Is this the future of aviation book publishing?

[Pilot]

Separate graphic content from text.... strange idea but who knows...

[Felix C]

I hear you but asking if the text is still available from the publisher.

[Jayslater]

​As someone who works within military and history publishing, I do see the advantages of digital publishing in the future. It's cost effective and easy to do; however, I can only suggest digital growth presently with trade paperbacks. With regards to specialist publishing, this is completely different. Readers like to see a hardback on their shelves with plenty of images, maps and diagrams. This cannot be replaced by the Kindle or Ipad, for example. That said, pay your money and take your choice, but I know what I would buy and it's not digital.

Jay

[edwest]

Hi Jay,


First, one example, or even two, does not represent the future of aviation publishing. The reality faced by all publishers is this: what do I pay to the following and where is that money coming from?

Writers
Editors
Proofreader(s)
Payment for photographs (even a one-time use fee)
Artwork (including maps)
Internal typesetting
Cover layout and design (covers do sell books)
My printer
Myself



Now, we have used volunteers in the past who worked in some capacity for free, but as the saying goes: you get what you pay for. And yes, I'm sure there are a few people with time on their hands who after the great Wall Street engineered, global mess of 2008, lost their jobs and/or their companies, and are chomping at the bit to get back into the business in some capacity in their spare time, but that is likely to be a small pool.

However, a few new companies have sprung up in the aviation field. And I encourage everyone to ignore what I call "The Internet Forum Effect" where instead of looking at the positive and imagining ways and means to not only continue selling books, but expanding the market and expanding awareness, there are the sad, dour predictions of what some would imagine is the "inevitable."

With all due respect to the owner/moderator here, a name like 12 O'Clock High does not immediately lead me to conclude that this site is what it is, and thank you, Ruy, for your hard work and dedication.

The same, I think, can be said, for the Luftwaffe Experten Message Board. While I salute Peter Evans for his dedication and obvious hard work, it too, lacks, in my view, an easy connection to the subject matter.

Finally, how do we increase awareness? In my own attempts to increase awareness here, regardless of publisher, most book titles do not lend themselves to easy recognition either. Take "In the Heavens Above." To a novice, what does that mean? Even if a connection to aviation can be assumed, is it about World War II, the Vietnam War, something else, like post-war aircraft testing? Or take "Orange is the Color of the Day." Anyone?

Yes, our first market is the specialists and enthusiasts, but as Axel Urbanke pointed out in his excellent Luftwaffe im Focus, where will future readers and enthusiasts come from? And this is history we are talking about, not fiction. History that needs to be presented with all the earmarks of professionalism, including presentation and checkable, reliable and sourced contents. Though not an official Luftwaffe historian myself, every new image and any scrap of information brings the puzzle closer to completion, and provides data that other researchers can and do expand on.

I propose that we pool our resources and use our minds and increase our level of morale. In my fiction book publishing business, almost every competitor of ours cites high advertising costs in print magazines as a barrier to using them, and from turning a profit or turning a greater profit. Or, "I have no time." What? You will print them and the buyers will just magically appear? You cannot use the global internet more effectively? I have even seen book descriptions on publishers' web sites that were so badly written that (a) I really came away with no comprehensive information regarding the contents, and (b) I was not sold on the book because the publisher neglected key selling points, like "contains never before published photos," which most of the time, will convince me to get the book.



Best,
Ed

[Jukka Juutinen]

Regarding publishers' sites, I'd say that there should be readable sample pages of each book available.

[Felix C]

Well, I wrote Crecy to ask if the data was still available and it is. So we can have the photos in the volume and anyone with a high quality laser printer can print and bind their own softcover book to go with the illustrations.

[Pilot]

Final users will make judgment...