Sort of off-beat request

Carol Reed

In Memoriam
Messages
5,533
Location
Coolidge, AZ
I am writing/taping another woodworking book/video. When I did the Router Joinery Workshop, I had a newbie friend who also happened to be an editor. If she understood and could do what I was writing about, I had a winner. That book was published in 2003, and there has not been one single request to make a change because something was found to be incorrect. I found that to be rather amazing and it was in huge part because it was 'field-proven' before it went to print.

Since this book/video will be on basic woodworking as in total newbie beginning, I would like to find someone local to mentor and quiz along the way. As I am in the beautiful mountains of Arizona 100 miles from a larger metropolitan area, finding a local is the goal.

The usual sources, like a club, or local lumber yard is not available to me to make my need public. There is a local paper in a town 20 miles away, but my experience has been that few read it, considering it relatively useless.

How does one find wanna-be's?

Any suggestions?
 
What a cool idea Carol.

Hmm, I'm guessing you are in a relatively sparsely populated area?

Are there any types of community/county meetings you could attend? I know our little area has a monthly "Citizens Advisory Board" meeting where issues concerning our little chunk of the county are discussed.

Maybe you could ask the members of your congregation for any leads?
 
if i understood you correctly your looking for a person to teach and ask question as to how to properly do the whole beginning stages of woodworking.. if so try the local schools and see if they have a wood shop class yet and if so you are looking for a special someone to do this with.
 
So far:
"types of community/county meetings"

Hmmmm....bears more investigation. I did have a chat with the local person who writes a local column for the newspaper I mentioned in my OP. Should be in the paper next week. And I have an appointment with my hairdresser tomorrow. That's like plugging into the local party line of old.

"members of your congregation"

That community is 110 miles away, and yeah, I drive that both ways each Sunday. So that is sort of impractical for this purpose. But my former congregation is only 20 miles away. I think I will write a blurb for that newsletter. Thanks for the mind bump.

"try the local schools"

For insurance purposes, the individual must be of legal age. Sorry.
 
So far:

"try the local schools"

For insurance purposes, the individual must be of legal age. Sorry.

well sometimes they graduate and are out of work these days,, could still be a person that was good in shop but is graduated and above the age of 18 now..unless they are all genius's in them ther mountains:)
 
"try the local schools"

For insurance purposes, the individual must be of legal age. Sorry.

:huh::huh::huh::huh::huh: If it is a specific project or set of tasks for specific pieces of equipment, a local woods teacher may be teaching a similar lesson. He/she may find yours more useful, if they take it on to teach in their classroom, there wouldn't be any liability on you unless you are specifically instructing them to remove guards or use equipment in a dangerous manner. I feed my middle school IT teacher basic wood projects all the time that demonstrate different tasks on different tools and they end up with a project in hand at the end. PM me if you want Carol.
 
Let me clarify, guys.

I am looking for someone who knows zippo but would like to learn. I have forgotten the questions true newbies have, so to write a book for newbies, I need a newbie or two.

It is most convenient to have them come to me. I certainly am not going to taken on someone a hundred miles away or more. It would take too long.

Someone nearby with time and a few bucks for some basic tools, and a willingness to commit for 6-8 months. That's about what it took me to write the last book. My shop and my tools are available, but I would like them motivated enough to start putting together their own shop.

The person likely to buy the book/video would be someone with time, money and motivation. But not tons of it. And no nearby woodworking classes or even club.

And if this is not viable, then there are no customers and I would be wasting my time. Now is the time to learn this.

Remember, one of the knocks on Norm was the shop full of tools he had. But a newbie wouldn't have that. And I have a whole lot more than a beginner. So I need to use more humble means to accomplish some tasks. If you get my drift.

But thanks for the tips. So where do newbies look for woodworking help when they want to learn but they haven't yet found all the resources you and I know about?

I am not adverse to feeding info to a local school, but that isn't the purpose here.
 
:huh::huh::huh::huh::huh::huh::huh: HEY, what about your local 4H woodworking club??? Surely like ours, plenty of kids that want to do this but don't have interested or capable parents. So then the list expands to cub/boy scouts? Brownies/girl scouts? Department of Natural Resources and help volunteers build nesting boxes (if your book isn't project specific). Now am I on a more correct track?
 
Carol,
My thoughts on contacting Mesa College was that they may have been contacted by someone in your neck of the woods who was looking for a course in woodworking in your neck of the woods. I am sure that they get calls al the time to find out if they offer extension courses in basic woodworking. You know someone in Payson or there abouts.
 
