The Problem with Fishing eBooks: The eBook Fishing Scam by Clyde Drury

Today we have an important article from noted bass fishing and fishing literature authority Clyde Drury--who has compiled a list of bass books in print for the past 60 years. Clyde's article is on the new fishing eBook scam of passing off the same bass fishing book under different titles and different authors; a cursory search shows that this is true for trout fishing, sea fishing, and any other kind of fishing under the sun. The sad truth is this problem is only going to get worse...

The Problem with Fishing eBooks:
The eBook Fishing Scam

by Clyde Drury

I've been discussing print on demand copies of ebooks with Ken Callahan and being the book nut I am I've ended up with a few.  Glad you don't mess with that crowd.  I'm in the process of putting critical reviews on Amazon and on Lulu - heading all of they with Buyer Beware.
 
"wanna be authors"
 
*Boyle, Leonardo – Better Bass Fishing! How To Catch the Next Big One.  8vo.  184 pages.  2010.  ©YourStoreWorld.com (apparently this is another Amazon dodge to cover these “wanna be” authors and printed copies of eBooks)  Lexington KY.  Soft cover. Not illustrated. 


My review on Amazon: A printed eBook in which the text is identical to "Bass Fishing Secrets" by Brently Clemantin and an eBook of the same title by Randall Magwood. Another case of a "wanna be" author purchasing an eBook with cover rights and then reselling it with his name on it. I'm one of those idiots who buy things like this because I'm interested in getting copies of every Black Bass ever printed.
 
*Clemantin, Brently – Bass Fishing Secrets: How To Become A Bass Fishing Expert in No time At all!: Secrets To Mastering Bass Fishing Revealed! (Volume 1).  Pages not numbered but Amazon says 130.  2010.   CreateSpace.  Lexington KY.  Soft cover.  Not illustrated. My review on Amazon: Identical to the eBook of the same title offered for use on a Kindle by Randall Magwood. Both these fellows offer numerous eBooks they've purchased with cover rights. With their desire to sell Kindle books Amazon evidently doesn't care about all these "wanna be" authors listing identical books as if they were the real author. Wonder if these two could be the same guy? One sells Kindle eBooks and the other sells printed copies of the same books. Also, text is identical to "Better Bass Fishing" by Leonardo Boyle.
 
*Elwins, Dannie – How To Learn Bass Fishing And Catch Fish With Ease.  8vo.  44 pages.  2009.  Lulu Publishing.  Soft cover.  Not illustrated.  This guy has over a hundred eBook titles listed on Lulu. My review on Lulu: This is a printed copy of the eBook "Bass Fishing 101: How To Catch The Next Big One," which has over a dozen offers on Amazon if you include these other titles, "The Definitive Guide to Tackle Bass Fishing," "Tackle Bass Fishing And Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About It" and "Bass Fishing For Beginners: How To Catch Your Next Bass Fish Quickly And Easily." Since Amazon started selling the Kindle these guys are coming out of the woodwork. They buy a disc with often hundreds of eBooks with cover rights which means they can put their own name on them and sell them as if they were the author. Not illegal but unethical I believe. Makes it difficult for real authors like Dave Pruet who authored a new book also titled "Bass Fishing 101." Dave's book is a legitimate work that he labored over for quite a while and not something copied from an eBook.
 
*Magwood, Randall - Bass Fishing For Beginners: How To Catch Your Next Bass Fish Quickly And Easily: Tips And Secrets That Will Streamline Your Bass Fishing Experience.  4to.  64 pages.   ©2005.  This edition published in book form in 2009.  (Randall Magwood and CreateSpace/ a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc).   Soft cover.  Not illustrated.  This is the a printed copy of “Bass Fishing 101,” an eBook that has been sold all over the internet since at least 2005.  Evidently you can purchase the eBook with resale rights.  Title has been changed but the contents are identical.  Magwood’s name is on the book but I have no idea who the real author is.  Amazon lists several of the eBooks with different author’s names and some with variations in the title.  Magwood has a couple hundred eBooks listed on Amazon in every subject you can imagine and he claims to be an expert in every subject covered.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he bought one of those CDs filled with eBooks that you can put your name on and resale.  He didn’t even bother to remove the references throughout the book to the original eBook title.    Neither of these books is worth the price when there are hundreds of good original books on Bass fishing available.  Listed elsewhere is an eBook I purchased a few years ago titled “Bass Fishing System,”  in which the text is identical to these two books.
 
