Possibility of Crecy Reprints....

[overscan (PaulMM)]

At Telford last November I spoke to Crecy about reprints, and in particular about reprinting 'Building Concorde'. I had not known that, for about 3 years, the cost of reprints has been very expensive, I understand pretty well at the same level as new books. One assumes Covid will have been a factor here, and the price of energy/transport. However, over the last 12 months (up to November that is) the prices have come down by a good amount (perhaps by 40%), so reprints are becoming a possibility again. I cannot say how the prices have gone since November, but I suggest that you keep asking for a reprint to 'FSP1' (and 'Building Concorde' if you do not mind).

From Tony Buttler

 

[southwestforests]

but I suggest that you keep asking for a reprint to 'FSP1'

That being French Secret Projects 1, even though it is not by Tony?

 

[scautomoton]

So I just used Crecy's "Contact Us" link on their website to ask about a few books. It didn't give a confirmation of receipt though. Will wait a couple days and see if there is a response.

 

[Pasoleati]

A reprint of the combined Me 163 volume most welcome.

 

[Kiltonge]

I'm baffled by the refusal of some publishers to reprint fairly recent books as e-books. The final layout is already digital, there's no upfront printing cost and no need to estimate sales figures. They could integrate with a print-on-demand service for anyone desperate for a paper copy.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

So long as you sold all the printed copies already and don't plan a reprint, yes.

 

[CJGibson]

That'll be me then. Guilty as charged. I'm reticent to reprint without plenty of new material as I'd get the same kicking that Paul Crickmore gets when he produces a new edition of his SR-71 book, never mind just a reprint.

Then there is the 'why is it so expensive when it is an ebook' that I hear in the teashack every week or so. Please bear in mind that you're not paying for paper when you buy a book, it's the research and writing you're buying.

When folk say 'ebook' what do they mean? To me an book is in Mobi or Epub format that flows on the tablet screen and font etc can be formatted by the user (to keep Pasoleati happy) not a PDF. Therefore an ebook needs formatting.

Not all of us are paid to write as a job, the returns are next to nowt nowadays, barely cover a trip to the archives. I still run mud for that very reason.

Here's a nugget I learned today from Ian Hislop of Private Eye fame. On the Page 94 Podcast he points out that paper has become more expensive and therefore books have gone up in price, because Amazon are buying up the raw material for packaging! Shurely shome mishtake?

I'll get me coat.

Chris

 

[Pasoleati]

CJGibson: An e-book can never make me happy, regardless of the font etc. To me a book by definition is a "method of storing information printed on paper".

As for paper and its price, during the last 10 or so years many paper mills have been closed down due to overcapacity, so the production capacity has decreased a lot.

 

[CJGibson]

Thanks Pasoleati, that's interesting on the papermills. Didn't know that.

Chris

 

[Schneiderman]

That'll be me then. Guilty as charged.

I'll get me coat.

Chris

I know its a "how long is a piece of string" question but what kind of sales, in, say, percentage of sales of the first edition, would you be looking for to support a reprint given that the potential market would be made up largely of those that had the first and thought buying an update was worth the expense? Feel free to tell me its a stupid question.

 

[Yellow Palace]

potential market would be made up largely of those that had the first and thought buying an update was worth the expense

And, from the author's viewpoint, is it worth doing an update to an existing book for a reprint, rather than using the new material for a wholly new book?

For that matter, if you're doing an update for the second printing, at what point does that become a second edition? And does it matter?

 

[CJGibson]

And, from the author's viewpoint, is it worth doing an update to an existing book for a reprint, rather than using the new material for a wholly new book?

For that matter, if you're doing an update for the second printing, at what point does that become a second edition? And does it matter?

A straight reprint with no changes (except the price) isn't a new edition. I'd say it does matter.

Depends how much new material you have, and to answer Schneiderman's question. it's a case of pitching it to the publisher, indicating what's new, what will be different and how many new images you have.

The critical question will always be 'Is there enough new material to justify existing owners coughing up for a new edition?' Crickmore and Hopkins do exactly that - lots of new info, tell the punters what that new info is and by the way, it's an extra nn pages therefore it'll cost more.

It's not just printing costs for an update, needs laid out again, re-indexed and the photos cleaned up (unless you're a good author and present nice clean pics with the monochromes in greyscale. (A particular peeve of mine.)

You also need to cater for the hard of thinking who will buy a new edition and moan that it's just old wine in new bottles. qv the bloke who bought 'On Atlas Shoulders' because it had an Atlas on the front and was peeved because it wasn't just about Atlas.

I suppose I could crowd fund it...that'll see how serious folk are.

I'll get me cat...

Chris

 

[TsrJoe]

Totally left field, The crowd fund idea might actually work?
I'm sure if x number of persons each pitched a figure (say £100+ for discussion) to reach a set target to see a particular pitched subject taken to publication ?

 

[gatoraptor]

I'd like to see a reprint of "The Cold War Years" in the current Hikoki style. I don't care whether the content of the book is updated or not; I just want a book that matches the other Tim Mason books that they published.

