WRITE A BOOK

[Bernard_Lewis]

Pen and Sword took my offering of ' Swansea Pals' and produced it a year after the manuscript went to them. They paid me, too; I paid nothing except my own research costs.

An offshoot of Pen and Sword asked me to write the 'Foul Deeds...Swansea' book and, having submitted the manuscript in February 2009, it came out in October 2009. They paid me for that, too.

Unless the book is of a very narrow and limited appeal I would always TRY a couple of publshers before going down the self-publish route. The only thing you can lose is a bit of time, I think.

Bernard

[ph0ebus]

OK, I need to stop procrastinating and finish my book already!

A question for those who have boldly gone where I have not gone before: once you had your first draft done, I am assuming you had someone give it a read and give you feedback? If so, who did you go to for that, friends, family, a hired gun? What was the best source of feedback for you, to help you polish things up?

-Daniel

[Moonraker]

Daniel: I would suggest a friend who is reasonably interested in the subject, unless you happen to know someone who is a bit more expert.

And hubris: after crowing in post 50 about delivering my text to the publisher (after I'd "scrutinised" it many times), a casual glance had three errors jumping out of the page at me:

1. The use of "499 MT Company" when in every other unit title I'd written, for example, "the 32nd MT Company";

2. Calling a local poet "Arthur" when he was Alfred.

3. Carelessly using Search & Replace to change someone's name: he was Baron Dunalley when he wrote his memoirs, but during the war he was Henry Prittie. So there's one reference to "Baron Prittie".

All easily corrected at this stage of course and at least I scored a point when the publisher made a grammatical error in slightly shortening my blurb (brief description of the contents for the cover, which is often one of the first things a publisher gets to work on).

Moonraker

[Chris_Baker]

I received an email about this today and thought it may be of value to someone. I have absolutely no connection with it and can not vouch for its worth. But you never know. It is a seminar on promotion and marketing for those who wish to self-publish, etc:

http://www.getpublished.tv/book-marketing-selling-exclusive-london-workshop-for-just-16-people-sun-20th-nov-2011/

[Moonraker]

Further to my post 48 about my Canadian text, the British company couldn't agree co-publishing terms with the Canadian press that had expressed interest last year. So I offered to make a financial contribution which I shall only partly recoup in royalties. The British publisher produces quality "local" books and is not one of those "vanity" companies one is warned about. (Of course it is a matter of opinion as to how much I have been swayed by vanity.) So the end product should be professional and the firm will be able to arrange distribution in Canada via its contacts there.

The text has been more or less ready for some time, but I'm awaiting copyright clearances for extracts from seven soldiers' letters I found on an on-line archive staffed by one person.

Moonraker

[Moonraker]

Yesterday one publisher emailed me the cover design of one book, which looked good, apart from a grammatical infelicity in the blurb. They had managed to extend across the back and front cover a postcard photo I had scanned at actual size. The email arrived as I was struggling a little to meet another publisher's request to provide all scans at 210mm width, which means a 50% increase in the size of most images, which are mainly postcards; they hadn't liked some test scans at actual size that I had sent them.

I gather the idea is that they can provide some "big" illustrations stretching across the page, and this certainly shows up details. One problem is that some images are already grainy and won't bear enlargement, so I'm hoping these will go in at actual size. The other problem is that I already have a few scans of images provided by others at actual size, which probably won't do.

I wonder how many other publishers want enlarged scans? It could be awkward for someone who has conscientiously obtained lots of actual-size scans before submitting a book. Luckily I've just about got enough images to satisfy the specification.

Moonraker

PS Just to note that most publishers like scans at 300ppi resolution, which is higher than the default 200ppi on many scanners (I think).

[Moonraker]

Yesterday I received ten queries from the editor of one of my texts. Not bad, I thought. Just three were "kick myself" errors, including two mis-spellings of Piccadilly. It was suggested that I spell out "ASC", though I had done so earlier six or eight times here and there. On checking the incidence, I noted I had in passing used the form "Royal Army Service Corps", correctly as it happens in an allusion dating to 1918, when the ASC received the Royal prefix. But for the sake of simplicity and to save explaining this, I deleted the reference. It was also suggested I make clearer my allusions to "Red Force" and "Blue Force" in pre-war manoeuvres, though these seemed apparent enough to me.

The other suggestions were neither here nor there, though three prompted me to change my original wording slightly.

