November 1, 2017

Table Tennis Writing and Book Sales
When I’m not coaching table tennis, I’m writing about it, along with a little science fiction. (Here’s my Amazon page for both.) As of today, I have 1766 published articles, plus approximately 1600 table tennis blog entries, 34 science fiction blog entries, and 13 books.

Of the articles, they include 1562 on table tennis, 142 science fiction & fantasy, 33 on the Baltimore Orioles, and 29 others. Throw in the 1600 blog entries, and it’s about 3400 articles, plus the 13 books. That’s way too much time I’m not watching Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead!

The 13 books include 8 on table tennis and 6 science fiction & fantasy. Yep, 8 + 6 = 13. That’s because The Spirit of Pong counts for both. (Campaign 2100: Game of Scorpions could count for both as well, since there’s a lot of table tennis in this science fiction novel. Here’s my blog on that.) My latest science fiction novel is When Parallel Lines Meet, which I co-wrote with Mike Resnick and Lezi Robyn. Here's my SF blog on that. 

Here’s a listing for book sales for October. I’ve combined print and kindle sales.

91 Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers (66 in English, 25 in French)
15 Table Tennis Tips
06 More Table Tennis Tips
05 Table Tennis Tales and Techniques
03 The Spirit of Pong
03 Professional Table Tennis Coaches Handbook
Total: 123

As you can see Table Tennis Tactics for Thinkers easily outsells the rest. There’s a simple reason for that – there really isn’t a comparable book. There are books with short chapters on tactics, and short manuals on tactics, but nothing that’s really feature length or in depth other than this. Why not get a copy for yourself and see what you think? (Note - the numbers above don't include books sold via Butterfly, Paddle Palace, and other table tennis stores, which buy them in large numbers every year or so.) 

I also sold over 26,000 copies of Table Tennis: Steps to Success, but that’s out of print, so the only sales of that are now resales, where I don’t any commission or even really know about. Someday, when I’m retired, I plan doing an update, retitling it “Table Tennis Fundamentals.” My other table tennis book is the online Instructor's Guide to Table Tennis, which I wrote for USATT. Someday I also hope to update and expand this. 

I do have an idea for another table tennis book that’ll be different from any others – but I’d rather not blog about it and have roves of other table tennis writers steal the idea. Hopefully I’ll get to it this next year.

And speaking of Table Tennis books….

The Best Table Tennis Books
Here’s the article by British Coach Tom Lodziak. I like his listing!

Belgium Open
Here’s the home page for the event. It started yesterday in De Haan, Bel, Oct. 31 – Nov. 4.

ITTF Decides on Sanctions for Chinese Trio for China Open Forfeits
Here’s the ITTF article - $20,000 each for Ma Long, Fan Zhendong, and Xu Xin.

Bundesliga Match at JOOLA North American Teams
Here’s the news item. Two premier teams from the German professional league will play at 1PM on Friday, Nov. 24 during the North American Teams at the Gaylord National Harbor Resort in National Harbor, Maryland.

New from EmRatThich
Here are three new articles/videos.

Reaction Multiball with Colors
Here’s the video (50 sec) from eBaTT.

Table Tennis Tidbits #12: Analyzing the German Open Final
Here’s the article and link to video (15:39) by Robert Ho.

Drop Shot Off Lob
Here’s the video (2:59) from PingSkills.

Halloween Jokes
Here’s the new podcast (33:22) from PingSkills. Topics include Jokes of the Week, On This Week, Tip of the Week, Drill of the Week, Tournament Wrap, Is this a Let, Changing to Long Pimples, Using Sidespin Flick, Shifting Grip from Forehand to Backhand

Did the Ball Hit the Edge?
Here’s the video and discussion of the last point of game five at the Women’s World Cup this past Sunday. Liu Shiwen leads 11-10 when Zhu Yuling apparently loops off – or does she? The umpires gave the point to Liu and so she goes up 3-2 in games. At first, the ball does appear off. But when viewed in slow motion, it becomes somewhat obvious it barely nicked the table, and so it should be deuce. Fortunately, it didn’t affect the match as Zhu wins the next two games to win the match.

Zhu Yuling Wins in Markham Ends Remarkable Record of Liu Shiwen in Dramatic Final
Here’s the ITTF article about the Women’s World Cup Final this past Sunday.

Rivals' Rise No Threat to China's Dominance: Jiang Jialiang
Here’s the article, featuring two-time World Men’s Singles Champion Jiang. How confident was he that his country is still the side to beat at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics? "I am 80 per cent sure," was his quickfire reply to The Straits Times.

“Hopes” say Goodbye to Fiji with the Future in Mind
Here’s the ITTF article, which features Dario Arce from Mexico.

DHS ITTF Top 10 - 2017 Men's World Cup
Here’s the video (4:34).

Halloween Table Tennis Videos and Pictures
Here are the best Halloween table tennis costumes from yesterday.

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