Box Mapping Is Done

Box mapping is done, everyone.  It's a relic of the past.  It was still feasible as recently as Scars of Mirrodin, but starting after that, WOTC went to a four-track collation method that is so wasteful that even if you are using Jason Vinzito's Box Mapper app, you can't make any money on it.  It used to be that a backpack dealer could do pretty well with it and a small store with time to kill might be able to garner some benefit.  Especially back when the collation was simple.  But now?  A backpack dealer will be hard pressed to benefit, and a store absolutely will lose money.  It just takes too much time and labor to sift out a few target rares or mythics, against the very easy certainty of using buylists or otherwise just getting the singles explicitly, and then having to dispose of the bad packs somehow while not ruining the dealer's or store's reputation.  Just... forget it.  There is no good way.

I am going into business with some other folks to open a store.  Our original plan was to make box mapping information freely available to ensure that our customers are in the know.  However, it seems that is no longer necessary as the practice has become obsolete.   And seriousy, it's better this way.

People will continue talking about this perpetually.  It's too juicy of an urban legend not to (even though, for a brief time, it was not an urban legend, as you now know).  I'll probably get dragged through the mud a bit for engaging in this project.  That's OK.  Everyone likes to shoot the messenger.  Box mapping happened before I ever knew about it, and it will happen again (despite the pointlessness of it) long after I've turned out the lights and locked the door behind me.

I have taken the books and materials and withdrawn them from print.  Some amount of them may still circulate.  They are a historical curiosity at this point.  I recommend against buying any.

My future writing projects will have nothing to do with the collectible card game industry or box mapping.

I wish you all the very best.

Thanks for reading!
-RE

Improve Your Writing from A to Z, 2009 Edition

This is my book for college students and job seekers interested in improving their writing skills. It will be featured in a review in issue #11 of New Voice Magazine UK.

Improve Your Writing from A to Z, 2009 Edition [$7.99]: Buy from Amazon Createspace

At present that is the best and cheapest source. If I find a better source (either another Amazon affiliate or whatever) I will revise the link.

Welcome to Ross Edwards Books!

Welcome to my official blog here at Ross Edwards Books!

I started this blog as a "customer service" project, because:

1. I had feedback that my ebook distributor was not effective;

2. I had feedback that people were impersonating me on various social networks, so I wanted to make sure there was one absolutely reliable source for information on my books; and

3. My publisher, Exuberance Press, is not currently maintaining a web presence, so I would not be stepping on my own toes by blogging "in person."

There are links at your right by which you can acquire my books. At some point, I will be linking each book listing to a page describing what's in the book. Every price I post is intended to be the cheapest possible price available! For example, I cannot sell the print editions as cheaply as Createspace (part of the Amazon affiliate system) so I am linking you directly to them instead of trying to do it myself.

I don't generally participate in social networks, because I just don't have time. My publisher has urged me to set up Facebook, Twitter, etc pages, just so that there is at least one genuine page for me on those sites. Time allowing, I will try to get that done. I am on some literary message boards, but I don't use my name there and I don't talk about my books, so I have not had any issues with those. When in doubt, you can always ask me here on this blog and I will confirm or deny whether I am the source of a specific statement.

Anyway that's enough administrative matter for now. Welcome!

Thanks for looking!
-RE