NOTE: Some of the advertisements distributed by Academic Press have incorrectly listed *this* page as the main web page for my book. But this is just a subpage, telling about ordering information. The book's main page is at

http://math.vanderbilt.edu/~schectex/ccc/

Go to that page first. If it persuades you to buy the book, then come back here! -- ES

Ordering Information

Of course I'd be very pleased if you buy a copy of my book. But you can't buy it directly from me. I don't handle the distribution, sales, etc.

Before you buy the book, you have to decide whether you want the print-on-paper version or the CD-ROM version; it's now available in both forms. Click here for a comparison of the two formats. For most purchasing methods, you need to know the ISBN number of the book; it depends on which version you want. It is

Paper version	ISBN 0126227608
CD-ROM version	ISBN 0126227659

Also, before you buy the book, you might look at my remarks about getting the best price, further down on this web page.

You can buy the book in several different ways. Here are all the ways I've thought of:

At a local bookstore. They probably don't have my book in stock, but they can order it for you, if that's how you prefer to order books. You just need to know the ISBN number.
Via an online bookstore. You'll probably get the lowest price this way, though I'm not sure why. Here are some online bookstores:
- amazon.com
- Barnes and Noble
- Booksprice.com (search for low prices), including their link to my book
You can probably find my book by searching any of those websites for the ISBN number or for my name (if you spell it right: Schechter).

Directly from Academic Press. For this choice you can use telephone, email, fax, paper mail, a web site, or probably other methods I haven't thought of. Here are some of their web links:

Following is some material that I copied from that last link. (It was current on 16 Sept 99.)

  -------------------------------

  Written Correspondence

     * Order inquiries:

       Academic Press, Inc.
       Order Fulfillment Department
       6277 Sea Harbor Drive
       Orlando, Florida 32887
       apbcs@harcourtbrace.com

     * Textbook desk copy requests

       Academic Press, Inc.
       Attn: Textbook Coordinator
       525 B Street, Suite 1900
       San Diego, CA 92101-4495
       textbook@acad.com

     * Book Review Requests

       Academic Press, Inc.
       Attn: Review Coordinator
       525 B Street, Suite 1900
       San Diego, CA 92101-4495
       tdaul@acad.com

  -------------------------------

  Phone Numbers

  Order Inquiries

     * USA/Canada: 1-800-321-5068 / Fax: 1-800-874-6418
     * Outside USA/Canada:
       Calling from within the United States: 1-800-341-9938
       Calling from outside the United States: 1-407-345-3800
       Fax: 1-407-345-4060

  Textbook Desk Copy Requests

  USA/Canada: 1-800-894-3434 ext. 6400

  -------------------------------

  By E-mail

     * Academic Press Book Customer Service:
       apbcs@harcourtbrace.com
     * Textbook Desk Copy Requests:
       textbook@acad.com

  -------------------------------

Some Remarks About Prices

Some colleagues have written to me about the different prices that they have paid for my book. In fact, one colleague paid *twice* the list price. You should understand that different distributors charge VERY different markups for their services. I am posting this note because I hate to think of anyone buying my book for a high price and then later discovering that they could have paid less.

If you find a local bookstore that carries my book, you can look at the book before you decide whether you want to buy a copy. However, some bookstores charge higher prices. If you are not concerned about looking at the book before you order a copy, you may get a lower price by buying through mail-order or the internet (see links given earlier on this page). You can expect to pay list price plus some shipping charges. (You may also have to pay some sort of tariffs, customs, or other taxes that your country collects on imported goods, if you are not in the USA.)

Actually, very few local bookstores carry advanced math books like mine. If you find such a bookstore near your home, consider yourself lucky. You might want to support its continued existence by paying the higher prices that such a bookstore may require. This also supports authors like me, very indirectly and very slightly, by maintaining an additional channel of distribution for books. However, be sure that you understand that the local bookstore's higher price does not benefit the author directly. If you buy my book for more than list price, I won't get any of the difference. I love bookstores too, but you decide how you want to spend your money.

Although I think that many people will find my book useful and enjoyable, I know that my book is not for everyone. I'm actually more interested in pleasing people than in selling large numbers of copies of my book. So if your university library has a copy of my book, please be sure to look at it before you order your own copy. This also gives a reason for supporting your local bookstore; see remarks in previous paragraph.

Some people may wonder why the book costs what it does. I don't know all of Academic Press's reasoning, but I can tell you my own perspective on the matter. I am very pleased that Academic Press managed to keep the price so low; that's one of the reasons I chose Academic Press. I think the price is fairly low; on a pages-per-dollar basis it is cheaper than mst math books, and almost as cheap as photocopying.

You can photocopy a few pages, but please don't photocopy my entire book or large chunks of my book. Besides being illegal, that is also immoral: I worked very long and hard to write the book, and I deserve some compensation for it. Also, paying for your books encourages all authors to write more books, which presumably you have some use for. Finally, photocopying would also require a great deal of your time and labor, and would add wear and tear to the photocopy machine, and the result still wouldn't have the nice cover and binding that Academic Press has supplied.)

I do hope to make a little money on my book, but I know that I won't make much -- the market is very small for any advanced math book, even one of exceptional quality. My chief reason for writing the book was not to make money, but to share my love of the subject. I enjoy the writing and rewriting process, and I've tried to do a good job. I believe I've succeeded, but of course it is up to others to judge that.

A few people have asked why I didn't simply give the book away for free, by publishing it over the internet. I did consider that idea, but I decided against it for at least a couple of reasons.

First, the book really is much better because of the help Academic Press gave me. The cover and binding are sturdy, and the grammatical and typographical errors are far fewer because of AP's excellent copyediting. Also, AP's system of advertising and distribution is useful to buyers, whether the buyers realize it or not.
Second, I probably get more recognition and status by publishing through Academic Press. That's important to me. I am not just a mathematician; I'm also a human being, with a career to protect and a family to support. The visibility and status of internet publishing may rise over the next few years, but they aren't quite high enough yet. I may actually get *more* readers by selling the book (through Academic Press's excellent distribution system) than by giving it away. Moreover, when my university's deans, who are not mathematicians, ask what I've been doing with all my time instead of writing research papers, I can point to this professional-looking book. It's a very tangible product.