*Magwood, Randall – Tackle Bass Fishing And Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About It: Little Known Secrets To Start Reeling In The Big Bass.  4to.  Pages not numbered (48).  No date (2009).  Randall Magwood and CreateSpace/a Amazon.com company.  Soft cover.  Not illustrated.   A reprint of the eBook “The Definitive Guide to Tackle Bass Fishing” which is available on Amazon, eBay and other Internet sites. This one was around as early as 2003.  Basically the same book as the one listed above.  Page totals differ because this book is single spaced and the text on the above book is double spaced.  I noticed in November 2009 that both of these books are no longer listed by Amazon except in the eBook format.  I wrote a critical review of both of these books on Amazon and not long after that the author took the printed copies off the web. A 2010 search found that Magwood now has 435 eBooks listed on the Internet and at least 8 are about fishing.
 
*Middleton, Erica – Bass Fishing 101: Bass Fishing Secrets Revealed.  8vo.  88 pages.  2010.  No publisher shown (CreateSpace/Amazon).  Lexington KY.  Soft cover.  Another printed book from the infamous eBook of the same name and/or many different titles.  Not illustrated. 


A hooked leaping fish on the front cover.  Might be the European Black Sea Bass.  I’ve never seen one so I’m just guessing.  Although early on the book mentions the temperate bass (striped, white, yellow, white perch, and hybrid ), the European sea bass, and the Australian bass, it is really primarily about the Black Bass.  Although the author does seem to be confused about the members of that family.  Another “wanna be” author who purchased an eBook with Personal Cover Rights allowing he to publish with her name on the cover.
 
*Mitchell, Jack – Bass Fishing System: A Complete Step-by-Step System For Becoming a Better Bass Fisherman.  4to.  64 pages.  © No date.  BassFishingSystem.com.  No place shown.  This is a printed copy of an eBook.  Either “Bass Fishing 101” or “The Definitive Guide To Tackle Bass Fishing,” which are basically the same book and have been around since at least 2003.  Most people who purchase the rights to these books put their name on them but don’t think to remove the inside references to the original title.  This guy took all those references out and put his own in their place.  Just another pretend author.  In 2010 I checked his website and this guy is claiming this is a brand new book.
 
*Richardson, Harry – Bass Fishing 101: Insider Tips, Strategies, And Advice To Help You Master The Sport Of Bass Fishing.  8vo.  Pages not numbered (102).  2010.  Publisher not shown (CreateSpace).  Lexington KY.  This is a printed copy of the infamous eBook "Bass Fishing 101: How To Catch The Next Big One," which has over a dozen offers on Amazon if you include these other titles, "The Definitive Guide to Tackle Bass Fishing," "Tackle Bass Fishing And Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About It" and "Bass Fishing For Beginners: How To Catch Your Next Bass Fish Quickly And Easily." Since Amazon started selling the Kindle books these guys are having a field day. They buy a disc with often hundreds of eBooks with cover rights which means they can put their own name on them and sell them as if they were the author. Not illegal but unethical to say the least.
 
I thought Amazon was bad but now that Barnes & Noble and Borders are in the eBook reader business it is going to get a lot worse.  The copies of eBooks printed by Amazon and Lulu have ISBN numbers on the back so they're going to show up in every book reference there is.  I can even imagine some libraries ending up with copies of the same book with different titles and I'm not just talking about fishing books.
 
Can you imagine 40 years from now when you read about some prolific writer who had over 200 books published and he is one of these wanna be authors who never had an original thought.  The eBook idea seemed great to me at first but I never imagined what it would do to printed books with all these duplicates now available.  Recently on eBay some outfit has been offering a CD with over 1,000 titles on it all with private cover rights.  Looks like Amazon will have lots of new books listed shortly.
 
This has developed into my new pet peeve and by now I'm sure you've had enough of my complaining so will close. 

-- Clyde Drury

Thanks Clyde! Wow, I knew this was a problem but hadn't realized the extent of the problem before now. Unreal. We'll keep people updated on the subject, as there are really good fishing eBooks out there that, unfortunately, are going to suffer badly due to scams like this. Our advice? Stick to reputable publishers.

