BOOK REVIEWS STAND TO!

[David Filsell]

I have - effective from tomorrow - been appointed Book Reviews Editor for Stand To!.

I thought that it would be of interest to forumistas having any new books published, including self publishedon any Great War topic, to know.

If you would care to message me I will be happy to provide postal details.

Regards

David

[John_Hartley]

David

 

Am I right in thinking that Pen & Sword automatically forwards a review copy of new books to the WFA?

 

John

[barkalotloudly]

Bob Wyatt ok?

[ss002d6252]

3 hours ago, David Filsell said:

I have - effective from tomorrow - been appointed Book Reviews Editor for Stand To!.

I thought that it would be of interest to forumistas having any new books published, including self publishedon any Great War topic, to know.

If you would care to message me I will be happy to provide postal details.

Regards

David

Do the WFA charge any fees for the book reviews being entered, David ?

Craig

[healdav]

Are you planning to start reviewing books only available on the likes of Kindle?

 

[Bernard_Lewis]

Congratulations!

Bernard

 

[David Filsell]

 Thanks for the response and the congrats. Appreciated.

In reply:

1  All publishers who send books for review have been informed of the change - including P&S.  I have contacted some already but a raft of letters will be going out to relevant publishers with a copy of the magazine and underlining that for WW1 books we are about the only people in the field with specific interest in WW1 books and will actually review. It's generally people of the Falkland Max ilk that get into the nationals  and we have some 6,000 members and more readers.. 

2 Bob is well, but not getting any younger. He has stood down after no less than 25 years in post but  will continue writing some reviews I'm glad to say.

3 There is no charge - we are simply pleased to receive books for review. get them.

4 Not given any thought to Kindle - and not normally advised when they become available, but I think we could and perhaps should note it if advised on publication.

 

In addition -  happy to consider any books submitted (or indeed reviews) to me for editorial consideration. An ST House Style guide is available for  potential reviewers. Average review is 750 words but knowledge ( real knowledge ) and expertise and the ability to write good fair copy, is essential. Message me if you are interested The ability to write good tight copy is an other essential..

 

ST also intends to continue the y campaign about the ludicrous prices charged by (most) academic publishers. My view is simple - if Helion can produce favourably priced books for Wolverhampton University , why can't the others. I can't even get a response from there marketing departments when I ask them the why's. But, of course, they have an academic, pay anything, market which they depend on. Nevertheless it's sad, strange and foolish. publishing - a whiff of arrogance about it too..

Regards

 and thanks for the responses

David

Edited 1 March , 2017 by David Filsell

[Dust Jacket Collector]

Just as an aside, as an ex-scientist, the real scandal with academic publishers is the price they charge libraries for journal subscriptions. These can be truly eye-watering, often running to many thousands of pounds per year.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Just as an aside, as an ex-scientist, the real scandal with academic publishers is the price they charge libraries for journal subscriptions. These can be truly eye-watering, often running to many thousands of pounds per year.

 

    It is a function of the market- Libraries spend on books and journals- but it is easier to cut back when needed by not buying books- a journal run,when broken, may never be replaced. Thus,many libraries found their spending slewed as journals mushroomed over the years. A captive market.And a lucrative one. The late Frank Cass told me once (he published 30-odd journals) that the income from his longest established journal (Peasant Studies) was more than that of all his books,new and backlist, put together.

     Electronic publishing has extended the range of stuff held by libraries- as the main publishers (Cambridge,Oxford, Taylor and Francis,etc) do electronic subscritions to  large packages. Beyond you or I !!

    Academic books are getting more expensive- there have been amalgamations and the market is effetively a cartel. There are shorter print-runs of the initial paper editions- followed by "Print-On-Demand" copies thereafter- a Kindle edition can stay live forever. 

     Pen and Sword do large print-runs- Often,they build in to their print-run, special offers, discounts,sale and remainder.

[Gibbo]

An article from the Guardian by an anonymous academic about the pricing of academic books. At least one publisher finds academics from their university's websites and invites them to write books on subjects of their choice. It is able to sell 300 copies at £80 each to university libraries and is aiming to publish 75 such tomes per annum PER commissioning editor.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2015/sep/04/academics-are-being-hoodwinked-into-writing-books-nobody-can-buy

 

The publisher appears to be exploiting a system that requires academics to publish books and academic libraries to buy them.

 

Does Helion automatically send books to Stand To! for review? If not, I'll send you a copy of mine, which is due out very soon.

 

http://www.helion.co.uk/published-by-helion/the-wolverhampton-military-studies-series/books-in-series/britain-s-quest-for-oil-the-first-world-war-and-the-peace-conferences.html

[Guest]

Gibbo- Good luck with your new book.  As to academic publications,well, you soon get to know which publishers are worthwhile and which are not. Real publishing is a proper old business-  anonymous readers writing reports for the publishers-Proper editing and proof reading. The fly-by-nights come and go- all the usual symbols- poor paper, large print, large margins, poor quality board covers. Cover prices that are bonkers. 

    Of course, good reviewers will often express a view as to whether the physical book represents value for money - the good reviewer will know what similar publications should command price-wise. I am sure David Filsell already has this listed as a criterion for comment by his reviewers.

