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  #21  
Old 13th August 2018, 15:44
PMoz99 PMoz99 is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

Well, my sons are quite intelligent enough, and they fit the description, but the desire is simply lacking. (have I left myself open here?) In subjects of interest, they are quite persistent.
I'm just saying that if you want to get them interested, you must at least present the information in a medium they will embrace. Otherwise, the information will simply die. And by that, I mean if nobody reads it ........
Peter
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  #22  
Old 13th August 2018, 16:59
Bombphoon Bombphoon is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

Quote:
Originally Posted by PMoz99 View Post
And that's exactly my point. How many young people do you see nowadays with a real book? Virtually none. They're all glued to smartphones and tablets.
My local hobby store (the one which specialises in WW2 and modern aircraft) has many books on its shelves, and sells virtually none. As for customers, the owner says virtually none under 40. And from what I see whenever I am in the shop, most over 60.
Another hobby shop which sells second-hand models and books similarly has many books on its shelves, but in all the years I've been going there, I've never seen anyone buy one.
Even the general second-hand book shops carry hardly any military books any more.
I agree wholeheartedly with Bombphoon.
The baby-boomers - ie those who may have an interest in WW2 in particular and still regard a paper book as gold - will not be visiting bookshops for much longer.
Peter

I made this point on 12/1/2018. I think it still stands:


'1) The main reason why books and magazines 'ain't what they used to be' is mainly due to the internet - and, dare I say it, forums such as these! In the pre-digital age, forum posts and information would be submitted to magazines as either letters or articles. This has dropped off dramatically.

2) The lack of this revenue means publishers' budgets are far smaller, so they can afford fewer staff, new articles and photos - and they pay the freelance journalists/writers far less, meaning there is less incentive to put pen to paper.

3) Perhaps most concerning - and it's something few people seem to have noticed or mentioned - the public interest in WW2 has dwindled massively in the last 10 years or so.

This, I think, is due to several reasons, from veterans and the immediate post-war generation of readers dying out, to younger generations having no connection to WW2 and so are just not interested in it - or, more worryingly, history itself. The digital age encourages the younger generation to look forward, not back into history.

If you doubt what I say, look at how few WW2 documentaries there are on TV nowadays compared to a decade ago: it even used to be staple diet for the cable history channels - it isn't now.

Also, look at the UK's main military history publisher: they used to publish overwhelmingly WW1 and WW2: look at their website now and many of their books are now about buses, murders, trains, politics and local history.

Perhaps our subject has been 'done to death'?'
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  #23  
Old 13th August 2018, 19:27
edwest2 edwest2 is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

I must disagree. People below the age of 40 are not a homogeneous lot. I mean, I kept on reading comic books long past when I was "supposed to" stop.

My company has survived for decades and we are now using the internet to bring in new readers. In order to keep going, we had to learn how to use this new medium to reach potential buyers/readers. Sales do go up once I post to the relevant web sites. Sites, like this one, that allow for free promotion.

The US has at least three Civil War magazines. Books are still being produced about World War I. New information continues to be published. New material continues to be declassified. A report that was produced about the German Signals Intelligence Service was not declassified until 2009.

Opportunity must be found but one must look with an eye toward the future. I am still waiting for a book that explains why France fell so quickly, among other things.


And new publishers continue to appear, and that includes in the niche my company occupies.
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  #24  
Old 13th August 2018, 19:37
azapf1972 azapf1972 is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

Throwing in my two cents at the risk of heating up the debate again: why would it be an "either ... or ..."? If I look at my last book project on Kommando Welter, it was very quickly clear that it will be a paper book. The layout of the text, the working with marginalia, formatting and placing of images... it all called for a fixed layout the eBook readers can't deliver. At a cost though: you have to lift 2.5kg and you have no way to electronically search it...

My small JG3 article, however, I pushed out as an eBook - in this case, "reach" was the goal and making it quickly and easily accessible. In my ideal world, every paper book to read has a PDF copy to search through - but I know that this will not happen as long as piracy is around (and that means: never).

I just don't think there is a reason to use one and condemn the other - every author (together with his publisher, if it is not self-published) needs to make a call for the best medium... and it might be this one for this project and another one for that project...

Andreas
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  #25  
Old 13th August 2018, 19:54
edwest2 edwest2 is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

Text and image layout is a skill. Speaking generally, the new ocean created by eBooks contains far too little worth reading. It does not go through a proper editorial process, and if images are involved, poor quality is preferred to better in the case of line art because better artists are paid more.


People can use either but paper books, even among college students in the US, are catching on over their electronic versions. Why? More retention of the subject matter.
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  #26  
Old 13th August 2018, 22:01
richdlc richdlc is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

thanks for the comments. I agree and disagree with a lot of what's been said.

some negative points:

true, many of the older authors have retired, disappeared, are ill or have actually died.

the days of 10,000 print runs are over

positive points:

this will be a limited print run so more likely to sell out.

the Luftwaffe is an endlessly popular subject.

in my capacity as a book dealer I regularly, and without exception, sell the old edition of Hs 129 for well over Ł100. This has been consistent for the seven years I've been doing it.

we hope to use a U.S. distributor like RZM so American customers will have a chance to circumvent the high postage costs of sending from the U.K.

the next book, 'Blitz Bombers' will quite literally rewrite history. I'm very confident about both it and the Hs 129 book doing well.

During setting up my company I have come across many younger up and coming authors. I hope to diversify and publish books on other areas of military history - armour, naval etc.
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  #27  
Old 13th August 2018, 23:36
edwest2 edwest2 is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

You sir, are taking the right approach. I was a business consultant for a time and did a bit of my own publishing. I have it in my blood so to speak. I learned by the seat of my pants and by asking questions. Finding out how to find out. Having even a small, enthusiastic group around you is also a tremendous help. I've seen how this all actually works.
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  #28  
Old 14th August 2018, 00:22
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Simon Schatz Simon Schatz is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

Rich, I wish you all the best with your company, and I will for sure order both the announced books as I know the complete Classic team for a while and they do a great job. I also had the chance to work with them not just once.

As you wrote, the days with print runs 10,000+ are over. Have a talk with some authors next to Eddie and Robert. The print runs of books are sometimes quite small and the books cost a lot of money.
It's not possible to compare your second hand books business with new book business. How many Hs 129 books have you sold in the past years? 20 or more? They gold sold, as they were well made and out of print. They got bought by folks that missed the books in the past. Nowadays more and more of the books get availible. Hard to say but most of the preowners die away. The number of interested person is getting less. Most of the aviation friends are in older age. I'm 39, but do not know many in the same age that are interested in WW2 avaition are scale modelling.
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  #29  
Old 14th August 2018, 00:32
Maciej Góralczyk Maciej Góralczyk is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

Quote:
Originally Posted by richdlc View Post
we hope to use a U.S. distributor like RZM so American customers will have a chance to circumvent the high postage costs of sending from the U.K.
What about high postage costs of sending from the U.K. to Central Europe?
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  #30  
Old 14th August 2018, 01:19
edwest2 edwest2 is offline
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Re: New Publishing Company

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maciej Góralczyk View Post
What about high postage costs of sending from the U.K. to Central Europe?



How much is it to send a 1 kg. package?
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