Dr. James A. Henshall, Fish Culturist, by Clyde Drury

I was recently asked to contribute a piece on Dr. James Henshall's career as a fish culturist to the outstanding new journal Eddies: Reflections on Fisheries Conservation, which I strongly suggest anyone with an interest in preserving our fishing history should subscribe to immediately.


In the course of researching this material, I wrote Clyde Drury, the premier Henshall authority in the world and editor of the recently released Autobiography of Dr. James Alexander Henshall, for his take on Henshall's work in this field. He sent me far more than I needed, and has kindly allowed me to reproduce a portion of his correspondence as it adds greatly to our knowledge of Henshall.

Dr. J.A. Henshall as a Fish Culturist

by Clyde E. Drury

In 1865 while working as a medical doctor in New York, Henshall began studying the scientific and life history of fishes as a means of rest and relaxation. His study of the writings of all the leading ichthyologists of the day served him well in the scientific section of his “Book of the Black Bass.” It was there that he established priority for the scientific names gives to the largemouth and smallmouth bass.

When he moved to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin he began to study the fish up close. He stocked a pond on the property with adult bass and studied their breeding, spawning, and feeding habits for several years. He also studied the bass in several other nearby lakes and another hatchery run by Colonel George Shears of Beaver Lake.

The months of February, March, and April, 1889, were spent by Henshall in making an ichthyologic exploration of the southern coast of Florida, together with the U.S. Fish Commission schooner Grampus.

During the months of January, February, and March, 1892, he was engaged in collecting a series of the salt-water fishes of Florida for use in preparing the exhibit of the U. S. Fish Commission at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.

Some key dates in Henshall's fish culture career:

1886-1892 – secretary and then President of the Ohio Fish commission
1891-1892 – President of the American Fisheries Society
1897-1909 – for 12 years Superintendent, Bozeman Montana Hatchery, US Fish Commission
1909–1917 – Superintendent of Tupelo Mississippi Hatchery

Here is a brief list of works written by Henshall on the subject of fish culture:

Henshall, James A., Dr. "Contributions to the Ichthyology of Ohio: No. I." Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History 11 (July-October 1888): 76-80.

Henshall, James A., Dr. "Contributions to the Ichthyology of Ohio: No. 2." Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History 11 (January 1889): 122-126.

Henshall, James A., Dr. "On Some Peculiarities of the Ova of Fishes." Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History 11 (July-October 1888): 81-85.

Henshall, James A., Dr. "Some Observations on Ohio Fishes." Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History 12 (January 1890): 114-125.

Henshall, James A., Dr. - Report Upon A Collection Of Fishes Made In Southern Florida During 1889. 4to. Pages 371-389. 1891. U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries. Document 167. Washington DC. Extracted from the Bulletin Of The United States Fish Commission, Volume ix, For 1889.

Henshall, James A., Dr. - Notes On Fishes Collected In Florida In 1892. 8vo. 15 pages. 1894. U.S. Fish Commission Bulletin for 1894, Article 17. Softbound. Washington DC. Reprinted 1987.

Henshall, James A., Dr. - A Plea For The Development And Protec¬tion Of Florida Fish And Fisheries. Taken from Proceedings And Papers Of The National Fishery Congress held at Tampa Florida, January 19-24, 1898. Ex¬tracted from U. S. Fish Commission Bulletin for 1897. Article 8, pages 253 to 255.

Henshall, James A., Dr. - A List Of The Fishes Of Montana With Notes On The Game Fishes. 8vo. 12 pages. 1906. University of Montana. Missoula MT. A descriptive paragraph on Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass. Indicates that Bass had been planted in the western portion of the state where the waters were warmer. He also says “The colder waters of the eastern part of the state are totally unsuited to black bass; moreover, they should never be planted in ponds or streams containing trout.” Four pages are devoted to trout, and grayling with a short paragraph on the Rocky Mountain whitefish. Reprinted 1985.

Henshall, James A., Dr. - Culture Of The Montana Grayling. 4to. 7 pages. 1907. Fisheries Document #628. U. S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor. Washington DC. Softbound.

Many thanks to my friend Clyde for penning this brief piece, which along with my own biography of Henshall's fish culture work, should be a great start for anyone interested in reading more on his work in this field.

-- Dr. Todd