   

[barkalotloudly]

thanks for that, Bob Wyatt an absolute gentleman! now there`s` a book collection! all the very best in this role {i always used to try and buy the very small privately produced booklets that were listed}  

[David Filsell]

Helion does  supply ST and since I have reviewed most of their books for the magazine recently I think of their military books  and authors highly. It's strange thar Helion, which publishes Wolverhampton University, 'academic' military titles of high quality, gets its prices right. Actually academic books are simply badly and lazily marketed because of the 'must have' sales to other institutions. But then when were the groves of academia ever part of the real world?

[Guest]

  It's not quite that bad on the part of the academic publishers. Pen and Sword in particular publish what are known as "trade books"- generalist,perhaps semi-specialist but done in largish print-runs- say, 2000 plus. Modern novels, travel books,etc are trade books- the stuff you would normally find in a local Waterstones. But Waterstones terms are such that academic publishers will not supply (Very large trade discount, long credit time to pay-and "sale or return").Thus you rarely see the heavier academic books in a local bookshop like Waterstones. Oxford and Cambridge do produce some very good "trade" books -up to their usual high printing standards (eg "Imperial Apocalypse"-in front of me as I write). Some publishers produce very,very good semi-generalist scholarly books at a reasonable price-Yale is the outstanding example. But the demands for discount by Waterstones et al dictate realistically what you see on the shelves of a local bookshop.

    Academic purchasers tend to go through established library suppliers. Most academic publishers are not lazy-their editorial teams and reps. work hard.  Alas, the middlemen control the market- Amazon,Abe,Waterstones et al -and their bite of the apple is consierable

 

[IRC Kevin]

12 hours ago, David Filsell said:

 I have contacted some already but a raft of letters will be going out to relevant publishers with a copy of the magazine and underlining that for WW1 books we are about the only people in the field with specific interest in WW1 books and will actually review. It's generally people of the Falkland Max ilk that get into the nationals  and we have some 6,000 members and more readers.. 

 

 

Have you included Fonthill Media among the publishers you've contacted, David?

[David Filsell]

Guest,

Not with you quite on this. Long talk to Oxford University Press yesterday who price sensibly works on military history, broadly in line with Pen & Sword. My contact there agreed with my view that arogance,  comfortable levels of academic sales and lack of genuine marketing nouse were the problem. A number of Canadian and US unis publish books at more sensible prices - not least McGill  who also sell direct, I assume because of the big book sellers demands. But I say again if Wolverhampton can produce and sell through  Helion an sensible prices why cannot the others.

[Guest]

DF- good you found the Press friendly and helpful- OUP is decidedly pro-book, pro-reader -even pro-bookseller. As well as being a smart commercial publisher. It subsidises some of it's more arcane publications from it's educational and professional lists-but the Press has different departments and different criteria for publication, print-run, cover price and trade discount  (And on some of its more arcne title-it sends out more review copies than it sells)

   Many American presses are  funded by their universities- either by endowments-way ahead of the UK-or by the income from land grants when they were founded. Many small university presses across the States  have only to recover their printing and distribution costs -and staff (though not always) which makes a helluva difference-and,of course, their home market is 5 times that of the UK-so economies of scale prevail.

    As to academic publishers reducing their price to that comparable to Helion, Pen and Sword-well, let's reverse the question - Look at what OUP charges for Strachan-First World War/Call to Arms and Pen and Sword seems expensive

   But Good luck to your new role- Personally, I would like to see the smaller publications plugged a bit more- often those where an individual has effectively published stuff themselves- the cost of review copies then becomes a burden, so some items slip through because the individual cannot bear the cost-I am thinking here of a small regimental memoir  printed up by a family descendant I know a couple of years back- Small run copies were expensive, so he deposited some in libraries but did not do a bigger print-run and seek either publicity or review.

Edited 2 March , 2017 by Guest

[John_Hartley]

When I was researching my food book (Bully Beef & Biscuits - Pen & Sword), I was aware of what I expected to be a similar publication published  by Manchester UNiversity Press. But, at eighty quid, it was impossible to justify spending that sort of money "on spec". It's recently become available, in paperback,  at a much reasonable eighteen quid.

[David Filsell]

Mr V

I agree, space is tight in Stand To. Plan is for smaller and localised books -  village, town,  memorial related et all - to be run in the Bulletin,  the WFA, "parish magazine" which carries branch news to give them more room to breath than against major publications.we certainly want to give them exposure, but to do so we need review copies. Hence my starting this thread.

regards

David

[Guest]

JH- Could this possibly be : 

The Stomach for Fighting: Food and the Soldiers of the Great War

   From experience, unless sold out, Manchester University Press  sell off after c.2 years or so. Leading places to look are the 2 main academic mail order booksellers- Postscript (aka Sandpiper on ABE) and Academic Book Collection, (ABC) which does not as yet do ABE (or anyone else). They are the main purchasers of offer lists from MUP in this country. But I epect you know this already!!

   Hardback should come your way in time at a sensible price. MUP usually cannot afford to hold stocks indefinitely - regular sell-offs have been part of their make up for all of the time I was in bookselling.

Edited 2 March , 2017 by Guest

[David Filsell]

Kevin,

Apologies missed replying. I will check out Fonthill Media,

. Thank you.

David

[IRC Kevin]

33 minutes ago, David Filsell said:

Kevin,

Apologies missed replying. I will check out Fonthill Media,

. Thank you.

David

 

Should be sorted, David. That was the contact we discussed via P.M. I've forwarded details to Jay, suggesting they send you review copies of all their Great War books.

[John_Hartley]

That's the one.