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Remembered Today:

WRITE A BOOK


wet255

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Bear in mind that, typically, Pen and Sword WILL NOT charge you for publishing your book or for editing and marketing it either. Indeed, they usually pay you an advance - 50% when you sign the contract, the rest when you submit your manuscript. My rugby book WAS very niche hence their different approach to that one.

 

Avoid vanity publishers...

 

Bernard

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I've just looked at the Canadian website and, personally, it's not an option I'd go with. You pay them £6,000 approx to publish it? 

 

If the work has merit, many publishers will produce it at no cost to you and take a cut of the sales to get their money back. 

 

It's horses for courses but I'd never go down that route myself. But it's your baby, of course.

 

Any other Forumites have a view on this?

 

Bernard

 

 

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£6,000 is an awful lot of money to lash out and looks an awful lot like vanity publishing. There's lots of advice out there on the differences between vanity publishing and self publishing. I'll be going for the second option here and wouldn't touch vanity publishers with a barge pole because it seems once they have your money they have little incentive to promote and sell your books for you, as they've already made a profit from your 'fee'.

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8 hours ago, Andy Wade said:

£6,000 is an awful lot of money to lash out and looks an awful lot like vanity publishing. There's lots of advice out there on the differences between vanity publishing and self publishing. I'll be going for the second option here and wouldn't touch vanity publishers with a barge pole because it seems once they have your money they have little incentive to promote and sell your books for you, as they've already made a profit from your 'fee'.

 

     Agreed- As a bookseller for 3 and more decades, I have seen an awful lot of crud out there. But there are vanity publishers and vanity publishers. Some do a better job than others. I have a fondness for Book Guild in Lewes, which produces books to pretty much the same format every time- somewhat boring typography and layout but, fair go, done to a consistently acceptable standard of quality- of print layout, paper quality, binding and illustrated dustwrapper. They have published quite a number of WW2 memoirs for old veterans in recent decades- better to have had these published than not.

    There are much shorter-run publishers out there. The main  consideration in anything I have had anything to do with is to get a firm and realistic grip on the print-run. The marginal costs of additional copies,after the initial set-up, is very low indeed-and most printers/ publishers  have very seductive rates for "run-on" copies- the extra 100, 200 etc. You may lose a friend or 2 in the process but my experience. is that you need some VERY realistic advice about how many copies should be in a print-run to sate your potential market. Nothing worse than to see a pile of "packets" of  a book done up usually in brown paper wrapping-that represents an unrealistic print-run that is just gathering dust. A much smaller pint-run and a higher unit cost may be better outcome-the more so if a number of copies are destined to be "freebies" anyway. When I have finished my little project I would be looking to print no more than 100 copies, if that- and a couple of dozen will be destined for deposit, legal or otherwise.  

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  • 1 month later...

Though not referring to the Great War, an article in today's Daily Telegraph's "Review" by Nicholas Shakespeare makes several points that we have touched on in this thread and elsewhere on the GWF. The article is titled "How Chinese Whispers Creep into History", and it author admits to shivering when contemplating "the breaches [of accuracy] that I nearly committed" when writing his latest book, about Churchill.

 

After completing his text, Shakespeare returned to the Bodleian Library to spend a further three months double-checking quotations, in roughly a fifth of which he had either:

 

got the punctuation wrong;

missed out a word;

inserted a phrase unintentionally;

mis-attributed the source;

mis-reading his own writing.

 

How I empathise with him, especially over the last point (though I'm surprised that he didn't input his notes into a device - oh, the hours I spent in libraries in the late 1990s scribbling away with a pencil - and my writing has always been terrible).

 

He also noted how historians "piggy-back off each without corroborating the initial sources" - thus perpetuating gaffes - and mentions the same photograph of Chamberlain and Churchill that has been variously dated 10 September 1939, 8 May 1940 and 10 May 1940.

 

Moonraker

 

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I was surprised to find the author has to provide their own photographs, 30 minimum. Arrgh. Maps I can understand. I would have thought the publishers would have purchasing power when it came to working with institutions to use their photographs in books. You know because they publish dozens of similar topic works per year. Poor me does not. 

Edited by Felix C
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It's not the using so much as the researching. Most institutions won't let a publisher keep a photograph on file, and most publishers aren't prepared to keep a picture researcher on the payroll any more .... :(

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For example licensing images from the Imperial War Museum is very expensive for an average person. Seems impossible. Same from the Bundesarchive. Purchasing unknown originals  off Ebay seems a good option and using stock freeware here and there. I thought any before 1919 were public domain in any case. 

