[Andrew Arthy]

Hi guys,

Many thanks for the comments.


Richard,

We also still prefer the printed book, and that’s why our significant book projects will appear in that format. Although print runs will decrease as the years go by (at the moment print runs are between 1,000 and 1,500), we will continue to publish hard copy books for as long as people keep buying them. However, the eBook and eArticle format is something that will grow in the future, and we’d like to try it. It also allows us to publish projects that simply wouldn’t be economically viable as printed books.

I guess most people aren’t familiar with the economics of the publishing world. The Luftwaffe market is a tiny one, and there are only just enough potential customers to make a fully illustrated printed book project of more than 176 pages worthwhile, especially if, like Air War Publications, you want to write and publish about topics that hasn’t been covered before (rather than more popular topics like the FW 190 Dora and Ta 152, the Me 262, and late-war Bf 109s).

We want to be able to publish our hard copy books about the ground-attack guys and other aviation history topics not previously covered. However, we have many projects that simply couldn’t be published in the traditional printed form because the market for them wouldn’t be big enough. For example, Adam Thompson and I have been working on a unit history of the short-range reconnaissance units 2.(H)/14 and 4.(H)/12. I can’t imagine this would sell any more than 400 copies (worldwide), and that simply isn’t enough to cover printing and distribution costs for a 176+ page fully illustrated book. Still, it’s a really interesting project, and it could see the light of day as an eBook.

Richard mentions not having a reader device, but our eBooks and eArticles will be available as standard .pdfs for use on both a regular computer and a reader (if you have one), and will be fully printable if you wish to do so.

Photos and illustrations will always be reproduced in better quality digitally compared to the printed form. Those who have seen our first title, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in the Battle for Sicily, will know the standards we aim for, so there would be no problems viewing any part of our eBooks or eArticles.

We’ve had articles published in magazines, but how many board members purchase Wartime magazine, where several of my articles appear, or can read the German versions of our articles in Flugzeug Classic? Putting them all online in one location seems a real step forward in having our research published and available. Another benefit of eArticles is that we won’t have to tolerate waiting 18 or 24 months for them to see the light of day after being submitted to the magazine. We’ll make less money publishing our articles via the website, but I’m quite certain that they’ll be available to more of our small, specialist community that way.

Of course the chance of technology moving on is an issue, but for the next decade at least, eBooks in the current format will remain very relevant. Apple and Amazon are not going to let the technology die. The .pdf format has been in existence for twenty years, and is not likely to disappear for a long, long time to come. If the technology is to become obsolete, print it out on paper and you’ve got yourself a hard copy.

Thanks for your thoughtful comments Richard, it’s always appreciated. I hope the above addresses your points adequately.


Ed,

Your first two points are two of the main reasons we are contemplating this option. Regarding your negative point, a solution might be for us to combine several articles together as one download, to make it better value for money.


Jukka,

Please see my comments to Richard above regarding publishing in magazines. The issue for Morten and I is that we don’t want to spend the time and money dealing with printers, storage space/costs, transport costs, distributors, bookstores, etc. for small printed books and booklets. We don’t mind dealing with those issues for our large book projects, but not for something of 1 to 175 pages. Selling smaller publications of that size as eBooks is a much easier way to go. We approve the payment when it’s made via our website, and then the delivery process is all automated – no trucks, air mail, handling, increasing postage prices, print shop prices etc.

We want to enjoy our hobby doing some research and writing, not dealing too much with the business side of things.


Srecko,

Thanks for your comment. Our prices for eBooks and eArticles are not set in stone at this point. However, I would think that US$10-15 for a well-researched, fully illustrated, properly laid out A4 size 100 page book is very good value for money. Regarding the articles being too expensive, as I said to Ed above, perhaps a solution would be to combine several articles about a similar topic into one download, to make them more affordable.


Andreas,

> “for at least part of our hobby E-books and E-articles are the way to go”

This comment sums up our attitude entirely! We want to be book publishers, producing hardcover, high quality aviation history books that you can hold in your hands. The eBook and eArticle idea is just a way to make other research by ourselves and some of our friends available for a reasonable price, without the regular publishing hassles that I outlined to Jukka above.


Larger aviation history publishing companies will go in this direction soon as well. We just seem to be the first ones to raise the issue publicly! We look forward to any other comments.


All the best,
Andrew & Morten

Air War Publications – www.airwarpublications.com