Help saving Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 5

[Christer Bergström]

I am turning to all of you who pre-ordered or have read Black Cross/Red Star, Vol. 4. There is something that worries me about this book series.

I am now working full time on Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 5, and am making great progress. On 12 January, I am going to research the Bundesarchiv for a week for this book. If you are happy with Volume 4, I think you will find Volume 5 even better. There is so much really sensational material there. My plan is to have this volume published in the summer of this year, 2020.

As mentioned previously, this book series is, in fact, living from hand to mouth, and each subsequent volume is totally dependant on the success of the previous volume, and its crowdfunding.

My goal is to get just 125 crowdfunders to contribute at least USD $100 each for Volume 5 (plus postage). Then it can be published within a couple of months. And the crowdfunders will also have their names printed as an acknowledgment in the book.

I also need as many ordinary pre-orders as possible for USD 60 (plus postage) for a signed hardcover copy.

However, I am beginning to worry about Black Cross/Red Star, Vol. 5.

So far, I have no more than 33 pre-orders, including crowdfunders.

What is even more worrying is that sales of Volume 4 have more or less stopped. No more than nine (9) copies were sold world-wide the past month.


So Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 5 is in a desperate need of crowdfunders and more pre-orders.

In order to calculate whether a publication and continued priority work on that book are realistic, I would like to ask every one of you who considers making a pre-order or an offer for crowdfunding to do so now.

Please note:

YOU DON’T HAVE TO PAY ANYTHING NOW (BUT OF COURSE IT IS WELCOME IF YOU DO), BUT EVEN A PROMISE FOR A PREORDER OR A CROWDFUNDING WHERE YOU PAY LATER THIS YEAR WOULD HELP VERY MUCH.

(If it will be economically impossible to publish the Black Cross/Red Star series, I will of course re-pay those of you who have paid to my PayPal account; I haven't touched that account, all the money will remain there until I either use them to publish the book, or I return the money to the payers.)


Anyone who can find a new crowdfunder (someone who has not crowdfunded Vol. 4), willing to order a hardcover copy of Volume 5 at the crowdfunder price of at least USD$ 100, gets a 10 % discount off my price of USD$ 60 from me on that volume. Please ask any new crowdfunder (or anyone who wishes to order a signed hardcopy Volume 5 at my regular price of USD$ 60) to e-mail me at vaktelforlag@gmail.com. Please note: Only to vaktelforlag@gmail.com

Please also help me to spread the word!

All help and support with this will be received with the utmost gratitude.

You can read more about Black Cross/Red Star, Volume 5 here:

https://vaktelforlag.se/produkt/blac...ril-july-1943/

All the best & a Happy New Year!

Christer Bergström

[Csaba B. Stenge]

Dear Christer,

Count me in for the list of pre-orders.

All the best for 2020!

[Christer Bergström]

Hi Csaba, thank you very much!

Please e-mail me your postal address: vaktelforlag@gmail.com

[rickback4444]

Hi

I have copies 1 to 4 and think they are some of the best aviation books out there. I will certainly make a preorder for volume 5.

I have also just read your other new book on Veteran's stories and will be waiting for volume 2 of this.

Thanks for the great work.

Rick

[Jukka Juutinen]

I have been told by very reliable sources that a high-quality publisher has actually offered Christer to publish the book so that Christer would not need to pay any publishing costs. So the crisis might be self-inflicted.

[FalkeEins]

Originally Posted by Jukka Juutinen

a high-quality publisher has actually offered Christer to publish the book

.. I don't speak for Christer of course, but I'm sure he's already 'been there and done that' - which may be why he's trying to do it on his own..

[Christer Bergström]

Yes indeed, been there & done that.

Another reason is that now that I have control over the book, Volume 4 contains twice as much text as each of the other volumes, better printing quality than some of the previous volumes, many more photos, and more and far better maps. Quality costs.

Earlier, I had restrictions to keep the word count at a maximum of 100,000 words, which meant that I had to cut out very much interesting stuff from the previous volumes.

[Jukka Juutinen]

Christer, are you saying that this new publisher would have limited the text?

[Christer Bergström]

Jukka Juutinen, yes, that is correct: Another publisher offered to publish it if I cut the text in half. And that would have meant a book only in softcover, much fewer photograhps, probably too small reprint of the photos, with no aircraft color profiles, very few maps, and maps not of the same quality as now. And probably "microscopical" text. Everything in order to cut down on costs. And a "slave contract" where I had to give them every forthcoming volume of Black Cross/Red Star.

I turned that down immediately, and took the decision to publish it by myself, out of respect for my task to write the full history of the air war on the Eastern Front in such a detail as the subject deserves.

I could cut down on quality and costs in such a way by myself, and then there would be no crisis for the prospect of Volume 5. That, however, is not what I intend to do.

That is why I am asking those interested in preserving the quality of this documentation to support the project by pre-ordering or crowdfunding Volume 5 of Black Cross/Red Star: The Great Air Battles, Kuban and Kursk.

E-mail me at vaktelforlag@gmail.com if you are interested, and please help spreading the word.


Read more about the book here: https://vaktelforlag.se/produkt/blac...ril-july-1943/

[Jukka Juutinen]

Care to name the publisher suggesting softcover? The publisher I know of has not cut either text or quality thus far.