2016 Greg McDonald

runway · August 04, 2017, 10:26:31 PM

Quote from: 'Bigfellani5' pid='110565' dateline='1501839762'Renniks book out November

Has the new Maccas guide been delivered yet?

frenc11 · August 05, 2017, 11:16:41 AM

it is still not here yet i think we have been fed a pack of lies

Unicorn · August 05, 2017, 11:54:58 AM

I surely doubt that be the case Frenc. Things take time and patience is a virtue, it will surely come when it's good and ready.

Greg McDonald · August 05, 2017, 12:12:40 PM

Hi Guys,

Not sure how these rumours start but book will be out at the end of August. With respect Frenc11, I think you are being a bit harsh. What would be the advantage to me of coming out late if there wasn't a good reason. I could list 20 here but there wouldn't be any point, except to say that the various issues that Jenny and I have had to deal with in the past six years would have killed most people.

People like Pedro know the effort I have put into this book.

You can decide for yourself when it come out ... end of August.

Thanks to others who have posted positive messages of support.

Regards

Greg

trout · August 05, 2017, 01:23:31 PM

Quote from: 'Greg McDonald' pid='110580' dateline='1501900960'Hi Guys,

Not sure how these rumours start but book will be out at the end of August. With respect Frenc11, I think you are being a bit harsh. What would be the advantage to me of coming out late if there wasn't a good reason. I could list 20 here but there wouldn't be any point, except to say that the various issues that Jenny and I have had to deal with in the past six years would have killed most people.

People like Pedro know the effort I have put into this book.

You can decide for yourself when it come out ... end of August.

Thanks to others who have posted positive messages of support.

Regards

Greg

Good on you Greg :good:
I would think that the majority of the people that are pissing and moaning about your book have absolutely NO concept of the amount of time, effort and heartbreak involved in getting this to press.
Quite frankly I am amazed that you even bothered to put this latest edition together given the hurtful and sometimes quite nasty comments and responses to your last edition where you put more "Realistic" valuations into the book.

I and many others here DO appreciate that you are no longer a "Spring Chicken" and are very grateful for your dedication and efforts in producing this book despite the many hurdles that you have had to face in recent years.

The "Maccas Book" IS an important numismatic publication and it has helped many thousands of collectors ( Novice and Expert) over the years.

So once again Good On You Mate and Thank You for your tireless efforts :good:

Greg McDonald · August 05, 2017, 03:58:46 PM

Hi Trout,

Thank you very sincerely for your comments. Unfortunately, a lot of people just don't understand the technical aspects. It's not just knocking out something on a Word or Excel program. Anyone who has had to learn $3000 programs like InDesign and Photoshop will understand the complexity involved. The manual for Indesign runs to 800 pages and that's not an easy read. It has been two years since our last book and as this is our principal source of income, raising a six figure sum to pay for the print run after being ripped off for nearly $300,000 has proven to be a bit of a challenge. There is a lot of time devoted to contacting advertisers. Dealers want the book to be under 500grams for the best value when posting.
As the paper has to be ordered around 3 months before printing I have to calculate the weight of the paper and the quantity. The last book required 48 pallets of paper that has to be custom cut because of the unusual shape of our book. In years past, calculating the number of new issues to allow for space when calculating the number of pages was reasonably straight forward. As we all know, the number of coins coming out of both mints has been tremendous. Just when you think you're ready to go, out comes another batch of coins. Do you leave them out or try and fit them in? Bit of both, but I only leave items out if I absolutely have no room. More than likely I will completely strip down as many pages as it takes to fit them in. Finally, past books have come out with errors of all sorts. This year I have had about a dozen dealers and collectors to clean up the errors, and in the case of generous collectors such as Pedro, also provide details of their own research to share with other collectors.
I always take on all suggestions and criticisms such as errors and typos. It all takes time and while I try to offer a release date given the circumstances on the day, when you are a one man band, it doesn't take all that much to turn those plans into putty.

Sorry, not meant as a rave, but as I have worked 18 hours x 7 days for over a year, I guess I can get a bit sensitive about 'dragging the chain'.

