Aviation publishers

Some new titles announced:

A Bucket of Sunshine
Lancaster: Reap the Whirlwind
RAF Southend 1940-1944
Vulcan: God of Fire
Bristol Brabazon
Wings over Somerset

And more, including the definitive books on the Bismarck and Tirpitz!

Jay

Depends if you get jumped on for expressing an opinion!

Exactly Graham… I mean, why would one even bother! 🙂

And this is the first unveiling for the front cover of Concorde Conspiracy!

Jay

Oh, and a new title for Tor’s book: VIKING SPITFIRE. 🙂

😀

As for Grub Street, no offense or negativity meant coming from my side. As things went quicker than I anticipated there was just no need to contact. I have them on my Twitter feed as well.

And I got Andys book “Finding the few” which is top notch, but we all knew that. 😀

Oh, and a new title for Tor’s book: VIKING SPITFIRE. 🙂

Thanks for the kind words, Andy.

I usually ask for a one-pager to get a ‘flavour’ of what the writer proposes. A chapter breakdown is a good idea for me to see how the book is to be constructed and how well it flows as a running narrative. As for correspondance, I try to reply as soon as I can, usually in the same day. Having a Blackberry is essential as I work in my evenings without realising it by answering work e-mails on my cellphone. On the flip side, when I was the senior commissioning editor at Games Workshop for 2000AD and New Line Cinema novelisations, I was told that an author might have to wait three months to receive a reply…

Another aspect to consider is presentation. I receive many ideas, thankfully the majority are well presented for me to read and propose. Sadly, I may get a fabulous idea, but the way it is handed to me might be hard work and take time to whip into shape. The bitter truth is these go towards the bottom of the pile when a good pitch gets heard first as it can be prepared for proposal in short order.

For example, and thanks to this forum, Tor Idar Larsen’s manuscript was sent to me yesterday or the day before. Tor’s attitude has been professional, friendly and enthusiastic. As a result, I have completed the AI, AQ and two costing models to propose to the Board.

Have had a number of Pen & Sword and Grub Street writers approach me, too.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me in due course.

With very best wishes,

Jay

As a current and future Grub Street author I can only speak highly of them.

Quite possibly some prospective authors are making the mistake of sending huge and untidy manuscripts, and not in a prospective publishers preferred style and format, on an entirely unsolicited basis and then getting rattled because publishers take a long while to get back. And when they do get back they say “No” anyway.

I would suggest that authors submit a synopsis, perhaps with a chapter-by-chapter breakdown, of what they have in mind. If the publisher is interested they would most likely come back with a request for a sample chapter (if they are not familiar with the author’s writing) and sight of some illustrations.

I have not worked with Jay Slater, although he has been in contact with me and requested book titles/ideas from me so although I have no direct experience of working with him I have no reason to suppose that he is anything other than highly professional. On the other hand, I can speak for Grub Street for whom I have nothing but utmost praise but authors should not get impatient when they don’t get instant responses from publishers about their offerings. These are invariably small publishing operations (in terms of staffing) and the volume of current publishing projects and manuscripts waiting to be read is often huge!

Grub Street

Whilst on the theme, forum members might like to know that Grub Street will be launching a book on the Raw family at Duxford on the 3rd September. (Raw Courage)
Flt Lt Peter Raw DFC of 609 Squadron has a whole chapter dedicated to him, with unpublished info and photo’s. His three other brothers also have chapters on their RAF careers as pilots.

THE CONCORDE CONSPIRACY is off and running and we have some truly excellent marketing angled towards to the 2012 Olympics.

I’m not normally interested in civvy aviation however from what I’ve heard I intend to make an exception for this book.

Certainly an interesting thread, one option which seems to happen from time to time is that a revised extract of the book is published in one of the aviation magazines. As has already been mentioned being already published makes life much easier when talking to other publishers.

Given where the thread’s got to, and not to dismiss Mr C’s input, rather than any more bald publisher* recommendations, let’s have suggestions with background – it could be good experiences (such as prompt, pro-active responses like Jay’s) bad (if repeatable!) or even publishers you rate because…

*I know what I meant, and have my own hair.

Fair point. Did that in my tea break at work, so no time for any more. Grub Street published my one and only book many moons ago, so a bit of a soft spot for them. Always seem to have a good catalogue of WW2 books, particularly the biog/autobiog types, so this might really suit them. I too remember that dilemma of whether to pitch it to more than one publisher at a time, especially as so many seemed to take forever to get back to me; very frustrating to wait 8 or 9 weeks, hope steadily building, only to get your stuff back with yet another “Not suitable for our lists” letter. Anyway, best of luck and hope you find a worthy publisher for what sounds an interesting read.

With regards to the comment about Grub Street and their long response time, I do understand. I was always taught from my first day in commissioning that it can take an editor up to three months to reply to a pitch/proposal. It’s pretty much an industry standard, especially in large publishers.

I do not.

I try to reply with immediate effect and establish a relationship with all my writers in producing great books on aviation. After all, it is in our best interests as we love the topic.

As I often say: ‘Seize the day’!

Jay

The approach is working quite well Jay!

