WRITE A BOOK

[Bernard_Lewis]

Companies like Pen and Sword know their markets and are still commissioning works on the various Blankshire battalions, Great War etc. I guess people in Blankshire are interested (not all of them, but enough to make it worthwhile for P&S). They sure ain't doing it for love...business doesn't work that way.

When I wrote my 'Foul Deeds...Swansea' book I sold well over 100 myself, pre-publication. Waterstones, Swansea sold well over 100 in six weeks plus sales from Amazon, other bookshops, P&S mail order etc. Not JK Rowling but enough to make it worthwhile, I guess.

Bernard

[Airshipped]

I'm a little hesitant to jump into this thread but if I do have $0.02 to add it would be from the perspective of what one may need to ask before starting down the research route and at various stages of the process.

Q.1 "Is it a book?" I know that sounds a little ridiculous but, face it, there is a huge volume of expert opinion available on a peer-to-peer basis through numerous online fora. Why should someone subject themselves to a pupil-student relationship by reading your monologue (and having to pay for it) when they've so much knowledge that hasn't been monetized? It needs to add something to a subject than just fish in the same pond as others. For some regiments it could simply be a memorial website rather than a book.

Q.2 "What are the pollution levels?" This can be important for minority interest publications, e.g. there are probably 20 autobots who can screen-scrape free content (including Wikipedia articles to which you've contributed) and serve it up between book covers as a "unique publishing paradigm". Many of these print-to-order merchants' programs can turn out a reasonable capture of online content in a very quick turn-around time. Many rely upon the fact that a potential buyer isn't familiar with the subject matter and are typing in certain keywords into an online retailer to find a book as a gift for someone else. The result is that something (probably something awful) is generated and sold on any subject from archaeology to zoology on a sufficiently regular basis to keep those sort of "publishers" in business. (I just couldn't stretch to call them "authors"). The chances are if your key subject is too narrow in focus then you're probably never going to find enough to distinguish your research work from the pollution around you.

Q.3 "Does this self-publishing offer sound too good to be true?" I know it sounds trite and obvious but there are self-publishers out there who work on the premise that 100% of nothing is nothing. Consequently their intention is to extract as much in fees from you as possible during the process on the basis that they never expect to see any share of royalties. It's not dissimilar to the Nigerian 419 advance fee scam, i.e. the outcome of publication or non-publication is not as significant as extracting as much as is possible from the author before moving on to another host. (With these self-publishing houses there'll always be a Columbo-style "one more thing" situation when it comes to fees to complete the publication process). In my own situation I went with CreateSpace and Kindle. Getting 70% on a broad percentage of sales is satisfactory enough but it was more about the fact that a reader might actually get to see the damn thing at the end of the process! If you've spent a lot of time, effort and financial resources in researching a subject then don't ruin it with some ridiculous promise of 99.9% royalties for every copy sold in the Heard and McDonald Islands.

[Willmott]

My passion is in relation to the missing, the still not found remains of soldiers from all the countries that participated in the Great War. Also those that are found but not reported.

My web site is www.letthemrip.com

I have had a question asked in the Australian Parliament and have had newspaper articles written about my efforts as well as writing an article for NEWS LTD which received seventy comments.

Finally after many hours and a great amount of frustration I decided to write a book. "The Other Side of the Trench - The spirit of War"

It is historically factual while being a novel following a group of people on a battlefield tour. So far readers that would never dream of reading a non fiction book about the war are reading it, loving it and learning. Eric Bogle (Green Hills of France) said it was one of the best books he has read.

I have also written two other books "Brothers in Arms" a novel beginning in the Boer War going on through the Great War and WW2.

The third just about to be released is non fiction called "Escape" following some amazing POW escapes.

The concept of the books are constant, to teach the reader about the history of the wars while providing an entertaining read. Of course I promote the plight of the missing.

So far I have self pulished on both ebook and paper and hard back. Random House had six people read the manuscript and finally rejected on the basis it was not non fiction in total. Allan and Unwin reviewed it for three months before making the same decision.

I wrote a book for my family called "Heroes" about my Uncle Harry who survived Gallipoli only to die at Fromelles ages 18 and my Great Uncle Harry who fought on the Western Front for three years dying in 1918 he had had won a MM. Both my uncles featere in "The Other Side of the Trench" Both have never been found.