And if they can get the rights to it, I'd also like to see them do a Hikoki version of Mason's "British Flight Testing at Martlesham Heath" that he did for Putnam.

 

[Pasoleati]

Mason's testing book on Boscombe Down was a great disappointment to me as I expected it to concentrate on reproducing original test reports and then analyzing them.

 

[Hood]

Personally speaking, I don't tend to buy reprints or 2nd editions unless I know that there has been serious revision and addition of new material to justify me forking out a second time; which is why I invested in the newer BSP and ASP volumes, because I knew there was enough new material to justify it and the line drawings etc. were reproduced larger.

Saying that, some old classics probably do deserve to be republished, but that's a decision for the author and publisher really, with the caveat that old classics can sometimes be outdated - for example if a publisher started reprinting Putnams without revisions/updates, they would be pretty dated and you might as well buy second-hand (though some second-hand prices for Putnams are not far off their new list price).

 

[Kiltonge]

CJGibson: An e-book can never make me happy, regardless of the font etc. To me a book by definition is a "method of storing information printed on paper".

As for paper and its price, during the last 10 or so years many paper mills have been closed down due to overcapacity, so the production capacity has decreased a lot.

But if the option is never having access to that information, or having to make do with an ebook...?

I'm at the point now where I've so many books I can't easily add more physical volumes, so I've reluctantly had to limit paper purchases to books with connections to local history. Anything else is ebook, or if that's not available then not at all.

 

[Pasoleati]

But if the option is never having access to that information, or having to make do with an ebook...?

I'm at the point now where I've so many books I can't easily add more physical volumes, so I've reluctantly had to limit paper purchases to books with connections to local history. Anything else is ebook, or if that's not available then not at all.

In such a case, I choose not to have that information. Unless that "ebook" is 100 % free.

 

[CJGibson]

In such a case, I choose not to have that information. Unless that "ebook" is 100 % free.

Might like to reread reply #7.

There's a good chance your 100% free ebook is shiny bright and/or 'stolen'.

Chris

 

[Arjen]

In such a case, I choose not to have that information.

Some ebook formats are hard to reconcile with proper presentation of images. Other formats are a positive boon for me to appreciate those images, because they allow me to zoom in on them.
Another thing to consider is the ease with which items can be searched in ebooks.

I generally prefer the dead-tree type of books, but I can appreciate the ease of storage when traveling or when trying to find a place on my shelves, as well as the search and zoom features.

I will, on occasion, happily buy ebooks.

 

[CJGibson]

I will, on occasion, happily buy ebooks.

Me too and for the sort of books of interest to this forum, Osprey appear to have cracked it. Work on a variety of machines from laptop to Kindle (with the obvious restrictions) and what's on my Kindle would fill a Billy. Interestingly they are not much cheaper than the paper copies.

Chris

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Tony Buttler comments

My approach is that the only changes that should ever be made to a pure reprint are just any corrections of errors and typos. The info should stay the same.

For a second/new edition, you need new materials. I would suggest at least 10% new information and drawings, etc, though other authors might have a different approach. But for me, anything less than this and it is not fair on the folk who buy our books. Of course there are situations when this cannot be done, but in most cases it should be the case I think.

And if real aircraft are in the book, not just projects, then the author should change or replace as many photos as he can so that there are new elements there as well. I still buy 'new' photos of aircraft types that I might have written about several times, because if you are asked to do a new piece of work, new or different illustrations always help.

Hope this helps.

 

[Calum Douglas]

This may not be an issue in this particular case, but it highlights the need for careful vetting of any book contract to ensure that it contains a right reversion clause, where should the book be out of print for a reasonable period both electronically and physically, (say.. 3 years) all commercial rights (not just text copyright) revert to the author, enabling the author to either use another publisher to do a re-print, or do it themselves. More people seem to be aware of this now, but there are many books "stuck" in limbo for ever, where no chance of a reprint exists, but the text remains in copyright by the publisher.

I had my contract/s vetted, and they came back covered in red pen. Never ever sign anything unless a publishing specialist has vetted it.

Most academic publishers (who are by far the worst) know perfectly well that its now becoming standard for the author to always own at least the text copyright of their own works, but most academic publishers just leave the contract to give them ALL rights, knowing that most authors simply dont know and will never check. I queried this once and they just said "oh yes of course fine" and changed it immidiately. They knew perfectly well it was a bad clause, but leave it to the author to protect themselves.

 

[scautomoton]

So I sent a query to Crecy last week regarding whether they were planning any reprints or second editions of some of their titles, here is the response:

"Thank you for contacting us.

Firstly, we don’t currently have any plans to re-print British Secret Projects 5 - Britain's Space Shuttle, French Secret Projects 1, Building Concorde, Soviet Secret Projects - Fighters since 1945 or Soviet Secret Projects - Bombers since 1945. If this ever were to change, we would update you via our monthly newsletter or via our social media.

Additionally, we don’t currently have any plans for a second edition of British Secret Projects - Hypersonics, Ranjets & Missiles, but we are planning to publish the fifth edition of American Secret Projects at either the end of 2024 or start of 2025."