How many should I get printed?

[Chock]

The thing with publishing is that self publishing is not the stigma it used to be, so it is a little outdated to regard it as not 'real publishing'. Some years ago such ventures were referred to as 'vanity publishing' and it was a good description too, as the vast majority of such self published stuff in that era were appallingly bad novels by people who thought they could write, and family histories that were more about someone showing off with something on their bookshelf to visitors, so vanity was indeed what such methods tended to cater to.

But even then, the only difference in self publishing and getting a commercial deal was scale to be honest, and for some niche books, it is often the only viable option. For example, if I write a book on the stitching techniques and camouflage used on WW1 French Balloons, it wouldn't matter if every page was beautifully written, nor whether Methuen published it and stuck it in every window of Waterstones, it simply would not sell a million copies.

But the use of internet has changed all that, and The Aerodrome is a good example of why, because suddenly that book on French balloon construction has a market, and a way to market via a relatively easy method of making it known to people who might buy it, as well as a way to distribute it. Still not going to sell a million copies, but generally speaking, many WW1 books are as much a labour of love as anything else.

Not everything that appears on Lulu is great, but some books published through there are in fact considered the standard works on subjects. Check out 'The Boeing 737 Technical Guide' by Chris Brady for example. It is a book that almost every Boeing 737 pilot in the world has bought, as well as having been bought by pretty much every technician who works on the aircraft type, plus flight simmers have bought it, modelers, and even the merely curious. You would never have found such a book as that in Waterstones, but that hasn't stopped it selling in massive quantities.

I am in fact a professional writer, I was a writer at a daily newspaper for ten years, I still write commercially for the UK business market, and have had even some of my fictional stuff published, plus I run a writing course in the UK with one of the biggest professional training companies there is, so my reputation hangs on that. But I wouldn't be the least bit leery about using Lulu, as I'm long since over the thrill of seeing my name on something in print. Self publishing simply is not the ego trip it used to be.

Al

[rainbase]

Hi Wristwister,
If I may put my two cents in....
If you do publish this yourself, consider listing it on ebay. Put the right words in the description and the right people will find your book.
I've done pretty well with my own dvd project on ebay; I usually sell a couple every week (it won't make me rich but it is steady and virtually all profit by now). Best of all, it gets my work into the hands of people all over the world who are into this stuff.
What you have sounds wonderful and I'm sure I'd jump on a copy!
Best of luck.

[YavorD]

Originally Posted by Chock

.... For example, if I write a book on the stitching techniques and camouflage used on WW1 French Balloons, it wouldn't matter if every page was beautifully written, nor whether Methuen published it and stuck it in every window of Waterstones, it simply would not sell a million copies.

But the use of internet has changed all that, and The Aerodrome is a good example of why, because suddenly that book on French balloon construction has a market, and a way to market via a relatively easy method of making it known to people who might buy it, as well as a way to distribute it. Still not going to sell a million copies, but generally speaking, many WW1 books are as much a labour of love as anything else.
...
Al

Hello Chock!
Forgive my intervention to this topic, please!
I know few people which would like to see the "book on the stitching techniques and camouflage used on WW1 French Balloons". Can you provide a bit more details (may be starting another thread)?
Regards,
Yavor

[Blackclaw]

Originally Posted by wristwister

Wouldn't have to be much of a lottery, we're only talking a few hundred bucks for an initial printing of 25 or so books ... depending of course on how big, how much color etc. Although Blackclaw does make a good point of potentially hampering your chances with a real publisher by going the self-publish route.

You can always change the title, get a new ISBN and release it as a new book. Heck with only 25 books you probably won't even bother with an ISBN, so a potential publisher probably won't ever know about the initial printing nor care if they did know. Besides, after your first printing run, you'll find edits and other things that you may want to change or include to improve the book so it will likely be a new edition.

[cameldriver]

When it is published, please put me down for a copy. I'd be very interested to see what he had to say.
Bob

[stephen]

Ditto for me.

[dpolglaze]

Put me down for two, and best of luck.

Stephen is right on contacting Al Roesler. Also, Darren Whiteside I believe self-published Rampant Lion. If you need contact info for Al, PM me. And you could always contact some aviation related booksellers to see if they would be willing to stock some as well.

Dan

[buzz1941]

Try LightningSource.com

[Cigogne]

What is the subject matter of the book? What unit did your grandfather fly with? What nation did he fly for? I didn't see any of that listed in the thread.