TKG4 EDITING IS NOW IN FULL SWING!Dateline: 2013-July-01: At least the possibility of a fourth edition of The Tarantula Keeper's Guide has been openly discussed ever since TKG3 was released in 2009. But, no actual work was done towards realizing the goal. The author (Stan Schultz) has recently announced that the editing of TKG3 to produce TKG4 has now commenced in earnest. "Other authors and publishers use the trick of just changing a few illustrations and sentences or the cover artwork to produce a 'new' edition merely as a sales gimmick. I do not take issuing a new edition so lightly. If I'm going to spend the time and effort on a new edition, a major part of the book must be revamped and updated. The new edition has to be a value added product, not merely a marketing trick. If it's going to be a 'new edition,' firstly a significant portion of it has to be 'new' or it's just the same old edition." Such an extensive rewrite is a huge project and requires much time to compose, refine, and re-edit, as well as a great deal of negotiating and cooperation on the parts of both the author and the publisher. This almost always results in material being left out that in a perfect world should have been included in the printed edition. These were the cases with both TKG2 and TKG3. As a result, each edition was given its collateral webpage with an after-market support page. (See After-Market Support: 2 and After-Market Support: 3.) Plans are already afoot to do the same for TKG4. While the final release date is still uncertain, it will almost surely not be before spring of 2016 and could be a year or two later. Stay tuned for further updates. The bad news is that in the interim many of the pages on this website will no longer be updated. |
mother and child. Thanks and a tip o' the hat to Patrick Mumford (a photo-contributor for TKG3) for the use of his tarantulas for the above photos. |
mother and brood. Heartfelt thanks to Jennifer Burge (a photo-contributor for TKG3) for allowing the use of this photo of Momma and her babies. (Used with permission.) |
The tarantula keeping hobby is advancing at an incredible pace. This is both good and bad news. The good news is that this indicates it's an extremely viable hobby whose limits are still very far off.
The bad news is that the TARANTULA KEEPER'S GUIDE moves closer and closer to becoming obsolete as each day passes. The author is acutely aware of this and is gradually amassing data with the intention of updating the GUIDE at some time in the future. But, don't throw away your old copy just yet. It's a huge job and edition four probably won't be available until the spring of 2016 or even 2017.
In the meantime, you can keep track of updates and corrections by visiting our Aftermarket Support page for the latest edition.
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Copyright © 2004, Stanley A. Schultz and Marguerite J. Schultz.
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This page was initially created on 2004-December-23.
The last revision occurred on 2014-May-22.