Moonraker

[Moonraker]

I got the proofs on Friday - 260 pages of pretty tight text and pics. The reference to the RASC (see last post) was left in. The editor hadn't done very much, which, in a boastful moment, I might take to mean my text was OK, Slightly unnecessarily I thought, (s)he had inserted initials in brackets after titles such as the Royal Field Artillery (RFA), even though there were no further allusions.

Inevitably there were a few printer's errors in how the text was presented, eg the last part of a quote not being indented. And the printer couldn't make up his/her mind whether the first line of a paragraph following an indented quote should be "full out" or indented. So a little bit of careful re-writing is necessary so that lines aren't pushed over or taken back from the next page, with further unfortunate knock-on effects. (Inserting just one character can sometimes result in an extra line being formed.)

I'd informed the publisher that I had in mind an index of 1,600 entries, but even after he's sacrificed two blank pages at the beginning (meaning he had to renumber every page of the proofs by hand for my guidance) there's only room for 1,000 lines, and some entries will require more than one line. At least it means I won't have to list lots of individual schools, pubs, railway stations and so on.

I'd prepared the list of entries in advance, so (once it's been pruned) all I have to do is insert the page numbers. I don't have the most agile of minds and have several times caught myself entering the number of the preceding page.

I feel a lot of respect for professional indexers who presumably do it all at once, and in a tight time-frame. (I have two weeks.) I'm glad that I went for the split approach, if only because of the long, long list of army units and having the time to decide how best to present them and give their titles (which, as many of us know, were variously rendered).

Thankfully I noticed very few last-minute errors by myself, all of which can be simply corrected. I had got the two middle words in "Women's Army Auxiliary Corps" the wrong way around.

Moonraker

[Ken S.]

What about translations? I'm wondering there's anyone out there that is considering translating a French or German unit history? Would there really be much of an interest?

[bmac]

Well, for other purposes admittedly, but I have recently translated the first 100 pages of 'Somme-Nord' (took a couple of weeks) and I have often wondered whether there would be any interest in a translation of the German account of the Battle of the Somme. No idea what the copyright position is, though.

[Moonraker]

This morning I finished the proof-checking and indexing of the book I referred to above and am delivering everything to the publisher tomorrow. Two hours later the proofs of my second book arrived - four weeks after the publisher(a different one)had received copy. The layout is more imaginative and the illustrations look very good, considering some of the originals were poor.

But the text has obviously not been copy-edited, though that's mentioned in the contract. Several minor howlers (singular noun, plural verb; an errant +) have been reproduced. And the title page gives an informal version of my name rather than the one I'd put on the copy.

So far there's nothing that can't be easily altered, and the biggest change will be to improve a couple of paragraphs that have been squeezed too close together with no separating line of white.

The publisher is quite well-known and has a large list of good-looking books, but it's a bit alarming that he's taken my work on trust. As I've said before, there are very few authors whose work can't be improved on by a fresh eye, and I'm certainly not one of them.

Moonraker

[seaJane]

Well, for other purposes admittedly, but I have recently translated the first 100 pages of 'Somme-Nord' (took a couple of weeks) and I have often wondered whether there would be any interest in a translation of the German account of the Battle of the Somme. No idea what the copyright position is, though.

You would need permission from the owner of the copyright on the original, to publish a translation of any work; but the translation itself would be copyright to you.

If copyright is non-existent or expired on the original, then the permission question doesn't arise, as far as I know.

[James Daly]

Just noticed this thread. Very interesting. I've been in the process of writing a book for the past few years, and it's a lifelong dream fulfiled.

A few years ago I started compiling a database of men and women from Portsmouth who were killed in WW2, literally because I was interested in it, and well, bored. 2,549 names later, having published some of the interesting stories on my blog, it occured to me that it might make a reasonable book. Incredibly, the first publisher I approached - The History Press - gave me a contract, and a couple of years down the line, the book is published tomorrow!

A few lessons - always try to give yourself more time than you think you will need. I gave myself six months to write 50,000 words - plus references, bibliography and the like - and it really wasn't enough, alongside a full time job, a girlfriend, moving house and occasionally trying to relax. Of course once you're signed up to a publisher you have a delivery date, and maybe a penalty clause if you deliver it late. A year would have been more realistic. Something I did to try and keep myself on track was to set up a spreadsheet listing each chapter, and comparing the words I had completed with the target for each chapter. Milestones can be a morale booster. Also dont underestimate how tricky referencing can be - luckily I had experience of this at Uni, and keeping good notes really helps. I also found that sourcing images for reproduction was really tricky - some of the reproduction fees I was quoted were prohibitive, given the commission I am on. In future I would give a lot more time to sort out illustrations.

