For Andy Bush & Badboy, an idea?

[Yosus]

Andy and Badboy, it appears to me that you have a great product that would be snapped up by combat flight-simmers if they could.

You mentioned that the only thing stopping you was the lack of a publisher, and I understand that the material is for the most part complete.

If this is the case, have you considered electronic distribution of your book?

I do not presume for a second that what I write here is a new concept or that you haven't already considered it. I am hopeful however, for my own selfish reasons, that you will consider it to be viable now.

I'm not sure if anyone is familiar with the "Software Angels" topic aired some time ago at Combatsim.com, but I think the consensus was that bypassing the middle-man (including  a third party publisher) and buying direct from the producer is now a viable and economically sound option, given the popularity of the Internet.

I also believe this to be true.

Therefore, why not complete the layout and design of your book, and make it available as a postcript (pdf) file, and charge us what you think is a fair price for it.

This way, revenue collected will be mostly profit.

People will have the option to pay via credit card and download the file, or for a nominal fee, order the book on a cdrom, which you would then post to the buyer.

Issues with this format being open to abuse and the infringement of your copyright is largely a non issue as far as the general flight simming community is concerned. It appears to be rare that a flight-simmer will risk the reproach of their community by disseminating illegal material.

Another positive, is that you don't have to be limited by a cost vs. demand scenario to limit the number of hard-copy books you (and your publisher) would have to pay for during the initial print run.

Many thanks for listening   .

Cheers
Yosus.

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'One day, flight simulation will be so realistic, that you'll need to wear brown corduroy'
Phoenix Squadron.

[This message has been edited by Yosus (edited 07-29-2000).]

[jihad]

 Andy Bush said:

 

We've tried a thousand ways to get a 'how to' book for flight sims written but have yet to find a commercially successful means. No publisher to date wants any part of such a book.

 I have been employed in commercial printing for 15 years and have contacts with printers,binders,graphic finishers,and a small publishing house in the Tulsa area.

 I`m confident that a solution can be found.    If you want to discuss this e-mail jihaad@hushmail.com.


 

[easymo]

 Ol, docdoom did it, I think. You might try posting a ? on WW2OL.

[Jekyll]

Get in contact with Burbank, the publisher of 'Warbirds - The Story so Far'.

You can reach him on ICQ 16435716 or at http://www.senet.com.au/~mhyde/burbanks_books.htm

Good luck  

[Yosus]

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde??  

You know promoting an alternate identity still counts as self promotion  

Sorry, couldn't resist!

Cheers
Yosus

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'One day, flight simulation will be so realistic, that you'll need to wear brown corduroy'
Phoenix Squadron.

[This message has been edited by Yosus (edited 07-30-2000).]

[Andy Bush]

Thanks much guys!

Leon and I are going to check out these tips you gave us...we really would like to do the project and are eager to see a solution.

jihad

I'll answer your post here so that our problem can be seen by all.

Aside from the problem of payment means, copyright infringement, and all that...Leon and I ran up against a major cost hurdle. If you all are familiar with our articles, you know how much we rely on screenshots that have text and diagrams imbedded in them. In order for our pictures to be usable, they need to be quite large...much larger than what is normally seen in the typical book or sim manual.

The cost of printing a book with these size diagrams is out of sight, particularly when they are done in color. Just check out any of my recent articles...I average about one picture for every 200 words...that's a bunch of illustrations! We would have to be Bill Gates to be able to absorb the production costs!!

But, not too worry! We'll take your ideas and tips and see if we can come up with something.

Thanks again,

Andy