 

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6 hours ago, Felix C said:

I thought any before 1919 were public domain in any case. 

 

 Hi Felix C,

where did you get that idea?

GB is still in the EU and EU copyright law applies, that still states that copyright is valid until 70 years after the death of the original holder. If a photo was taken by a young lad of 20 in 1917 who died at the age of 60 in 1957 the copyright of his photos will only expire 2027 or 2028 (can´t remember what the law says w regard to completing the year after death).

Deichkind

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9 hours ago, Felix C said:

For example licensing images from the Imperial War Museum is very expensive for an average person

Indeed. Although folk dismayed by the prices charged by IWM should look to the National Library of Scotland collection (smaller collection but very reasonable to do business with). Or the national archives of Australia & Canada who take a different view to copyright - saying, without question, that WW1 period photos are out of copyright. All three will charge you for high resolution images (and the NLS may require a licence fee), but if you can work with the online image, they're happy for you to just get on with it.

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4 hours ago, GreyC said:

 Hi Felix C,

where did you get that idea?

GB is still in the EU and EU copyright law applies, that still states that copyright is valid until 70 years after the death of the original holder. If a photo was taken by a young lad of 20 in 1917 who died at the age of 60 in 1957 the copyright of his photos will only expire 2027 or 2028 (can´t remember what the law says w regard to completing the year after death).

Deichkind

Photography forum from a few years ago. It mentioned year of publication not author's passing. I think the above is for books. 

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Hi,

"In 1995 the period of copyright was extended to the life of the author plus 70 years (as described above) for works which were, at that time, still within copyright anywhere within the European Economic Area. One effect of this was to impose a copyright extension of twenty years on all works that were made or published after 1911 by any person who had died after 1945, as the previous copyright period (of lifetime plus 50 years) had not yet expired in the UK for someone who had died in 1945 or later.[20]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_Kingdom#First_publication

Deickind

 

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51 minutes ago, GreyC said:

Hi,

"In 1995 the period of copyright was extended to the life of the author plus 70 years (as described above) for works which were, at that time, still within copyright anywhere within the European Economic Area. One effect of this was to impose a copyright extension of twenty years on all works that were made or published after 1911 by any person who had died after 1945, as the previous copyright period (of lifetime plus 50 years) had not yet expired in the UK for someone who had died in 1945 or later.[20]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_Kingdom#First_publication

Deickind

 

The whole law of copyright is an utter mess everywhere. The Chinese don't recognise one, so happily plagiarise your work from the day it is published - but get very upset if you plagiaries one of their publications, especially of by the Communist Party. The USA has 90 years, so far, so as to guess what, protect Mickey Mouse (I kid you not). Presumably this will go up as the 90 years is reached.

The EU, for some reason I could never understand (and I had to read the background papers), chose 70 years after the author's death (as far as I know this applies to everything, not just books).

I am fortunate as my local photo archive (and it is BIG) has a charge for reproducing with a small, very small licence charge, and after that do what you like with it.

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are the two posts

2 hours ago, GreyC said:

Hi,

"In 1995 the period of copyright was extended to the life of the author plus 70 years (as described above) for works which were, at that time, still within copyright anywhere within the European Economic Area. One effect of this was to impose a copyright extension of twenty years on all works that were made or published after 1911 by any person who had died after 1945, as the previous copyright period (of lifetime plus 50 years) had not yet expired in the UK for someone who had died in 1945 or later.[20]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_United_Kingdom#First_publication

Deickind

 

Does that apply to photographs or only text?

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23 hours ago, Felix C said:

I was surprised to find the author has to provide their own photographs, 30 minimum. Arrgh. Maps I can understand. I would have thought the publishers would have purchasing power when it came to working with institutions to use their photographs in books. You know because they publish dozens of similar topic works per year. Poor me does not. 

 

 

23 hours ago, Felix C said:

I was surprised to find the author has to provide their own photographs, 30 minimum. Arrgh. Maps I can understand. I would have thought the publishers would have purchasing power when it came to working with institutions to use their photographs in books. You know because they publish dozens of similar topic works per year. Poor me does not. 

With so many new books being about niche subjects, surely the author is in a far better position to know which are the most suitable photographs for his/her book than a publisher who produces titles on a range of subjects. The author is also more likely to know from where to source rare photographs, compared with a researcher who might approach only the most obvious sources.

 

Moonraker

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16 minutes ago, Moonraker said:

 

 

With so many new books being about niche subjects, surely the author is in a far better position to know which are the most suitable photographs for his/her book than a publisher who produces titles on a range of subjects. The author is also more likely to know from where to source rare photographs, compared with a researcher who might approach only the most obvious sources.

