[pct-l] [So_California_Backpackers] Re: Wilderness Press Guides going out of print - Note from Jeff Schaffer

[Monty Tam]

Per Wilderness Press this morning

Wilderness Press was purchased in April 2008 by Keen Communications, which
also owns Menasha Ridge Press and Clerisy Press. We made the wrenching
decision to close the Wilderness Press Berkeley offices in July of this
year, but the publishing program is continuing under the guidance of
seasoned outdoor publishing professionals, including Mike Jones, who was
formerly publisher at Wilderness Press.

It was an extremely difficult decision to close that office, but we are very
bullish on the future of Wilderness Press. We have many new titles under
development. There are no plans to discontinue publishing the PCT guides -
any rumor to that effect is ill-informed and incorrect. We've struggled for
a number of years to determine the best way forward to revise the guides and
maps, but there are no plans to stop publishing them.

Monty
On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 3:57 PM, AsABat <AsABat at 4jeffrey.net> wrote:

>
>
> I remember a long conversation with Jeff about ten years ago.  Someone was
> planning on gps-ing the trail and Jeff mentioned the retirement royalty
> plan. It just room a while.
>
> Jeff also said he found places where the trail on the topography on the map
> and the gps location differed. He also found where the compass bearing of
> the trail on the ground when plotted on the map would show the trail
> crossing a ridge down into the wrong canyon so he drew the trail to fit the
> contour lines and not the compass (or gps). I remember one of my early hikes
> finding a section corner monument a quarter mile from where the map showed
> it.
>
> So I just ordered a set of the WP guidebooks to put away untorn into
> sections to add to my antique PCT book.collection.
>
> I hiked my last section with Halfmiles maps but did still read the
> guidebook before heading out. I will miss he commentary (well maybe not the
> geology rubble!).
>
>
> AsABat
>
>
> -----Original message-----
>
>   *From: *Rob Langsdorf <mctrob at yahoo.com>*
> To: *PCT-L <pct-l at backcountry.net>, SectionsYahooGroup PCT <
> pctsection at yahoogroups.com>, PCTsectionNW at yahoogroups.com,
> pct2006 at yahoogroups.com, PCT2007 at yahoogroups.com, PCT2008 at yahoogroups.com,
> pct2010 at yahoogroups.com, So_California_Backpackers at yahoogroups.com*
> Sent: *Wed, Nov 3, 2010 22:30:04 GMT+00:00*
> Subject: *[pct-l] Wilderness Press Guides going out of print - Note from
> Jeff Schaffer
>
> Hi All,
>     I recently sent a number of updates to Jeff Schaffer, who use to
> publish the
> Wilderness Press PCT guides. He wrote back to say that Wilderness Press is
> out
> of business and that he has retired (See his letter below). So if you have
> a
> Wilderness Press Guide to the PCT or other volumes, hold on to them. They
> aren’t
> printing any more.
>
>     They were a great set of guide books for the last 35 or so years.
>
>     Jeff gave me permission to post his letter on various PCT discussion
> lists,
>
>                                  Rob
>
> ========
>
> Rob:
>
> You have put a lot of effort into the letter you wrote me. Unfortunately,
> Wilderness Press is defunct, it's doors shut down at the end of July. Keen
> Publications bought the company a couple of years ago, but I suspect that
> when
> they sell the books in their warehouse, that's it. The bottom line is that
> the
> three volumes have about 1500 map overlays, and that is far too many to
> scan and
> still make a profit. Actually, I doubt if the series ever made a profit. It
> was
> sooooo expensive to produce. However, it did attract buyers to WP.
>
>
> So the volumes languish. They won't be revised. But that is okay (hard for
> me,
> since I thought I would retire on book royalties - very naive on my part).
> The
> future is in GPS units that will have the trail plus all the features in an
> app
> for the unit. This is already being done for some trails. Only a matter of
> time
> before it's done for the PCT. As I see it, guidebooks are history.
> Guidebook
> companies can't compete against free apps. My Tahoe Sierra book was one of
> the
> first to go. (Too many maps, too many scans.) Some 5-10 years ago, I was
> doing
> revisions for it and met an older hiker who had a portable GPS unit on his
> back,
> plus a camera and video recorder. He found out who I was and interviewed
> me.
> Then I asked what's he doing this for. It was a hobby, mapping trails and
> features and putting them on the internet for free. I said that you are
> putting
> me out of business. So true. No hard feelings. This is progress. Saves a
> lot of
> trees.
>
>
> Well, I'm 67, semi-retired, and the only backpacking I do is when I
> absolutely
> have to go in to the Sierra for geological research. I did a 35-miler and
> 52-miler this summer. Very difficult with two bad knees, a damaged
> vertebral
> column, and two blown shoulders (I'm still a climber and have taken
> countless
> falls and probably over a hundred injuries, most minor; some, not minor).
> Still,
> would attempt to keep the books in print if I knew that I would actually
> see
> some royalties to pay for my expenses. Not likely.
>
> There is a 2 volume anthology by PCT hikers, to be published by The
> Mountaineers
> next year. You can read my short contribution (all are short!!!), which was
>
> requested by the two editors. At the end, I say the guides have to die.
> They
> need to go out of print. They are too dated and there is no way Keen can
> make
> any money producing updated editions.
>
> So, if you've got guidebook copies, hang on to them. May be worth some
> money
> years from now. The bookbuyer at our college bookstore told me that she
> expects
> there will be no more textbooks in about 5 years (there goes the
> bookstore); all
> texts will be electronic. There goes here job. But we both plan to retire
> in 3
> years. Again, the more books that are electronic, the more trees we save.
> I'm
> all for trees, but we probably have too many on our property. Have to trim
> some
> back and cut some down every year or two. (We probably have the greenest
> property in Browns Valley.)
>
> Keep on hiking and enjoying nature.
>
> Jeff Schaffer,
>
> Mountaineering naturalist
>
>
>
>
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