Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

Discussions on books and other reference material on the WW1, Inter-War or WW2 as well as the authors. Hosted by Andy H.
Felix C
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Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#1

Post by Felix C » 08 Apr 2013, 01:28

Best manner to publish first effort? Small book about 200pp? author created E-book format via Amazon, POD publisher, or try a larger mass market publisher?

I should add are e-books becoming popular within military history publishing? I am guessing younger folk prefer E-readers. Presume older generation more into bound but failing eyesight would make e-readers with instant magnification options popular with that age group.

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Andy H
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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#2

Post by Andy H » 10 Apr 2013, 13:20

Hi

I split this specific post from this thread http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=67479 (Books published by members) for 2 reasons. Firstly the questions asked by the poster weren't directly related to the threads primary purpose, and secondly, I think the specific questions raised by the member and other related or tangent issues need separate space for discussion.
Were all aware of the huge changes affecting books & books sales, the advances in access through technology, vanity publishing, changing social patterns and the recent economic turmoil.
Publishers, Authors and the end user have all had to make hard choices, with each profoundly affecting the other.
I would like to use this thread to discuss & voice your opinions, try to address those concerns and if possible come to a constructive consensus as to the future of Military History publishing as we see it.
Some authors have already given voice to some of the issues & questions when taking part in our AHF Author interviews http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 9&t=196728
So if you have an opinion please feel free to share it!

Regards

Andy H


Mark C. Yerger
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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#3

Post by Mark C. Yerger » 12 Apr 2013, 17:21

Felix C wrote:Best manner to publish first effort? Small book about 200pp? author created E-book format via Amazon, POD publisher, or try a larger mass market publisher?

I should add are e-books becoming popular within military history publishing? I am guessing younger folk prefer E-readers. Presume older generation more into bound but failing eyesight would make e-readers with instant magnification options popular with that age group.
When the make an e-book where I can see both pages with photos of same size as a normal book, all footnotes simultaneously, etc than e-books will graduate to being equal to print.

They're fine for text only.

Felix C
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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#4

Post by Felix C » 21 Aug 2014, 21:37

Is it considered good form to submit to several publishers at the same instance?

I am being asked by a publisher if I have also submitted elsewhere. The email states "so we may know who we are competing with."

What say ye who know? I am a first timer.-Long time since I had occasion to say that about myself.

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#5

Post by Mark C. Yerger » 22 Aug 2014, 04:53

See no reason to tell any company others you submitted to. None of their business, no obligation till you sign.

Depends on size, font, SB, HB, photos, etc. And how good it is.

Saying 200 pages is really no information. 200 pages in 8.5 x 11 with 11 point text ? 200 pages in 6x9 with 10 point ? Photos ? No photos ?, how many ?

Who, how, and getting it done a bit more complicated and involved beyond compiling / writing it.

Mark

Felix C
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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#6

Post by Felix C » 30 Aug 2014, 23:03

Thanks. I received a fairly detailed questionnaire from this publisher and others but the one question above struck me as different and then so elected to ask here.

BTW, I honestly did not know the author is supposed to provide photographs. For some reason I thought that would be decided later, primarily by the editor and the author in collaboration, to illustrate relevant features of the text but using a cost/benefit approach. I presume it cost more to print photographs as the pages used are glossy compared to the ones for text.

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#7

Post by Urmel » 01 Sep 2014, 11:51

You also have to get and pay for the rights to publish those photographs yourself, and pay for the making of maps yourself. I would tell them that you submitted elsewhere, it may bring a bit of pressure on them.
The enemy had superiority in numbers, his tanks were more heavily armoured, they had larger calibre guns with nearly twice the effective range of ours, and their telescopes were superior. 5 RTR 19/11/41

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#8

Post by Tom Houlihan » 01 Sep 2014, 14:44

Urmel wrote:...and pay for the making of maps yourself.
I know of only two outfits that didn't make you pay for the maps, Aberjona Press and Osprey. Don't know how Prit got Osprey to pay for them, but they did! Everyone else I've done maps for paid me themselves for the print-ready maps to submit to the publisher.

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#9

Post by Felix C » 04 Sep 2014, 15:34

I find having to source photos rather frustrating as I have always been a text reader and never cared for illustrations. Maps, charts, etc and text YES but photos are immaterial to me. Yet, I realize they do help sell a book as a person browsing will be interested by noting the photos.

Well as an exception to my statement above, I absolutely loved the photos in Bragadin's The Italian Navy in WW2. But the photos were by Aldo Fraccaroli and he was simply outstanding.

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#10

Post by maarten swarts » 05 Sep 2014, 12:13

Dont know what so special about "The Italian Navy in WWII" from Bragadin. The book was OK in 1957 but now it is quite outdated. In my version (US Naval Institute 1957) only a few photos are from Fraccaroli and I cannot see anything outstanding. I presume you must have a different version. I have to say that if you don t care for photos you are at a serious disavantage. 40 years ago publishers hardly put any pictures in their books. Too much trouble, costs, but the main reason was writers didn t care and also publishers looked down on photographs. That was something for magazines, not books. Nowadays some publishers still produce books about military campaigns without maps or photos. Dont forget publishers know nothing about the subject you are writing and they dont care. Money thats were its all about. So produce your own book!

Felix C
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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#11

Post by Felix C » 05 Sep 2014, 14:20

I agree Bragadin's work is outdated. The only reason I kept mine is the photos. They perked my interest decades ago when I first thumbed through the book in the library. I am no photographer and so that is my opinion of high quality.

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#12

Post by Tom Houlihan » 05 Sep 2014, 15:12

It might be worth investigating a POD outfit, like Lulu or CreateSpace. I've put books out with both of them. Not hard, you have control of the project. The only hurdle is advertising, although you can have your book listed on Amazon, which helps. More so if you have an e-reader version!

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#13

Post by Felix C » 05 Sep 2014, 15:28

I am in the book business, sort of.... My company founder was a somewhat famous figure and the company commissioned a biography about him after his passing. I have it as part of the products portfolio and made a number of contacts and delved into the book distribution and sales side of the business for a bit to see if promotion of this work could generate publicity for our main focus. To me, the lessons learned from this exercise was the ability to market and distribute is the key to garnering sales. Hence the need for a known publisher with established readers who eagerly look forward to the next catalog releases, like USNI Press, and who have relationships from buyers for the larger book chains. (I recall when contacting distributors the key information requested was marketing contribution and print run quantity.) The remainder is discrete marketing in the form of notifying the reader base regarding the title and hopefully some well crafted reviews and referrals.

So it is beneficial to use an established publishing house and work with their rules. Pardon if I sounded irritable above. I was hoping to move on to the next title.

The learning process is edifying.

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#14

Post by Felix C » 28 Dec 2016, 16:23

Followup question as the book is finished save one item----Where do you folks find your photographs? Do you own outright or license from museums and other archives? If ownership, do you purchase on ebay or where?

I have to provide thirty photographs and licensing from museums is really expensive.

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Re: Publishing Military history books, Format & Costs etc

#15

Post by MLW » 28 Dec 2016, 19:11

I either 1) own my own photos purchased through various means such as dealers or eBay, 2) find and scan them myself at NARA, 3) find them through colleagues and friends, or 4) when writing for Osprey Publishing I can get images from the IWM at Osprey's expense. The bottom line is that there is rarely one single source for photos and you must plan on paying something for some of them.

Regards,
Marc

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