Scott Michael's Book - Puffers, Triggers, and Surgeonfish

[skh]

Does anyone have any information about when we can expect Scott Michael's book on Puffers, Triggers, and Surgeonfish (aka Reef Fishes Vol. 8)? I know it's the last in his lineup and there are still a few other volumes that haven't been released yet. There's no information about an ETA on the publisher's website.

http://en.microcosmaquariumexplorer.com/wiki/Reef_Fishes_Volume_8

 

[gofor100]

Seriously... I thought those books were going to be released a year apart from each other, but it has ended up spanning (seemingly) over a decade.

I guess good things take time...

 

[Wolverine]

Unfortunately, last I heard, it had become an "if" question, not a "when" question based on lack of publisher interest. Scott had everything he needed done to print the whole series when we still lived in NE, so that's over 8 years ago.

 

[el aguila]

Unfortunately, last I heard, it had become an "if" question, not a "when" question based on lack of publisher interest. Scott had everything he needed done to print the whole series when we still lived in NE, so that's over 8 years ago.

And the thing is this would probably be one of the more popular books.

 

[gofor100]

That would suck... we should all guarantee that we will buy the book when it comes out so a publisher will see the "value" in publishing the book.

Dolla', dolla' bills y'all...

 

[scchase]

I would kill for the remainder of this series aggggg driving me nuts.

 

[Wolverine]

That would suck... we should all guarantee that we will buy the book when it comes out so a publisher will see the "value" in publishing the book.

Talk to the publisher.
The other thing to remember is that they will (if they do) release volumes 6 (Blennies and Dragonets) and 7 (Gobies and Dartfish) before this one comes out.

As an aside, the reasoning for the order was explained in the first book, so don't complain to me about it.

 

[skh]

That sucks. Are there any other good books on Surgeonfish care? I've looked on Amazon and haven't seen any.

 

[Elysia]

I'm ready to beat somebody silly for a good book on gobies. Somebody want to point me in the direction of the publisher's house?

Anyone know if "print on demand" can provide decent graphics quality?

I have all 5 hardbound editions so far, purchased new, and I read them cover to cover (again and again.) The final three of the series, along with a new edition of Borneman's book {I have no idea if he is working on one or not} are on my wish list for the hobby. With as expensive as this hobby is... good information likely gives you the best return on your investment.

 

[treylane]

Seems that a lot of hobby books should probably start looking at print-on-demand / direct-fulfillment model, I'm pretty bummed about having to shell out $200 for out-of-print coral books because the old publishing models don't work well for niche markets.

 

[JHemdal]

treylane,

I've looked into that, and actually wrote a POD book back in 2001 (Aquarium Careers). That was obviously a niche title - I think it sold around 2000 copies. The royalties came out to be less than 10 cents per word - I can't afford to do that again.

Although I haven't spoken with Scott or James about that series, my guess is that the one-two punch of the poor economy and what may well be the "death" of hardcover books due to market changes, have made all publishers skittish. In early 2008, I had an editor working with me to develop a massive, multi-author marine book - and then the publisher killed it, citing lack of market acceptance for expensive books.

Another publisher is not accepting new aquarium titles - they are still bringing out "new" books by translating European books into English.

Jay

 

[LargeAngels]

I wonder how well it would have gone had they stuck to the original number of books.

 

[jimroth]

Let's start a letter-writing campaingn to TFH/Microcosm. I refuse to be treated this way. I have already shelled out a couple hundred bucks for the series so far, and they don't think they can sell the volume on TANGS? Come on! Maybe if enough people put down a deposit. I think there's a way you can show interest on Amazon, too, if they set up the page for item and everybody asks to be notified when it comes out.

 

[treylane]

2001 and 2010 (almost 2011) may prove to be different situations. More reefers are using the internet now, so there are more marketing opportunities available to small self-publishers. I'm not saying I have the answer, but when the choice is whether to bury useful information under the mattress because publishing companies are dying, or fighting to find a way to make a living by disseminating it, I hope authors are fighting.

There's room to provide information online, AND still sell the information in a physical book - many of us use both the AIMS coral website, AND the corals-of-the-world books since each format has some benefits over the other.

 

[MammothReefer]

I've gotta agree with treylane here. The internet in 2001 was a very different world the internet now. Things like Kindel, Ipad, ect have really changed things around leaps and bounds in terms of online book sales. With that said, between 2001, and 2010 the population of north America that is online increased from 50% to 77.3%, and the % of people that are willing to purchase items online has almost tripled since 2001.

This graph is just for amazon..but should give you a good indication of the differences between ('98) '01, and '09

 

[Elysia]

Jay -- I have nothing to base your royalities-per-word figure to. Can you give us an idea of what a typical hobbyist book may have made on a typical physical book published a few years ago using that royalities-per-word figure?

 

[JHemdal]

Elysia,

There are two primary manuscript purchasing methods, royalty based and work for hire. Aquarium books are most often works for hire - you are paid by the word. I generally pass on those that pay less than 12 cents / word. 10 cents is what they paid authors back in the 1950s! Most books run 20 to 45k words. Royalty-based projects are much rarer, I've only done two. There are all sorts of caveats with them - e-sales, overseas sales, etc., that cut into the percentage, but it is usually 12 to 15% for full price book sales (of the wholesale price, NOT the retail).

Bottom line - things have really changed Herbert Axelrod wrote his first basic aquarium book in the 1950's and bought a HOUSE with his earnings. I wrote a book on fish breeding in 2003 that was just as long, and I bought a CAMERA with the proceeds (grin).

That said, you also get paid for images used - and Scott would make much more money for his images than for the text. The problem is, this makes the books VERY expensive for the publisher....they prefer to use stock photos to illustrate books to save on costs.


Jay

 

[Elysia]

Thanks Jay, that helps to put the whole thing into perspective. I just needed some sort of measuring stick...

I worked in a library cataloging physical books, so I know that the actual object probably means more to me than to most people - I love my books. I hope that Scott is able to find someone willing to publish his work, as they are a great reference {not that Axelrod's works aren't, but things have changed somewhat since many of his books were published.}