wont let you advertise for free, they are a business and as such in business to make a profit. I was, however under the impression that this is not a business nor is it in business to make a profit from its members. Maybe i am mistaken on that fact. So please do correct me if i am wrong.
 
Vance,
Yooper's post said "Anything produced for profit" is not allowed. Just because you're not "a business" doesn't mean that the book that you are producing for profit is exempt from the rules.

"Sharing information about something available for sale" is called an advertisement. And most of the time those cost money...just like hosting a file server for a homebrewing forum and moderating it costs money.

You're going about this the wrong way, antagonizing the people who create and keep up this forum is going to get you nowhere. Next time, instead of fighting the rules, start a thread titled "I'm writing a book of homebrew recipes, anybody want to add a recipe or give me ideas on how to market it when it's finished?" Then you would have a buttload of people wanting to add their recipe...and you would get publicity without anybody knowing it's publicity/advertising. The people who ask to add their recipe will know about the upcoming book and might want buy it to see if their recipe made the cut or they'd suggest it to a friend to find out.

Thank you, and ya your prolly right, i tend to get a bit over excited and well i have a defined thought process about what forums should and shouldn't be. I think forums should be a place were fellow home brewers can share information,ideas,etc and not be insulted when their ideas differ from other peoples ideas.
 
I'm guessing your cost for an advertisement on this forum just went up... just kidding. I'm pretty sure the reason I can be a non-paying member on this site is that it's the advertisers who pay for advertising on this site end up paying my way. Thank you advertisers. Thanks Sam Calagione! And thanks Vance if you choose to advertise.
 
This forum is a business. As a business entity, it has the right to decide what rules must be followed within the realms of said business. If folks don't like the rules, they go somewhere else. That's the beauty of free-market.

I simply don't follow the argument that you're not advertising, when you are obviously promoting (i.e. advertising) a book that you wrote.

As stated above, if you had approached it from a more humble outlook, you might have been better received. Unfortunately, you come across as some random dude that thinks he knows enough to write a book, but has no clue how the world works in regards to marketing that book.

If you are selling a product you created, you are a business whether you like it or not. You are on that side of "commerce".
 
Thank you for posting this, you strengthened my case for me.

Business: 5. commerce; trade 6. a commercial or industrial establishment.
Commercial: 2. made or done for profit

What i was asking about is NOT Commerce, because there is no direct sale from me to the interested party, Again I am not a commercial or industrial establishment.

Nor it is done for profit, because with what i was asking to post here there is no direct sale or profit made, what i was asking to post here is simply a sharing of information. Call it semantics if you like, but i personally like to hear when there is a new brew book on the market, so that i can look into it and decide if i want it or not.

So why did you want to post in the classifieds?

There are plenty of references to other websites throughout the forum.
 
Of Course newspapers and TV and magazines wont let you advertise for free, they are a business and as such in business to make a profit. I was, however under the impression that this is not a business nor is it in business to make a profit from its members. Maybe i am mistaken on that fact. So please do correct me if i am wrong.

You're wrong. This is a business.

Oh, we all love the forum and talking about beer! We moderators don't get a penny, we just do it because it's a great hobby and we genuinely like the people who hang out here.

However, servers and websites cost big money. Some of us pay to be a supporter of the site, to help with the costs. Others pay advertising dollars to keep this forum going.

You asked a question, and it was answered. Several times. The answer to selling anything besides a few brewing items is prohibited. Selling books, homebrew supplies, hardware fittings, etc, would all require a Vendor's Membership. This is not up for debate here.

If you'd like to make a case that an exception should be made for you, please contact the admin- TxBrew- to make your case.
 
that this is not a business nor is it in business to make a profit from its members. Maybe i am mistaken on that fact. So please do correct me if i am wrong.

I believe you are wrong. Txbrew is a nice guy but i don't believe he hosts this website out of the goodness of his heart.

Much like your book this website takes a considerable amount of time and money to keep it up and running. The Ads, membership, etc pay Txbrew to keep this site up and running. Much like your wouldn't give your book away for free why would Tx give his work away for free?

If you cant afford a vendor membership i would suggest talking with Tx and see if you could work out a profit sharing agreement where every book you sell he would get a cut of the profit.
 
If your sure i shopped it around you would be incorrect, i made the choice not to.Great book,good book,bad book well only time and sales will decide that.
Self publishing was my first choice. The profit margins are greater. With a conventional publishing house you make between .25 and .50 cents per book. Self publishing however nets an average profit of between 2.00 and 5.00 per book.As a matter of fact i never even submitted it to a publisher, by choice not necessity.

Right here you say you're concerned with profit. Which you should be. You worked hard on your book. Other people around here selling tiny things pony up for the vendor accounts. If it's something you continually will be selling, you're a vendor.
It sounds like you're just looking for free advertising. How do you expect to sell anything without paying for advertising?
 
This thread is reminiscent of the semantics in the "heating beer to concentrate alcohol" or selling homebrew threads.

...didn't want to use the dreaded "D" word.:drunk:
 
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