Garry Willmott

[moggs]

I, too, have written an historical novel. It's actually very factual in terms of people, places and actions. I did create the conversations in between. My only choice was to self-publish as an eBook. It is available on-line only.

To be honest, I have been disappointed that no-one from the GWF appears to have made much of an effort to read it. If I'm wrong I do apologise, it's just that I thought there may have been some feedback if anyone had made the effort.

I know there is a school of thought that suggests a work such as mine is not as valuable a piece as say a 'true' history can be. I can't say I agree although I do understand why people think that way. In this case I wanted to tell the story of my grandpa in terms that satisfied the truth - after all, I believe his story is amazing, as were so many of the men who fought. I didn't want to change the truth. I wanted to add a bit of colour and I think I succeeded in telling the story as honestly as possible and with a sense of the adventure he underwent. If anyone wants to tell me otherwise, I'm all ears. Any feedback is valuable.

All the best

Jonathan

[Bernard_Lewis]

Pen and Sword are now accepting historical fiction. Look at the website 'contact' details.

Bernard

[gilly100]

Hi All

I can only add what I know from self publishing in Australia, in particular, Perth. I have self published 3 books since 2003, which were large (all over 500 pages) hardbound, sewn and stitched, glossy dust wrapped, mostly B5 size books. These were all produced entirely in Perth, so more expensive than going overseas to cheap labor, which I personally did not want, and to keep the money in Australia.

To save some costs, I wrote the book in Word, the page was already size formatted. Imported all the photos and maps with help of a good friend who has self published about 8 books, also in Perth. When all the chapters had been proofed, edited etc and all ready to go, import them individually into PDF format, cut to a disc. Then off to a printing house for a quote on how many.

Knowing your subject and the likely amount of sales, I got prices for 500, 750 and 1000 copies, all ready to completion. I usually went with 750 copies, had them delivered to home, pending the book launch. The style of book and all the info sent in by families for inclusion, plus all the relevant battalion/regiment rolls, photos and lists ensured plenty of sales.

The first book was launched in August 2003 at Fremantle Town Hall. With some help from local newspapers in Perth, we had about 400 turn up. Probably sold about 300 on this day, plus a few forward pre launch sales to those who could not attend. I had a mailing list of contributors I sent a book launch invite/order form to. The rest sold in a few months, so went to a second print run - smaller of some 250 odd plus some overs. This obviously cost a bit more per unit. These all sold out in about 6-8 months from memory. Sales to book shops obviously required discounted price. I did not expect to do so well from all this, but it helped help pay for the studies for the next book. I did get a Dept Vets Affairs grant of about $3000. The book launch venue cost more than that!

Second book was in similar vein on different battalion. Launched at RAAF Memorial Estate. Had a smaller turn out but sold about 220 at launch from the total of 750. This in 2008. I still have about 130 left for sale. Still in the black, not that profit was the motivator. Also had $3000 DVA grant for this one. I might add, with legal deposit and thankyou giveaways - amounted to about 20 books.

Third book launched in 2011 at Irwin Barracks, Es Salt Lines - A Sqdn 10th Light Horse - Karrakatta. This was co written with a good mate. We did 750 first print run, but should have done 1000 as they would have gone. A regimental history of a famous unit of light horse. Self published again, same mob printing and excellent quality production. Had about 600 at launch, which was a genuine surprise, even some media turned up, not that we told them. Sold about 500 on the day, with about 50 pre launch sales to non attendees. The rest went in 3-4 weeks after launch. We then chose to use a publisher for second print run. A few minor corrections and additions. Signed a contract with a Perth publisher, so he gets most of the profits, but handles everything. My book writing partner tired of fielding sales and posting out, which was fair enough as I was in Bali then and could not help with sales work. I think publisher may have done a large order, but only put covers on 250, which I believe are sold out now. Now perhaps to a sturdy card cover type release, same size, but no doubt cheaper to buy.

Knowing who will want the book will help you determine the number to print. I can only say I enjoyed the whole experience. Pressing the button on the presses to production usually means some great photo, letter or diary will land on your doorstep the day after!!! That part is frustrating!

Get the word out to as many people as you can on what you are writing about, so people know.

Good luck and enjoy the whole process and don't be afraid of the more recognised writers/authors. They can make mistakes too!!! Most will only encourage you in your journey.