I think that when you see the new book, you'll see where the time has been spent.

Once again, sincere thanks for all the positive comments. I'll continue to do my best.

Cheers

Greg

Bigfellani5 · August 05, 2017, 04:13:42 PM

You are a champion Greg. The calibre of the bloke speaks for itself when after my shop fire Greg helped me get back on my feet. With the "I'll scratch you back" attitude shown by Greg I was more than happy to be involved in the proof reading of this years book. The time it took me to proof read a small chunk of the book still makes me wonder at the work involved in publishing a whole book.

Pedro · August 05, 2017, 04:21:12 PM

:i_agree:

The amount of information to be compiled and collated is enormous (especially when the RAM is issuing new items like confetti). A sterling effort Greg!

Pedro

ausproofs · August 05, 2017, 04:24:47 PM

Hi Greg, Out of curiosity why don't you look at an ebook for the folks who want it fast and may be bit cheaper too. In the modern consumer market, it would also make more sense to have a website/app you can publish the same information and keep it updated in realtime. (And charge a subscription per month or year) Then your book is always out, people get what they want and your CODB will be lower too. Just my 2c worth. Online is the way to go once people who likes physical books move on just to put it nicely. I love your books by the way.

Goldseeker · August 05, 2017, 06:34:28 PM

Can't wait for the new catalogue as I use it to put a value on my collection. Something that I have not been able to do for some time.

To save a bit of time Greg, have you thought about bringing out the book bi-annually rather than annually.

Further I like the comment re an online ebook. If you decide to go down that surely it would be easier to keep up to date with say valuations being updated once every so often.

Just my pennies worth.

Keep up the good work.

humpybong · August 05, 2017, 06:55:46 PM

Have ordered and paid for my copy. Looking forward to receiving it.

runway · August 05, 2017, 08:54:20 PM

Great response Greg thank you

fred lever · August 06, 2017, 08:16:36 AM

Hi Greg, everybody is a critic, including me!
Unfortunately all they see is the finished article not the massive effort that goes on getting it there.
Having been involved in getting an annual catalogue together for a large electronic retailer, I can understand the number of staff required to do the research, tabulate, set up and go through all the proofing, checking and correcting and the man hours involved getting all the way to the printer. And that was for a retailer that could control the number on line items not for a supplier that just keeps adding product to the shelves by the day! (Sorry Mint guys!).
I stand in awe of the effort involved where you are doing this without a staff of 10 or so in a 'catalogue department'.
While I may take issue with the pre-decimal section not reflecting current state of the art, I do support the need for the industry standard books particularly for those starting out or trying to keep up with the myriad of issues of coin and trying to decide what is actually a coin or what is a token in the modern decimal era.
I am old enough to have seen the birth of catalogues from the original Renniks and other lists and Greg's idea of a light weight 'pocket book' format was genious and through the years was always the 'go to' list shoved into my pocket while wandering around coin fairs. They got dog eared and creased and folded right over mate but they were always GOLD.
Whether you go to Bi Yearly or E book in some way please keep doing it.
Cheers, Fred Lever.

Hercules · August 06, 2017, 09:21:19 AM

I like the idea of a hard copy, because it means you don't need a tablet or smartphone in order to read it at a coin fair, but considering the amount of time Greg spends putting it together, I certainly wouldn't blame him for moving to an eBook. For those who don't have Fred Lever's catalogue, it's nowhere near as detailed as Greg's, so if Fred says it took a lot of time and effort to put his catalogue together, you can barely imagine what Greg's going through at the moment. Keep up the good work Greg! We're all dying to get this book in our hands. :good:

interest · August 06, 2017, 10:15:24 AM

I another life I was a printer, (Camera operator & plate maker) then an estimator & purchase officer. Which enables me to sympathies with Greg about the problems of putting a book like this out into the market.
I would hope that it doesn't become an E book, if it does it wont be long before people are giving it away for free on the net & Greg will lose too much money that it will not be worth his while to put it out.