|
|
Classic Travel Books |
|
|
The Classic “John Murray” Travel Collection
Website designed by Basha O'Reilly
|
Here are some questions and answers about how our 21st century Print on Demand publishing process might help put your out-of-print books back into the hands of your readers.
How long will it take to set up a book? Typically four to six weeks. This depends on several factors, including whether you deliver the book to us as an electronic attachment or an actual book. A manuscript delivered electronically can be turned into a book faster than a hard-copy version. What you need to realize is that the days of dealing with traditional publishers who drag their feet through the publishing process are over. We view publishing as a literary service, not a toilsome 9 to 5 job. Consequently, you won’t be subjected to a tedious one-year wait before you see your book in print.
Can you give me an example of this new process? Here are two recent cases. Robin Hanbury-Tenison sent us the manuscript of his unpublished autobiography, “Worlds Within,” as an email attachment. He was holding his new book in his hands ten days later! That ten-day work period included the time it took for the proof copy to cross the Atlantic via traditional mailing methods. Glynn Christian sent us one of the few remaining copies of his former best-selling book about the “Mutiny on the Bounty.” Glynn not only asked us to republish his out of print book, he needed the new edition to be ready in time for a global Bounty convention one month later. We had the new book republished, shipped, and on display for the assembled historians in less than thirty days.
How would an author be paid royalties? Because we are ruled by our passion for books, not by the Accounts Department, we offer our authors 10% of the list price.
How often do authors get paid? Every six months.
How many books can an author put back into print? As many as he or she would like.
Will there be a contract? Yes. Because we are authors ourselves, we are extremely sensitive to the needs of our fellow writers. That is why we consulted the Society of Authors when drafting the contract. If you have queries about the terms we are offering, or need guidance on ensuring that the original contract for your book has been properly terminated, Kate Pool at the Society of Authors would be happy to advise. What about
copyright? Will I be able to order copies of my own book? Yes. Authors can order as many copies as they wish at the wholesale price (50% of the list price).
What will be the list price of my book? This depends on the number of pages, but most books have a list price between £11 and £15.
How long will my book stay in print? Because your book is now stored in a computer, not a warehouse, it will stay in print forever. This means that your heirs will profit for years to come. A book will now work for generations, not for one or two sales cycles.
Where will my book be printed? Because we have adapted to a borderless world, our books are stored in computers in the USA and Britain. An order from North or South America will be printed in the USA, an order from anywhere else in the world will be printed in Britain.
How does the Print on Demand (POD) process work? Your out-of-print book is posted to The Long Riders’ Guild Press. The original cover is removed and the interior of the book is forwarded to our printers. The printers scan the book, page by page, into a giant IBM computer. We design a new cover, which is also scanned in. A proof copy of the new book is sent to The Long Riders’ Guild Press for approval. We then send it to you for final approval. This new edition is now electronically stored in the IBM computer, ready to be sold. Wholesalers on both sides of the Atlantic are informed that this book is in print and they add it to their list of available titles. The book is then listed on various Internet bookshops. Readers can now order the previously out-of-print book at any time of the day or night, 365 days of the year, from any part of the world, via the Internet. Plus, they can still order it via their local bookshop or request an autographed copy directly from you. Regardless of which method is used, when a copy is ordered the new book is printed in less than five minutes and shipped directly to the customer. More than ten million books have been printed using this process, and the computers in the USA and Britain currently store nearly a quarter of a million titles.
What about copyright? We will ask for a statement from you confirming that you hold the copyright to your work, and indemnifying us from any litigation. If you are not sure, you should ask the original publisher to confirm that the copyright has reverted to you.
Am I restricted to English? What if my book was translated into another language, can I republish that title too? While the majority of our titles will be in English, our system allows you to reproduce a book in any language and typeface. We can just as easily reproduce your original book in English, then republish a later edition of the same book which appeared in Mandarin, Tagalog or Arabic. Our goal is to offer our readers a totally international literary experience, one which is not limited to English alone.
What will the cover look like? Because the titles appearing in the Classic Travel Books series will be part of the world’s largest collection, the covers of the books will share a similar format. However the cover illustration of the book will be subject to each author’s approval. Here again, we are trying to provide you with a book you are proud of, not one which pleases only us. Each book is printed on acid-free archival paper.
What about updating this new edition? No problem. Thanks to this remarkable innovation in publishing we can make adjustments to your new book as and when you wish. The titles in the CTB Collection are stored electronically. Therefore we can correct an editing error, change a geographical reference which is no longer relevant, add an appendix, remove a name, anything you like. This does not apply to books sent to us as hard-copy, which cannot be changed. We can, however add an appendix or a map at the beginning or end of this new edition.
Does this mean that you will be soliciting manuscripts from previously unpublished travel authors? No. Our literary emphasis will be to create a focused collection containing “classic” travel books written by acknowledged experts. While we realise there will be undiscovered artistic exceptions which might benefit from our system, our primary mission is not to serve as a front line publishing outfit. As a published travel author your artistic credentials are assured. We will only consider adding an unpublished author to the CTB collection if the writer in question is strongly recommended by one of the CTB authors.
Aren’t there other POD companies that could put my book back into print? Why become involved with the Classic Travel Books project? While we struggle to adjust to a new world where the amount of recorded information is doubling every eleven months, imagine the world of 2095 where experts predict it will double every eleven seconds. It won’t be the availability of knowledge that will soon concern us. It will be the locating process which counts. There are, for example, other new literary efforts under way. However, these companies publish anything and everything, including works by previously unpublished authors. One company proudly boasts that they have 27,000 books available. Imagine a reader trying to find your newly republished book among this plethora of titles. Consequently, access to unlimited knowledge is meaningless without an efficient way to search it. If we unlock the archive of travel wisdom, the CTB website, with its infinite shelf space, will serve as the focus point for travel readers. This new economic model demonstrates that the more they find, the more often readers will return. Such readers are not looking for the lowest common denominator. They’re searching for Classics written by trusted authors. Popularity no longer has a lock on profitability.
Anything else? Yes. We proudly tell our readers that “not a twig is wasted.” That is because our POD system is so environmentally friendly. Because every title is printed as and when it is needed, every Classic Travel Book is a wanted book. There are never too many, yet we never run out of stock. You’re not just helping your readers using this method, you’re helping the planet too. |
|