Cheers

Ian

[gilly100]

Just to add a few more ideas on getting your project out there amongst the public. Contact local papers and bigger papers and offer a story on a local soldier or group of soldiers. Include a photo. You may find it will get run around some sort of anniversary date of a battle or Remembrance Day etc. Make yourself regularly available to do a story to these papers and you may find they will give your book or project a plug, which will reach out to so many more people. Certainly the papers in Western Australia, both regional and the main rag that everyone reads were most helpful once they could see the value of the work to their punters. As far as getting government to show interest to buy the finished product for state libraries, this was disappointingly much more difficult. Only succeeded with one book on that issue. I once approached an MP on one book, which included his relative who was decorated for his Gallipoli service in the 11th Bn AIF and received no feedback at all. Yet another, once met with, was only too willing to oblige, and came along and launched the book. Politics aside of course!

The whole self publishing thing can be a bit of a lonely journey, but believe in your work and get it out there. And don't forget the ones who helped and supported you along the way.

Cheers

Ian

[myos]

If you are writing a book to coincide with the 100th anniversary, when do you intend to publish, for optimum effect? Andy

[Moonraker]

If it's about the Great War from start to finish, it should be available in Spring 2014 at the latest, I suggest. If it's about a specific event, then six to nine months before its centenary. Both mine came out a year ago, which may have been a bit too soon, though hopefully with my Wiltshire one I got in before any other would-be authors. The (perhaps modest) initial interest has now subsided, but, hopefully again, there'll be some more in a year or so.

I do wonder quite how many books on the war (in particular participants' memoirs and diaries) the market will take? Every time I go into Foyle's bookshop in London there seem to be new titles.

Moonraker

[myos]

Yes, I suspect there will be plenty out there, timing could be everything. Andy

[Moonraker]

On the subject of "print-on-demand" books, I've just come across one (nothing to do with military matters) that has an elementary spelling error in its title - which prompts me to repeat again my advice for authors to get someone to read their texts before going into print. Sadly the author recently died, so I assume that unless he'd made arrangements for someone else to take over it's not going to be possible to get a copy of his book. (I'm not sure how orders are usually processed: does one's request go first to the author or direct to the production company?)

I did try to order a copy but got the message that it is not yet "on the shelf" - in fact it had become available some years before. Googling its title produced no offers of second-hand copies. Some pages are available on line, and though the author writes quite well the text could have done with polishing. Any shortcomings are compensated for by his knowledge of his subject.

Moonraker

[Dawson]

I wish everyone success in their endeavours with books they are releasing soon, whether self published or not. Don't expect Max Authur type sales, but the joy of seeing your publication on the shelves and the feedback of people who have read it, and enjoyed it, is more than makes up for chasing big money

But for me, the years of putting together the book was the most I enjoyed, putting stories together from just a war memorial and finding photographs of them, made it so worthwhile.

Once again, good luck to you all.

Ian.

[Moonraker]

Just had details of the sales of my Wiltshire book that was published last May. A bit disappointing, considering that in three years my self-published first edition of 1999 sold almost three times the first ten months' sales of the second edition produced by a reputable small publisher...

Moonraker

Just had the first year's sales figure for The Canadian Army on Salisbury Plain - two-thirds of that for the second edition of the Wiltshire book, so not epic, but I was pleasantly surprised, given that TCOSP is more esoteric, relates to a smaller geographical area and is more expensive. It's hardback - whereas Wiltshire and the Great War is paperback - and postage costs, especially to Canada, are high. And it wasn't marketed as well; in a moment of vanity, I checked several appropriate bookshops' websites and found it wasn't listed, nor does it feature much on Internet booksellers' sites. But it is the more handsome of the two books.

Moonraker

[rickpreston@nasuwt.net]

Is every man and his dog writing books fior next year?

Richard

[Liz in Eastbourne]

Nigel

just a friendly note (trust me, I'm an author! ) not to confuse vanity press with self-publishing. True vanity press publishing is horrendously expensive, a one-off, and leaves you with a pile of unsaleable paper because you have to do all the publicity and marketing yourself.

Modern self-publishing is print-on-demand, which means you can start with a smaller print run and go back for a few copies more whenever you need them. There will usually be some kind of a link to a website which means that your book has an online presence. A good firm will link to Amazon, thus ensuring even better exposure to book-buyers.

sJ

PS If anyone is looking, I can recommend these people http://writersservic...m/wps/index.htm from experience (no, I don't work for them!).