 

Moonraker

I would recommend you consider the entirety of what I wrote, that the publisher has purchasing power with the institution, not the lone author. Just as an author works with an editor or perhaps cover art developer, so also with the archivist. As the author I would recommend this photo ref.#, that one, not that one, etc. Much as I would exchange views with an editor of why a particular phrasing/text etc.is used.

Of course, as SeaJane, mentioned that pos. has been culled from the publisher payroll.

Edited by Felix C
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39 minutes ago, Felix C said:

I would recommend you consider the entirety of what I wrote, that the publisher has purchasing power with the institution, not the lone author. Just as an author works with an editor or perhaps cover art developer, so also with the archivist. As the author I would recommend this photo ref.#, that one, not that one, etc. Much as I would exchange views with an editor of why a particular phrasing/text etc.is used.

Of course, as SeaJane, mentioned that pos. has been culled from the publisher payroll.

This may well be the case with books by well-known authors and major publishing houses, but I suspect that most of us here deal with smaller companies with relatively few resources and thinking in terms of a run of perhaps 1,000 copies (and this in the case of some recent WWI titles has proved over-ambitious). Following the tone set by this thread's very first post back in 2011, we're aiming here to advise the relative novice.

 

On the matter of copyright,  I have more than a touch of déjà lit about this latest discussion. The subject seems to recur every six months or so, with some of us going around in ever-decreasing circles, with grey areas (if only in some of our minds) remaining.

 

Moonraker

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1 hour ago, GreyC said:

I recommend you read the text that I have provided via the link.

GreyC

Its a wiki link that is all over the place. 

 

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3 hours ago, Moonraker said:

a run of perhaps 1,000 copies (and this in the case of some recent WWI titles has proved over-ambitious)

I've no idea how many copies of my books Pen & Sword printed. Now I never had any great expectations about sales - but I was genuinely disappointed by just how many P & S flogged off "below cost" to another company to reduce their own stock level.

 

That's now three published by P & S and one by Reveille Press (which, I think, describes its services as "enhanced self publishing")

Edited by John_Hartley
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I look at the amount of photographs in a recent USNI imprint of Great War Naval title and see how many are IWM and then tally the cost and wow! I cannot believe it. The book should be much more money. Hence why I see a publisher as being able to negotiate better than me- one Average Joe. 

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In the entrance hall of my club two fine war memorials are displayed and each November a wreath of poppies in placed before them. The names  are hard to read and thinking that no one had any idea who the men were, who had died, I decided to research their names. Such are the marvels of the internet that I was able to find out basic details  about them through CWGC and often from other records was able to write an extensive account of their lives. On occasion I was assisted by members of this forum. With all the information I gathered the club arranged to have printed a beautifully produced book of memorial which is on permanent display. Whilst I sought and received no financial reward, I have gained a much deeper insight into WWI and to a lesser extent WWII. By revealing who these men were has made me more aware of the immense sacrifice that was made, the sadness caused and the changes in family fortunes that resulted. I value this forum greatly and much appreciate all the expertise so freely given by its members. Where I can, I have endeavoured to play my own part in turn. It would not be right to say one gets pleasure from doing so but one is rewarded, enriched and humbled by any attempt to find out about the men who died. I have just completed my revised second edition, and as more information comes to light and as one or two remaining undiscovered names come to life, further editions are envisioned 

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On 9/23/2017 at 18:02, Moonraker said:

 

He also noted how historians "piggy-back off each without corroborating the initial sources" - thus perpetuating gaffes - and mentions the same photograph of Chamberlain and Churchill that has been variously dated 10 September 1939, 8 May 1940 and 10 May 1940.

 

 

Something that is surprisingly common I have found, especially when it comes to quoting page/paragraph numbers when using 'original/primary sources'...

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I recall hearing that Bibliography inflation was an issue when I was an undergraduate a few decades ago. One professor who was a specialist spoke poorly about another work in the same field where to him, it was obvious the author did not actually use the books listed.  

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On 9/28/2017 at 17:14, Felix C said:

I recall hearing that Bibliography inflation was an issue when I was an undergraduate a few decades ago. One professor who was a specialist spoke poorly about another work in the same field where to him, it was obvious the author did not actually use the books listed.  

 

Is that what bibliography inflation is? Genuine question, because I had to Google it and one source gives it as describing the act of someone getting their name attached to papers and publications when they've either done very little or nothing on them, just to inflate their own list of achievements. I would appreciate an explanation of it please, on account of me being somewhat thick... :wacko:

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