In terms of proof-reading, get as many people to read your draft chapters as possible - you would be surprised what people pick up. My dad, for example, is an engineer and knows very little about WW2, but read the draft chapters methodically as if they were circuit diagrams! And get someone who knows absolutely nothing about the subject to read it - if they understand it, then its good.

I'm now working on the follow-up book on WW1, this time working with c. 6,000 names. I've given myself more time for this one, aiming to have it ready for mid 2014.

[Waddell]

I also found that sourcing images for reproduction was really tricky - some of the reproduction fees I was quoted were prohibitive, given the commission I am on. In future I would give a lot more time to sort out illustrations.

James,

I read your post with interest as I have been watching this thread gleaning information from the authors on the forum. I've been working on two projects, one of which has gained a bit of momentum lately. Regarding your comments about reproduction fees and the use of illustrations- could you expand a bit more on your thoughts about that?

For both of my projects there are photos in the AWM and several photographic collections I would like to use and have collected. I have not really thought about the costs involved until I reach a more complete stage. I Would like to hear about how others gather images and negotiate their usage in publications.

Scott

[WhiteStarLine]

Scott,

You will find that not many WW1 photographs are still in copyright, particularly in Australia. Visit http://copyright.org.au/find-an-answer/browse-by-a-z/ and click on Duration. If it was taken before 1955, the owner of the file is the 'author' and it is their lifetime plus 70 years. Most AWM stock was either unattributed or if an official war photograph, owned by the Commonweatlh and now out of copyright.

The AWM charges a usage fee, which assists their conservation work. Visit http://www.awm.gov.au/shop/help/ for fees and an explanation.

Cheers, Bill

[James Daly]

Sure Scott.

When I set out writing the book, I had in my mind a 'wish list' of illustrations that complemented what I was writing about. The problem, I found, was that if I used every illustration that I wanted, I would end up spending a serious amount of money to produce my book. The percentage of royalties, RRP and print runs we are talking about here are hardly mega-bucks, and if I had used 40 or so illustrations at say an average of £40-50 each, I would need to sell out three print runs just to break even. As a result I had to prioritise the ones that I really wanted, and compromise one the rest. I might sound like a penny-pincher, but I'm not bothered about making millions - I just cannot afford to run at a loss. Hence I ended up having to use a lot of images from people's families, etc, and taking my own where possible. Which worked out quite well in the end.

One problem I found was the charges that some institutions quoted me. Some are quite forward and offer a useful discount for small print run books, but others make no distinction between if you are writing for a major publisher on a million pound advance, or if you are doing it in your spare time. The problem as I see it is that if museums etc charge too much, then the pictures won't get 'out there', and no-one will see them. I am sure that the money does go towards helping with their work, but in some ways I think it is short-sighted. With museums facing cuts and losing staff, they are relying on other people to do their work and get the history 'out there', but some of the prices are just impossible. One regimental museum I contacted wanted £50 just to attend their archive, and then an hourly fee on top, just to look at things. I just couldn't afford it, so whatever images they had went untapped. But if they had charged say £20 for the day, their history is brought to a wider audience, and they get publicity from it.

I'm not against museums etc covering their costs - heck, I spend most of my day job looking after income for six museums - but it shouldn't necessarily be the be all and end all.

[Moonraker]

Both my books - to be published by small but respected English firms - are being produced in India, which shook me a little. Apparently it's cheaper to have it done over there and freight copies to this country than have everything done here. ("None of the ships have been hijacked by pirates - yet," quipped the publisher.)

The text etc are sent electronically and it's up to the Indians to put everything in shape. Now and then there's an electronic glitch: one ellipsis (...) came out as a rectangle, and prices/wages like 7½d came out as 7[1/2]d. The publisher promised to explain the necessary correction very carefully to the Indians.

Some words have been split automatically to fit into the line length, resulting in slightly bizarre hyphenation ("nob-le") which can sometimes be sorted out manually. Conversely automatic spacing has meant a couple of lines have quite a bit of white between long words; it's possible to manually hyphenate a word on the line above or below so part of it knocks on - or back - to take up some of the white.