Belated thanks for this and your other useful comments on this thread, seaJane, and other people too. I'm in the throes of getting a booklet (slightly less than half about WW1 - it's about the military family Abadie) produced, only 56pp but full colour and with about 30 illustrations so the cost is high. Because I originally thought I'd publish this through my local history society I didn't initially look at self-publishing sites, but can see the sort of thing you've recommended here would have been useful. I hadn't realised, for instance, that you have to buy ten ISBNs for £126, and cannot buy a single one. I've now decided not to have one as the site where I hope to sell some doesn't require it and I will otherwise sell it privately.

Marketing when the subject is esoteric is bound to be mainly down to the author, I think, but websites like the one you've recommended do give one good general advice.

I completely agree with the earlier comments about illustrations. Some of my best ones have come free from GWF members and others, and one from the British Library was only £6 and they waived any permission fee because it was a small publication, but others have cost £30+ for a high-res image and permission to use it. Future publications will be more text and not so many illustrations, which should make life a bit easier!

Liz

[Robert Dunlop]

Congratulations Liz. Mark me down for a copy of the booklet.

Robert

[Liz in Eastbourne]

Many thanks, Robert! I'll put something in the Classified section when it's ready.

Update on the ISBN issue: we've found a competitively-priced printer with a self-publishing section that allows you to have one of their ISBNs so that might be worth having, even for such a niche publication.

Liz

[MichaelBully]

Had wondered! I am working on a Great War themed work but I doubt I will be ready until 2019.I can write fiction quite easily -I have written four novels, none published yet. But with historical work I struggle with the idea of a deadline. It's difficult to know how long it is going to take to find the material that is needed.....research can go off in different directions. Sometimes one finds a particular set of records is not accessible.Then the whole direction the book takes can change as it were. I really admire anyone who can stick to their original deadline.

I wish every writer here much success but I've got a feeling that 2014-2018 is going to be swamped with new books and then there could be all sorts of reprints. On a more positive note the commemorations might lead to a whole new readership for GW related work, and the growth of family history should also stimulate interest.

Regards

Michael Bully

Is every man and his dog writing books fior next year?

Richard

[Moonraker]

One economy measure employed by publishers is using poorer quality paper than in the past. This is acceptable for text, but photographic reproductions can disappoint. I've just finished reading two recent books (nothing to do with the Great War) and though many of the illustrations are reasonable, some weren't worth including because of the poor quality (which reminded me of the economy paper used for books in WWII). In one book - from a leading publisher - several maps and plans were reproduced, but I couldn't make out any detail at all.

A solution is to consolidate the illustrations into sections and use better quality paper for them, the disadvantage being that they are then removed from the relevant text.

Moonraker

[mhurst]

Is every man and his dog writing books for next year?

Richard

I haven't got a dog, but I am writing a book for next year. However, as it's a novel I doubt whether any GWF members will bother with it. My cat is currently proof-reading the final manuscript.

[rickpreston@nasuwt.net]

It was a little sinical of mr to post that but there does seem to be a good number of peoplewho are writing books, I wsh them well in their tasks.

It may increase the numbers of readers who will be reading 1st WW material equally it may just flood the market and the public will get sick of them I hope it os the former so that all the hard work by the authors will be rewarded

Richard

Edited 4 August , 2013 by RJPreston

[Moonraker]

I wonder how much of a market there is for the memoirs or diaries of yet more soldiers unless there is something particularly remarkable about them?

Moonraker

[Moonraker]

I'm as vain as the next author and admit to occasionally checking if there have been any on-line reviews of my two books published last summer (2012). In fact until today I haven't spotted any , though leading GWF member Steven Broomfield did say some kind words on the Forum when he spotted one in a bookshop . There have been a number of favourable comments spoken or relayed to me (perhaps the sort made out of politeness). One otherwise complimentary review of my Canadian work did point out that Canada had provinces and not states, though my usage of the latter word related to that erroneously made in contemporary newspaper articles.

But my forlorn Googling today finally produced a link to an eulogistic review on a military archive website. My immodesty, evident in my mentioning this here, has its limits, so I won't quote what was said, but it was gratifying. At last!

Moonraker

[Gareth Davies]

Wiltshire & The Great War is an excellent book (I picked up a copy at last year's Gallipoli Association conference).

[Moonraker]

Thanks, Gareth!

As it happens, when I joined the GWF years ago one of the very first posts I came across was a generous review of the first, self-published, edition of Wiltshire and the Great War! Naturally I immediately thought this was a fantastic forum!

Moonraker