Lost Art Press

A New Book from Me (Kinda!)

Posted on by Lost Art Press

t2793_500px_72dpiBefore I started writing woodworking books, I had a magazine reader ask me about my photography book. Photography book? What?

Yup. “Men Defined: Nudes,” which is still available at Amazon. That’s not my writing, I promise. If I were to write an erotic non-woodworking book it would be about goats.

It’s an odd experience to see your name on a book you didn’t write. And I had that same weird feeling when I saw “Classic American Furniture” by Christopher Schwarz advertised on ShopWoodworking.com.

My first thought: Hey, you other Christopher Schwarz. Stop invading my topic. I’ve carefully steered clear of writing about the erotic world of men in black and white.

As it turns out, I did write this book. Kinda sorta.

“Classic American Furniture” is a compilation of a lot of projects I built for the now-defunct Woodworking Magazine (yes, I miss it, too). In addition to my stuff, there also are a fair number of technique pieces and small projects from the other editors.

I finally got a copy of the book yesterday and spent some time paging through it. It’s actually a nice compilation of projects with a pared-back American aesthetic (and not a single nude person in sight). There’s Some Shaker and Arts & Crafts pieces, of course. But also some simple back-country pieces that are unadorned and nicely proportioned.

If you never saw Woodworking Magazine, this book is a good introduction to it and the approach we took to building and finishing pieces.

I receive no royalties from this book, FYI. And I’m not an affiliate with ShopWoodworking (or anyone). So I have no financial interest in it. Check it out here. It’s on sale for abou $20.

— Christopher Schwarz

 

8 thoughts on “A New Book from Me (Kinda!)”

  1. I have brought the book of the first seven issues with me on board this time, there were a lot of good projects in that magazine.
    I think it makes sense to make a new book with those projects. The articles were written in a very clear language.
    But I feel kind of sorry for you, that you don’t receive any royalty when they use your name. But as long as the content is still something you can be proud of, then it isn’t quite so bad.
    Brgds
    Jonas

  2. After following the links in this post, I’m seeing some strange advertising elsewhere I travel on the internet. Going to have to go and google Guns & Ammo, Nascar, and Deer Hunting to balance things out.

  3. No royalties or one time lump sum payment, even a token? I guess the difference between what is legal (they paid you once, you signed away your rights, sucker) and what is ETHICAL (thanks Mr. Schwarz for your content, BTW we are re-publishing it and we’re going to profit by it, here is $1000 in appreciation for your work) is pretty clear here. I suspect certain other publishing companies handle it differently.
    In the interests of public decency, perhaps LAP should skip this month’s issue of “Playgoat” (or is that called “Just Kidd-ing?’)

    1. The magazine paid me well while I worked there. And they continue to pay me well as a contributor — they give me an incredible amount of freedom, all-in-all.

      I have zero bitterness. They took a chance on me and they deserve to reap any rewards from the gamble. I only mentioned the fact that I don’t receive royalties in the interest of full disclosure.

      1. Chris, very classy and appreciative response. We should all learn from it.

  5. I wonder how a Kickstarter campaign to find that other “photojournalist” Chris and pay him to write a book about birdhouses would go…
    …maybe exclusively using the Kreg joint system family of plastic jigs.

    I did one compete with myself in a job interview, but I have never encountered an actual common nomon.

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