OT writing a book

Earlier i was looking through all my fotos of Migs, SU's etc from E German airbases i visited, Cottbus and Rothenburg....i took loads of fotos, some aimed at modellers, some general shots

I had always thought of sticking them on a cd and selling em for a couple of quid....

now been thinking of writing a book, i noticed on Huperscale, someone doing if on Luftwaffe Starfighters, but im more of a DDR era guy..

Has anyone got a rough idea of cost of say doing a 100 book run, the pitfalls etc etc.

Im gonna go back to the bases, museums for more pics

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just a rough few i took last year.

i have perfect english/german speaker friends, and i thought a bit of history and research with captions, and at the back a quick kit/plane listing of who did what.

ta

Reply to
Jules
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Jules I would talk to those who have published books and find out how they got 'published'. Fronting the money yourself could turn out to be a loosing proposition. Talk to the various magazine publishers to see if they are willing to do an insert of your work into their magazine. You may get a several issue run, but your going to have to have your materials ready for them to review. It is just a matter of organization.

Reply to
Hawkeye

I agree. If you go with a regular publisher, rather than the so- called Vanity press, the publisher puts up the money. The vanity press makes their money from the authors, not the selling of books.

That being said, modern technology has greatly eased the cost of self- publishing. I attended a seminar about a year ago on doing so. There is an organization of folks doing self-publishing. Google on self publishing.

The people in the seminar used concerns in Asia for low cost printing. When you self publish, printing and advertising are your big buck things. They recommended hiring local English majors in colleges to do editing and page makeup.

I have not gotten the nerve yet to do the printed book, but have been selling a CD. Minimal cost to "publish" a CD.

Reply to
Don Stauffer in Minnesota

You might find that your local council has a graphic design department that will take on private layout work for a very reasonable price. When I worked in a council graphic design department some time back, a fair amount of our work came from private individuals. These folks also tend to be well connected with printers and publishers and might be able to give you some pointers.

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Reply to
flak monkey

Im due to leave England in the summer, move to Germany, which of course gives me local access again to the aircraft and more info...wooooo Just means i dont think i will have access to anyone back home.

I had thought of a cd for many months, aimed at modellers. but then had a idea of a book....ok it makes sense to do a cd for modellers, then what cash i can get push towards a book...

Will have to speak to my German friends...

Reply to
Jules

i had thought of doing the book along this format

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then thought maybe in 3 books, early, mid and late.....with small articles on bases themselves and support vechiles, hell i have some great pics of a runway snow blaster truck....powerd with a T34 engine!!!!! now thats one beast

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Reply to
Jules

well i know Jon Freeman and Neil Robinson who publish stuff over here....so i will talk to them next time i see them

As its stands i have noooooo cash, hell im having to sell my stash for the move to Germany in the summer.

good thinking though, worth looking into!

Reply to
Jules

Have you thought of producing the book in pdf format, then putting that on a CD? That way, if you decide later to publish it in a printed form, you don't have to do the work again. Any printshop can go to press from a pdf as long as it's done correctly. Whichever route you take, it's a great idea you have there.

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Reply to
flak monkey

If you need a French translator... ;o)

Reply to
Flying Frog

good thinking....that way i can get feedback on it, before it would hit paper.......

Reply to
Jules

i dont think people would want to buy it in english or german...never mind french ;-)

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Reply to
Jules

Jules a émis l'idée suivante :

If you need, I'm ok... if you don't need, I'm ok also... lol

Reply to
Flying Frog

thanks Chris

I have seen books with english/polish 4+ books (or maybe Cz not Polish) and some books english/german....but i thought all people in france could write read english :-) ok maybe only model people lol

i love Mig and SU planes....a SU22 is BIG when stood next to

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Reply to
Jules

Jules a exprimé avec précision :

Unfortunatly French people is often unable to read English, German or other foreign languages. It is often a real handicap moreover. One could think that young generations speak better English for example than the older ones, but it is not case. It is necessary to say that the education of languages in France suffers from an education of very poor quality.

I am very aware with my big gaps to write English, but at least, I read it almost without any trouble. I would love whether it is case for my kids.

Reply to
Flying Frog

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ah.. ok in germany young speak and write ok english, i can see your small mistakes....but i can understand what you mean.

ok what is French for 'Mig21 MF, Cottbus' ;-) maybe French text would be good for the writen articles. i plan a summer of taking images, then to design how to write and layout the images, although i am english my written english is poor.....

the book is more referance for images of aircraft, small history and airbases and of course correct dates etc.

i still have to think, should i do early DDR to end of DDR or type of aircraft, say fighters only, MIG21 and SU22's etc etc

i saw many old MIG and SU's that were many times painted in differant places, so you could see new patches of paint, and over painting of markings....

yes i have many many walk around MIg21 books, but i still had to look at the real planes to find the info i needed.

Reply to
Jules

Jules avait énoncé :

You're too kind!

For me, the MiG 21MF is simply a Fishbed...

maybe French text would

There are a lot ok books, but books made by modellers are always more interesting for me, mecause a modeller knows what the modellers need... ;o)

Reply to
Flying Frog

i cannot write much in french, if any, at school i did german

but very differant from a UM :-)

yes, i have maybe 8 books on Mig21, all good, but none had the pictures i needed, esp for a 32nd Trumpeter kit, so i had to take my own fotos, and also of rocket pods etc etc

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Reply to
Jules

Personally for me, the whole subject of the DDR is interesting and not much covered. ISTR an article in AI years ago before the Wall came down. Obviously the author would not have had as much access to info and hardware as you've had, Jules.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

Reply to
Mad-Modeller

Well i went through some other pics i had, some unusual and wierd stuff....i know some people in the German IPMS, so next time i go and soon i will find list of all ex airbases and start putting some rough ideas together.

Reply to
Jules

IMHO, the problem with self publishing is you end up with books that look like they were written by 6th graders.......or worse. Of course, from some 'editing' I see, some editors aren't so hot either.

Reply to
frank

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