GRUB STREET

With regards to the comment about Grub Street and their long response time, I do understand. I was always taught from my first day in commissioning that it can take an editor up to three months to reply to a pitch/proposal. It’s pretty much an industry standard, especially in large publishers.

I do not.

I try to reply with immediate effect and establish a relationship with all my writers in producing great books on aviation. After all, it is in our best interests as we love the topic.

As I often say: ‘Seize the day’!

Jay

Hey Graham,

Good to see you here, my friend!

THE CONCORDE CONSPIRACY is off and running and we have some truly excellent marketing angled towards to the 2012 Olympics.

BRISTOL BRABAZON is in good hands.

I really appreciate the support by all. Exciting times indeed.

Jay

Good to see another publishing professional here – for sharing insights, contributing to discussion and so forth too, I’d hope.

Depends if you get jumped on for expressing an opinion!

I try to reply as soon as I can to my e-mails

😀

Interesting thread… I prefer to start negotiations on finances on the first instance. However, I do make it known that we usually cost a low print run and ask for the proposed to author to bare that in mind. This is where royalties are vitally important as the author can benefit on a reprint followed by paperback and e-books.

Am I correct in my perception that the ‘how much’ issue seems almost to be taboo in the writing and publishing world?

I’ve never been brave (or foolhardy) enough to write a book (although the material generated by research on some of my pet topics is pushing those in that direction!) and so my experience relates exclusively to magazine and newspaper articles. Also it has little to do with aviation articles, as I have found it significantly harder to secure outlets for these than various of the other topics on which I have written. But even now, I find the fee to be the most difficult matter, particularly to know what a piece is worth and how far this is negotiable.

I well appreciate that there is no ‘norm’ when it comes to the fee. Small, specialist magazines with smaller circulations usually pay less than large, generalist magazines with larger circulations. But that’s not always the case. Certainly at the outset I took what I was offered by way of a fee. I was grateful just to be published! But as I’ve gained in experience, I’ve realised that there is a great disparity in what one is offered – and that disparity does not always reflect the size of the magazine and its circulation.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that individuals do not like talking about the subject of their income – even in the most general terms – and, I suspect, in the publishing world this is something that publishers are keen to encourage. But in making that statement, I may be demonstrating shocking ignorance and be guilty of an important inaccuracy. Thus I’d be interested to hear the views of others generally and specifically on this subject.

I read in an Czech inflight magazine once that you should NEVER ask an Englishmen how much he makes a year!

If you are lucky enough to get interest from more than one publisher, you can see which offer is better (that’s in the round, not just best cash – and it won’t be great)

Am I correct in my perception that the ‘how much’ issue seems almost to be taboo in the writing and publishing world?

I’ve never been brave (or foolhardy) enough to write a book (although the material generated by research on some of my pet topics is pushing those in that direction!) and so my experience relates exclusively to magazine and newspaper articles. Also it has little to do with aviation articles, as I have found it significantly harder to secure outlets for these than various of the other topics on which I have written. But even now, I find the fee to be the most difficult matter, particularly to know what a piece is worth and how far this is negotiable.

I well appreciate that there is no ‘norm’ when it comes to the fee. Small, specialist magazines with smaller circulations usually pay less than large, generalist magazines with larger circulations. But that’s not always the case. Certainly at the outset I took what I was offered by way of a fee. I was grateful just to be published! But as I’ve gained in experience, I’ve realised that there is a great disparity in what one is offered – and that disparity does not always reflect the size of the magazine and its circulation.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that individuals do not like talking about the subject of their income – even in the most general terms – and, I suspect, in the publishing world this is something that publishers are keen to encourage. But in making that statement, I may be demonstrating shocking ignorance and be guilty of an important inaccuracy. Thus I’d be interested to hear the views of others generally and specifically on this subject.

Thanks for the kind words, JDK. I try to reply as soon as I can to my e-mails as well as work on proposals.

Incidentally, some of my previous aviation titles are TSR2 and Japanese Secret Projects. My last commission was three Fw 190 books, the definitive dedication, at £50 each. I also write some of the magazines for The Fighter Collection that come with a metal toy plane. I wrote the most recent release on the Fw 190, for example.

And if you fly FSX, Rise of Flight and IL-2 encountering CPS_Bulldog, that’s me!

Jay

Given where the thread’s got to, and not to dismiss Mr C’s input, rather than any more bald publisher* recommendations, let’s have suggestions with background – it could be good experiences (such as prompt, pro-active responses like Jay’s) bad (if repeatable!) or even publishers you rate because…

*I know what I meant, and have my own hair.

I can thoroughly recommend MMP in that case – I was a first-time writer when I first approached James, and am very happy with my relationship with the publisher. The whole outfit is very supportive, encouraging and helpful in practical terms also, and work with the author on photos, illustrations, proofing and editing etc. I also found that once word got out that the publisher was preparing a book on the subject, sources came forward with more information making the research easier and more comprehensive.

You don’t have to hang around wondering if communications have vanished into the ether and I was delighted with the book.

MMP titles tend to get universally good reviews from the aviation and modelling press as well, so it’s not just my opinion.