The compositors seem to have avoided widow and orphan lines - lonely single lines of a paragraph at the top or bottom of a page. But the second book has a couple of phrases like "Major Williams remarked:" at the bottom of a page, with the following indented quote out of sight on the next page, in one case with a page of illustrations in between. It's possible to adjust text to eliminate this, but at this stage the publisher wants as few changes as possible.

At today's meeting the publisher expressed pleasure at the small number of red-ink corrections I'd made, and most of these were down to the composition. Now is definitely not the time to ask for a sentence or phrase to be inserted or deleted, though the publisher was content with some very minor changes I'd made. I had suggested that "east Berkshire and western Oxfordshire" should really be "eastern Berkshire and western Oxfordshire", and adding the three extra characters won't be a problem.

I've just noticed that in one book the map of southern England has miles and kilometres scales, whereas that for Salisbury Plain only has one in kilometres, which is a bit silly, and I'm hoping that the publisher's artwork can be amended.

Moonraker

[Waddell]

James,

When I set out writing the book, I had in my mind a 'wish list' of illustrations that complemented what I was writing about. The problem, I found, was that if I used every illustration that I wanted, I would end up spending a serious amount of money to produce my book. The percentage of royalties, RRP and print runs we are talking about here are hardly mega-bucks, and if I had used 40 or so illustrations at say an average of £40-50 each, I would need to sell out three print runs just to break even. As a result I had to prioritise the ones that I really wanted, and compromise one the rest. I might sound like a penny-pincher, but I'm not bothered about making millions - I just cannot afford to run at a loss. Hence I ended up having to use a lot of images from people's families, etc, and taking my own where possible. Which worked out quite well in the end.

One problem I found was the charges that some institutions quoted me. Some are quite forward and offer a useful discount for small print run books, but others make no distinction between if you are writing for a major publisher on a million pound advance, or if you are doing it in your spare time. The problem as I see it is that if museums etc charge too much, then the pictures won't get 'out there', and no-one will see them. I am sure that the money does go towards helping with their work, but in some ways I think it is short-sighted. With museums facing cuts and losing staff, they are relying on other people to do their work and get the history 'out there', but some of the prices are just impossible. One regimental museum I contacted wanted £50 just to attend their archive, and then an hourly fee on top, just to look at things. I just couldn't afford it, so whatever images they had went untapped. But if they had charged say £20 for the day, their history is brought to a wider audience, and they get publicity from it.

Thanks for the detailed response. You've covered all the issues I have been thinking about recently as the pile of research grows and morphs into something readable. It is the use of multiple images, as you mentioned, that I can see adding to the cost of publishing quite heavily if not reigned in. The memorial I'm researching has just over forty Great war soldiers listed so its appeal is never going to be substantial, however I would hate to trade off images of individuals to reduce costs.

I think its time I looked for a sponsor or a grant!

Appreciate your comments.

Scott

[Lascar]

Hi

I am in the process of completing a novel written in dairy format of an Indain soldier who fought in Flanders and France from October 1914 to November 1915. I am hoping to have the manuscript completed by the end of this year so it is ready for the 100th annivesary in 2014. I have never published before and a few agents I have approached show no interest in work. The novel also takes a detour to the Brigthon Pavillion Hospital from June to September 1915 where the injured character ends up working as a translator and has a brief love-affair with a QAIMNS sister before being sent back to the Front. There is a Big Push on (Battle of LOOS) and all soldiers are needed to win the war! One of the themes of my novel is to give a voice to the thousands of Indian soliders (my ancestors) who fought and died for the Empire on the Western Front.

That is a synopsis of my work. Is there anyone out there who can help me to get published or give me pointers as to who would be interested in looking at my work. I think there is the potential for a lot of itnerest today and in 2014 by all British people to the contribution made by Indians and others to the Great War effort.

Thank You

[Moonraker]

Lascar (if you're still visiting us): I'm sorry that no one has bothered to reply to your query, but adivising on fiction is more difficult than on non-fiction, and most authors who are members of the Forum have experience only of the latter. I can understand that it's much more difficult to find a publisher for a novel than for a history.

Have the agents made any comments about your work, over and above saying that they don't think they can't place it? Do you know someone who will give you their opinion on what you've written so far. I'm not sure that diary format is the best one for a novel such as yours.

Have you considered publishing it yourself on the Internet? I know very little about this, but it seems an increasingly popular thing to do. I would strongly advise against paying to have it published in the traditional format. Bookshops seldom stock novels produced in this way (factual books are a different matter).

