user16626: I was interested in starting to read David Rudel's book Zuke 'Em-The Colle Zukertort Revolutionized but I found that the author's rating is 1319. Should I avoid reading the book since his rating is among the lower end of most chess authors?
In general, should we let the author's rating be one determining factor of the book's value? Are there examples of high-valued chess books written by low-rated players? Or low-valued books written by high-rated players (or even world champions)?

user29740: Sure.
A book's content stands on its own.  Great players have written lousy books, not so great players have written decent books.  Given the availability of engines and other online resources, I don't know that it is necessary to be an exceptionally strong player to write a good book on an opening line.  Of course, if you're out to write a piece of crap, being a weak player is an awfully good start.
The concern I would have is not so much the author's rating, it's his complete lack of a biography on his Amazon pages.  Generally speaking, the rule of "If I don't have anything good to say about myself, then say nothing at all" applies.
The reviews of the book all praise the writing style, which might be reason enough to take a look.  There seems to be a consensus that this is a system which is effective up through 2000 or so, after that, not so much.
For this book, the price tag seems a little steep.  It might be worthwhile to check out abebooks.com or powells.com to find a used copy.

16626: <p>I was interested in starting to read David Rudel's book <a href="https://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/com/1888710780" rel="noreferrer" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Zuke 'Em-The Colle Zukertort Revolutionized</a> but I found that the <a href="https://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?12625282" rel="noreferrer">author's rating</a> is 1319. Should I avoid reading the book since his rating is among the lower end of most chess authors?</p>
<p>In general, should we let the author's rating be one determining factor of the book's value? Are there examples of high-valued chess books written by low-rated players? Or low-valued books written by high-rated players (or even world champions)?</p>
 29740: <p>Sure.</p>
<p>A book's content stands on its own.  Great players have written lousy books, not so great players have written decent books.  Given the availability of engines and other online resources, I don't know that it is necessary to be an exceptionally strong player to write a good book on an opening line.  Of course, if you're out to write a piece of crap, being a weak player is an awfully good start.</p>
<p>The concern I would have is not so much the author's rating, it's his complete lack of a biography on his Amazon pages.  Generally speaking, the rule of &quot;If I don't have anything good to say about myself, then say nothing at all&quot; applies.</p>
<p>The reviews of the book all praise the writing style, which might be reason enough to take a look.  There seems to be a consensus that this is a system which is effective up through 2000 or so, after that, not so much.</p>
<p>For this book, the price tag seems a little steep.  It might be worthwhile to check out abebooks.com or powells.com to find a used copy.</p>
