The Game Show Forum

The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Bob Zager on August 06, 2024, 02:27:09 PM

Title: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: Bob Zager on August 06, 2024, 02:27:09 PM
I've just found out it's now available:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DC74JBHP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CM18JWV8738R&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.R6mBCCEGAM02tigwjDtwtTPo9-ZTvt-IOA8Ju_wt2f_6cp6yJEEnnlMzGNLbEFqOwv_QTHl_PkOv9exfQZhTCKeR6__CV4s-h0E4fcalLqOafzReU9h4rk5c_2xDDY8N80HCHmwq3y05Yit1Hib_XuHd7hqFfuKrKpKbueEJnvNLXjGkqY8CqwXCm9FNEftfRfaCeb34JWjfQpV6MLtb-29pnJw7vfzNJUay4y7K9E8.EAlFiIiUdeniwbnGiN4AeNUXBYTRKW4AXtWRugEVF2Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=wesley+hyatt&qid=1722968691&sprefix=%2Caps%2C240&sr=8-1
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: Jeremy Nelson on August 06, 2024, 02:37:37 PM
I know one should never judge a book by its cover, but jeez, it looks like he created it from a PowerPoint slide in five minutes.
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: clemon79 on August 06, 2024, 03:08:06 PM
I know one should never judge a book by its cover, but jeez, it looks like he created it from a PowerPoint slide in five minutes.

Even PowerPoint knows how to center things. :)
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: wdm1219inpenna on August 10, 2024, 11:35:51 AM
Yes indeed the cover is "meh".  And by January 1975 more homes had color TV sets, so it would have been nice had Chuck and Susan's picture been in color.  That said I sort of understand the logic behind it, since it is coming up on 50 years now.  I still remember it back from 1975 as an 8 year old being enamored by it.  Today it's still an okay show but I think Wheel's heyday has come and gone.

Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: steveleb on August 10, 2024, 04:43:40 PM
No kindle version?
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: BrandonFG on August 10, 2024, 04:49:05 PM
No kindle version?
From what I've seen from Bear Manor, that usually comes along a couple months later.

I'm wondering is the cover just a placeholder?
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: snowpeck on August 10, 2024, 08:29:12 PM
No kindle version?
From what I've seen from Bear Manor, that usually comes along a couple months later.

I'm wondering is the cover just a placeholder?

From what I've seen from folks who already have their copies, that is the cover it's shipping with.
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: aaron sica on August 10, 2024, 09:27:19 PM
If there was ever a time for the old saying of not judging a book by its cover to rear its head, it's now. Wesley Hyatt is a great author and I have no doubt this book will be great.
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: daveromanjr on August 12, 2024, 09:47:10 AM
If there was ever a time for the old saying of not judging a book by its cover to rear its head, it's now. Wesley Hyatt is a great author and I have no doubt this book will be great.
Wonder if Wesley quotes his own self at the end like others????
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: Matt Ottinger on August 13, 2024, 10:26:41 AM
This is a mostly linear history of the show, from Shopper's Bazaar to Pat's retirement. Along the way, he's got first-hand interviews with Susan Stafford, Bob Goen, Rolf Benirschke, lots of key production people and a bunch of contestants. He didn't get Vanna, Pat or Chuck, but he weaves in their comments and quotes from other (always attributed) sources.  It's a fun read, and even if you think you know all the steps (and missteps) along the way, you're bound to learn something new every few pages.  I certainly did.

I like and admire both Adam Nedeff and Wesley Hyatt as authors, and as human beings.  The biggest difference between them is that Adam will tell you a story, and Wesley will give you All The Facts.  It's not a coincidence that some of Wesley's best works are more along the line of reference books, like Bob Hope On TV or the practically indispensable Encyclopedia of Daytime Television.  Wes will not let any time change, ratings report or specific date of, well, just about anything go undocumented.  If you don't care about that level of detail, you can let a lot of it wash over you.  Still, my only quibble is that the sheen tonnage of it it threatened at times to overwhelm the narrative.
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: clemon79 on August 15, 2024, 01:59:06 PM
From what I've seen from Bear Manor, that usually comes along a couple months later.

And (and I as well love the people in here who use their services, and will still buy their products specifically to support them, but) will be insanely poorly formatted, unless they've gotten better about that very recently. But if they had anything to do with the design of this cover, that's not a good sign.
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: Bob Zager on September 18, 2024, 02:12:05 PM
A little Q&A session between the author and the publisher:

https://www.bearmanormedia.com/blogs/news/q-a-with-wesley-hyatt-author-of-i-d-like-to-buy-a-vowel-spinning-50-years-of-wheel-of-fortune?_pos=3&_sid=acac776ed&_ss=r
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: calliaume on September 22, 2024, 02:06:12 PM
Authors do not design covers. I suspect Bear Manor had a very small design budget, and had to go with what they could get inexpensively.

I suspect most Bear Manor Books publishes are printed on digital presses (which are basically high-tech Xerox machines). The last two Bear Manor books I ordered were listed as having been printed in Monee, IL, where Amazon has a fulfillment center. That might explain why the cover on some copies is off center.

And yeah, usually digital editions come out after the print ones -- once the print edition files are complete, a epub file (and/or the one for Kindle) is made, and then (hopefully) has a QA done to make sure there aren't formatting problems. This isn't always done, however, regardless of the size of the publisher.
Title: Re: Wesley Hyatt's new WOF book
Post by: alexb1186 on October 21, 2024, 01:17:09 AM
Speaking as someone who was interviewed in the book (and gave Wesley plenty of former players to hit up) it’s a great read even with a few dates and figures incorrect.  Shoot, finding about some of the Woolery Era theme weeks not covered by the newspapers was a treat, and the cover design I  predict was done that way to avoid licensing fees.  If he waited a bit longer, he could’ve looked at his manuscript to double check for accuracy on dates and totals.