Are you aware of John Masters' novel The Ravi Lancers about an Indian regiment fighting in Europe?

Good luck!

Moonraker

[mhurst]

Hi

I am in the process of completing a novel written in dairy format of an Indain soldier who fought in Flanders and France from October 1914 to November 1915. I am hoping to have the manuscript completed by the end of this year so it is ready for the 100th annivesary in 2014. I have never published before and a few agents I have approached show no interest in work. The novel also takes a detour to the Brigthon Pavillion Hospital from June to September 1915 where the injured character ends up working as a translator and has a brief love-affair with a QAIMNS sister before being sent back to the Front. There is a Big Push on (Battle of LOOS) and all soldiers are needed to win the war! One of the themes of my novel is to give a voice to the thousands of Indian soliders (my ancestors) who fought and died for the Empire on the Western Front.

That is a synopsis of my work. Is there anyone out there who can help me to get published or give me pointers as to who would be interested in looking at my work. I think there is the potential for a lot of itnerest today and in 2014 by all British people to the contribution made by Indians and others to the Great War effort.

Thank You

Lascar,

I am intrigued, and pleased, to learn of someone else who is planning to write a novel set in the FWW. Most literature on the conflict is non-fiction, and judging from the many comments on this thread there will be many more which are timed to appear at or near the anniversary of the war's opening. These will, no doubt, make valuable contributions to knowledge of many aspects of the war, but I believe, and you clearly do too, that an effective way to convey what it must have been like for individuals to experience such an event is to try to tell their story as seen through their eyes. This is difficult enough for any historical period, but for a non-soldier to try to describe what a soldier went through is a pretty tall order, and I wish you luck.

My own planned novel will cover the experiences of the original BEF from the day of mobilisation to the Christmas 1914 truce, and thus will overlap the time frame of your story slightly. But I will only be mentioning the Indian Army in passing, so there is no real conflict. I can endorse Moonraker's suggestion that you read "The Ravi Lancers" by John Masters. I re-read it recently and admired the overall impression it gave of the Indian Army's contribution, and of the conditions they had to face. John Masters served with the Chindits in Burma, and knew what he was talking about when writing of the Indian Army.

As for a potential publisher, you might try writing to Pen and Sword. Although they have previously published non-fictional works relating to the war, in a recent e-mail from them I discovered that they are planning to introduce an historical fiction imprint. Try contacting a lady named Laura Hirst.

Melvin

[aradgick]

I'm recording my interest in this forum as well.

I started about 18 months ago, researching the names from WWI in Bracknell, Berks. The project has now extended to cover the whole borough (8 churches plus two more whose parishes cross the boundary), six schools (including Wellington College in Crowthorne), and a few clubs in the town - approximately 1500 names!

[mhurst]

I would strongly advise against paying to have it published in the traditional format. Bookshops seldom stock novels produced in this way (factual books are a different matter).

Moonraker

Are you saying that bookshops no longer stock novels which have been published in the old fashioned way - i.e. by publishers producing an initial print run, distributing them to bookshops and then waiting for feedback before printing any more? If not, then how do they stock their shelves with so many novels?

Melvin

[Bernard_Lewis]

Are you saying that bookshops no longer stock novels which have been published in the old fashioned way - i.e. by publishers producing an initial print run, distributing them to bookshops and then waiting for feedback before printing any more? If not, then how do they stock their shelves with so many novels?

Melvin

I think Moonraker is saying don't pay someone who is essentially a 'vanity' publisher who will then produce a hard/soft back book by the traditional method but will do little or struggle to get it into the book shops. The worst vanity publishers will take your money for any old rubbish that you have scribbled and produce a book that simply won't sell.

Bernard

[bruce]

One thing which I don't think this thread has mentioned is the cost of illustrations, not for copyrights, but between colour or black and white. With my first book (printed by a firm that might be thought of as old and in Manchester/Salford), I originally wanted the headstone pics etc in colour. I had taken all the pics myself, so copyright wasn't an issue. Since the book on the names on a war memorial was unlikely ever to be a best seller, I wanted to keep the price within reasonable bounds. By having all the pics in b&w, I could sell them for £10. Had I gone with colour pics, then to cover the cost would have boosted the price to £28. Since i wanted a few people to buy copies, it was a no brainer.

Bruce