Thanks, Don. I've saved the names. I may contact them later this summer. Right now I am busting my tush to get 14 feet of bookshelves finished and delivered and then it is off to NC for June. But I also needed to get the book project off the ground. Publishers don't like two months of silence! :doh:

Jonathon, sorry I know you are a teacher but I can't do this with youngsters. Insurance problems in my shop, etc. Also they do not buy books or tools for that matter. The publisher wants to know who will buy the book. Commerce rears its head again! :rolleyes:
 
Carol, i have been thinking about this project of yours since seeing your first post. I think its a great idea but finding the candidate is going to be a real issue imho.

Here is why. If you examine most of us on the forum, my guess is most of us are from a generation where shop was taught at school. Even out in SA we had the same sort of classes as you guys here.

Then i would say most of us likely had dads that had a shop of sorts.

So when i got back to woodworking, i started via magazines. Even though i am tech literate I initially did not think to join a forum. Wish i had though for too many reasons to list here.

Now i am trying to focus in on the target market for this book of yours.

What do you see as being the sweet spot?

What do you see as being the prior experience, i know you say newbie, but i would have considered myself a newbie when i first bought my jigsaw and b&D router upon arriving in Canada. I had owned a really good set of tools before but ditched most in SA but in SA i was a diyer fixing the house but not woodworking.

You sound like you want to target an age group of people wanting to start woodworking as a hobby but at what age. A person say just married and in his lets say 20's to 30's or are you thinking in terms of a person in their 40's where they are planning a hobby for the longer term thinking of the days when the kids are teenagers or young adults and they have more time for themselves.

As Allen has pointed out it aint no cheap hobby, and in the 20's thru 30's there are a great many other priorities that compete for both time and money.

I think helping you to find a candidate we need to have a clearer picture of who buys this book.

Then we are better equiped to offer thoughts as to where to find the character.

I think the book idea is a great one. I would hope it would be something that one could buy and give to someone as a source of inspiration to get started on something new and rewarding in life. E.G. many business owners i meet I find have no hobbies and their business is all consuming. They aint planned a retirement activity and find it difficult to hand off control in their business because there is nothing for them to go to. A book like you describe would be a good starting point for some of them.
 
Carol with all due respect, forget I am a teacher, I was trying to focus on "groups of newbies". Okay, got it on the insurance front with kids. Got it on kids not having the dollars to buy your book. Surely you had a target audience in mind when writing this, what was it? Also, if you look at middle school teachers, 4H leaders, cub scouts/boy scouts, all of these people purchase newbie books to help them teach. Also there is a whole community then of partents that want to catch up to their kids, or continue the learning experience then reference to they did this particular project utilizing your book makes it a must buy for that group.
 
Good thoughts all. I really appreciate your comments and insight.

I am often asked if I give classes and I do, but it is a private tutoring arrangement. I also get emails saying "I have no resources where I am. What do you have to help me learn?" And these come from people who have read, and even bought the first book. I also hear from folks who lurk on the WW forums.

I learned from the first book that there are two different agendas. Mine is to teach and create a resource that people can use to learn. The publisher's agenda is to simply sell the book. It is not mutually exclusive, but sometimes it feels that way! And I have to help them define the audience, i.e., book buyers. That way they put up their money to publish it. They know lots of ways to sell books, but having the audience well defined helps them is selling it. It also helps me to keep it relevant to the intended audience.

And you all are helping me better define the audience. And yes, Toni, that would include the ladies. ;)

And Rob is correct. Many in our generation got some experience from shop classes in school. Now there is a dying learning forum! All the more reason to create help resources.

There are many who have achieved their careers, but are not yet ready to retire. They now find that all work and no play has made life dull. Their creative natures have been neglected. And they do have the money and motivation to get into this hobby which can get pricey. My book/video is intended to help them do that with some semblance of order and with fewer purchasing mistakes and quicker success.

Here is a working title: "Woodworking From Beginning to Success!" (copyrighted)

Thanks for putting up with me.
 
I am pretty new to woodworking. I began woodworking less than 4 years ago.
And I did purchase alot of books, including one on routers, basic woodworking, basic technique, hand tools, power tools, etc..
I was not as fortunate to find someone with your experience offering free instruction. I attended a class in Makeville studio.(makeville.com)I came across it on the internet after searching for months for local classes with no luck
I believe if you put up a thread in all the woodworking sites you belong too, as well as Craigslist, and any other sites that might have free advertising sections, you might weed out one or two eligible students who realize what "gold" you are offering.
I cant imagine someone not taking you up on your offer.
 
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