Vought Aircraft since 1917

[boxkite]

What happened to the planned Putnam title Vought Aircraft since 1917 by Hugh W Cowin? It was to be published in 2000, ISBN was given as 0-85177-885-2.

Does anybody know the author?

 

[gatoraptor]

That's about the time that Putnam was changing hands, and the current holders of the imprint seem to have no interest in reviving the line. I suspect that there are other Putnam projects in the same situation.

But Naval Institute Press printed some of the Putnam titles in the U.S., mainly those which (obviously) dealt with naval aviation and its manufacturers, which Vought certainly was. (Some of these are still available in their catalog.) Maybe you could contact them and see if they have any further information on this work. If the manuscript exists, maybe they could locate it and publish the book on their own behalf.

 

[boxkite]

But Naval Institute Press printed some of the Putnam titles in the U.S., mainly those which (obviously) dealt with naval aviation and its manufacturers, which Vought certainly was. (Some of these are still available in their catalog.) Maybe you could contact them and see if they have any further information on this work. If the manuscript exists, maybe they could locate it and publish the book on their own behalf.

Yes, that's the question - did Mr. Cowin start from point zero or did he come with a (halfway) manuscript to the publisher? This must be "our man": http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1153310.Hugh_W_Cowin . I hope he is still alive, but don't know how to find him. He seems to be a British citizen, so maybe one of our SPF members from the UK could try to keep track?

 

[Hoo-2b-2day]

What a lot of people don’t realise is that ISBN numbers are allocated several years before the printing date; this is to allow the number to be included in the book during the proof copies before the actual printing run. Many of these books never make it to the printing stage but the ISBN record remains.

In the case of perceived desirable books, such as the Vought one discussed here or the North American Rockwell book from Putlands Putnams some bookshops use these records as "bait" to get you to look at their online wares even though they know the book does not exist.

The sad fact is that although these books may have reached a stage nearing printing it is unlikely that the copyright owners will ever print them now. This is due to the small market in comparison to the cost of production and the fact that within a few weeks of release some-one will have scanned it and made it available free on the net - more lost revenue. Just look for some of the books written by members of this forum.

The information is rarely just gathering dust; the copyright owners may (at a cost) allow researchers etc to access this material so the information does trickle out to the world.

The sad fact is that the world has changed since the days when Putnam books came out regularly. People want quick information and want it free - they would prefer the misinformation on the net (such as Wankerpedeia oops sorry Wikapedia) rather than paying for a hefty book and having to actually read it properly.

I often see on varied forums various forms of "Some-one should wright it, there's got to be a market for it" but for books like the Putnam series and many similar topics this is no longer true.

 

[Stargazer]

the Vought one discussed here or the North American Rockwell book from Putlands

Er... Is this a new publisher?? I know of Putnam, and of Midland too, but no Putland in sight... :