My timeshare guide is published!

[enufsed Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close enufsed]

Hi everyone!

Just a note to announce that my new guide on vacation timeshare is finished and the website I'm using to market it is now live! (Note: Frank, this is not the start of a big spam campaign! I just wanted to start getting the word out here.)

The 136-page paperback is entitled Timeshare Secrets: The Insider's Guide to Buying and Exchanging Vacation Timeshares. The first edition is being printed by Riverside Graphics in Clarksburg, Ontario and costs $17.95 plus shipping. I'm primarily marketing it via a variety of book and timeshare websites and eBay. I will also eventually sell the book on Amazon and as an "ebook" through a new service.

I decided to write this not for lack of information out there (and on sites like this), but rather for seeing the need for a text that someone can read in a few hours, in which I've condensed hundreds of hours of research, written from the consumer's point of view.

You can view the website here: Timeshare Secrets

Guy

P.S. Frank, if you PM me I'd like to discuss non-spammy ways to promote the guide on TS4MS.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Congratulations, guy! It's about time someone with some knowledge of timesharing wrote a book on it.

I think I'll buy a copy to see what you've got to say.

[CarolF Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close CarolF]

Congratulations

Well done Guy. I like your website and it was nice of you to mention TS4MS and see iconnections beautiful photos.

[bezerk Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bezerk]

Congrats....I'll buy one when you get it on Amazon.....best wishes!!

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

Very nicely done.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Nice website. Did you give much coverage to the independent exchange companies?

[enufsed Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close enufsed]

Nice website. Did you give much coverage to the independent exchange companies?

I mention all the ones I know about with short descriptions and also list them in the Resources section (Chapter 10). I offer a detailed description of one Vacation Club just so people understand points and vacation clubs better. Because of space considerations I had to make an "executive decision" to use RCI as my detailed model of how an exchange company works, with some references about how II is similar and different.

An interesting thing I learned in completing this project is that the postage roughly doubles for any book mailed within Canada or to another country that weighs more than 200 grams (including envelope). This is probably also true for books produced in the USA. I didn't want my US customers to have to pay more than $6.oo on top of the purchase price for first class postage. When I went to the postal office, the first printed draft of the guide weighed just over 200 grams! I edited out some material and one of the items I elected to delete was a more detailed look at the II system -- something I might put up on my website or turn into an article.

One more thing: I have switched how I sell the electronic version of the guide to a brand new system for sharing documents called "Yudu.com" If you click the link below you can read the first 25 pages for free, displayed just like the printed version. If you buy the guide, you can view the whole thing on up to five computers and (of course) print it off (or sections) at home. This is a high-quality digital service and prevents people from emailing free "bootleg" copies of the guide to their buddies. Check out how you click on the corner of each page and it turns just like a real paper page!

The URL is here: Item details: Timeshare Secrets: The Insider's Guide to Buying and Exchanging Vacation Timeshares

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

The exchange companies that really should not be ignored are the independents like DAE, SFX, Platinum Interchange, HTSE, etc.

[enufsed Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close enufsed]

The exchange companies that really should not be ignored are the independents like DAE, SFX, Platinum Interchange, HTSE, etc.

Yes, I mention those (at least, I think I got them all).

I'm only doing a small print run of the first edition so that I can incorporate suggestions in the second edition. I'm thinking of sending out a few free review copies to some of the most knowledgable moderators here, so I can get some nice quotes (hopefully) for a review page on my website, and so they can make these kinds of suggestions.

[eagle7304 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eagle7304]

Would you recommend the hard copy or online version?

[enufsed Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close enufsed]

Would you recommend the hard copy or online version?

I suggest you visit the link below to the digital edition and see how much you like reading it with the funky "state-of-the-art" document-sharing software. Click on "view item" and read the first 25 pages for free. (You can zoom in and out to suit your monitor.)

If you enjoy the digital version, buy that, as it's cheaper. If it drives you nutty and you'd really like a book in your hands, order that from thetimeshareguy.com

Here's the link to the digital version:

Item details: Timeshare Secrets: The Insider's Guide to Buying and Exchanging Vacation Timeshares

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

Congratulations!

I had a look at your web site too and will visit later again. I hope you'll sell many copies so you will educate the folks who love to vacation in style.

[eagle7304 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eagle7304]

[QUOTE=enufsed;270993]I suggest you visit the link below to the digital edition and see how much you like reading it with the funky "state-of-the-art" document-sharing software. Click on "view item" and read the first 25 pages for free. (You can zoom in and out to suit your monitor.)

If you enjoy the digital version, buy that, as it's cheaper. If it drives you nutty and you'd really like a book in your hands, order that from thetimeshareguy.com

Thanks

I'll check it out at home this evening...

[Bill4728 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Bill4728]

Guy,

I looked at the 25 page free sample and was very impressed!!

I could see several of the people here write something very much like this. Truely a excellent job!! ( unlike other books which were clearly written by TS salespeople)

For the next edition:

Fix the info :

-in RCI: there isn't a RID anymore it is now silver crown ( about 1.5 years ago)
- No more 5 star in II ( very recent change)

- You may wish to put a link to your web site where you could do things like update name of campanies ect Like:
-Sunterra was bought out and is now called Diamond
-Fairfield changed their name to Wyndham vacations
-Trendwest ( worldmark) changed their name to Worldmark by Wyndham


But those are truely being "nit picky", overall a great job. Clear, readable, nice job with highlighting the key points of the chapters.

[enufsed Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close enufsed]

Guy,

I looked at the 25 page free sample and was very impressed!!

I could see several of the people here write something very much like this. Truely a excellent job!! ( unlike other books which were clearly written by TS salespeople)

Hey Bill, thanks for the kind words! Buddy, I have to tell you your note made my day. Why? Well, I won't write another "book" here, but I have to say folks have no idea how difficult it is to actually finish a book. (How many people do all of us know who "talk" about maybe "one day" writing a book... but never do? Usually they say this in a bar with their friends' eyes glazing over! ha ha I used to be one of those!)

Add to that self-publishing a book and creating a website and then figuring out how to link that to other places and general marketing stuff. And then some folks think in terms of the "big publisher" and forget that as a little guy I'll be fortunate to ever turn a profit from this, blah, blah, blah.

So it's very gratifying to hear someone actually say words to the effect of "well done" because the actual writing takes place in relative isolation without the validation of others. Again, thank you!

AND, I am very grateful for your suggested edit changes. YES I absolutely will update the book in the next edition, which is why I kept the print run very short for the first edition. Your suggested edits are exactly the kind of thing I want to incorporate, and ALSO I will add these kinds of updates to the News section of my website.

In fact, your note has inspired me to send some free "review" copies to some of the moderators here (such as YOU ) so you can give the book a read and make further suggestions (that I will add to both my website and the next edition). I only caution that the book is especially designed for newbies so I hope and expect that the deficiencies will be minor compared to the "big" insights like, er, "don't pay retail prices."

So, PM me your mailing address and I'll pop one in the mail for ya.

P.S. I just noticed that, thanks to visitors like you, the digital version of my guide is the "17th most popular item" at Yudu Library Yay! (Just go there and type in the word "timeshare" to find my book.)