Publishing

[Will]

Corso di Apnea
Does anyone know of any publishing houses (either UK or US based) that may be partial to the topic of freediving?
I have been working with Umberto Pelizzari to create an English version of Corso di Apnea, a freediving manual that sold 15,000 copies in Italy alone. The UK publishers I have approached have been hesitant, as freediving isn’t so big a deal to them. Since this book will be used as a course manual for the imminent Apnea Academy International, I would be interested to know who published the course manuals for PADI (or other diving institutions)?
Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[samdive]

Hi
FYI PADI publish all their own training materials, which I imagine is the best way to go. Sure there would be sales though, we have recently written the course outlines for AIDA in the UK and I'm being inundated for requests for a manual... oh for the time to write one!


Sam

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Will -

15,000 copies is impressive, but over what time frame is that?

When trying to secure a UK publisher - is this for all english speaking countries or are you going to try and secure a publisher for each country?

Do you have estimates on how many you think you could sell?

Have you thought about just publishing the book in Italy and then shipping to whoever orders one?

 

[Jon]

What about just publishing it on a CD for now so we can buy it?

The owner's manual that came with my digital camera was on disk and I just took it to the local Kinko's to have them print it out for me- about $27.

If you look at the GUE website, a tech diving orginization, they have books for sale that come on CD, or you can download. I have their Cave diving and Tech Diver-1 books on my computer right now.

This avoids the expense of paper copies, while still being able to make money by selling the information. This would also negate the need to pay for thousands of copies up front, until you know what the market will be.

I'd be up for a copy if it were in English, no matter what format it came in.

Jon

 

[SThompson]

I think Jon's idea would be absolutely fantastic! CD's are cheap and easy to burn, and if you put the book in a pdf format it would make it more difficult for people to cut-and-paste.

The problem with publishers is that you have to be able to demonstrate the market for the book before they are willing to invest much (if anything) in a print run. If it was a romance novel with freediving in it you might have a better chance. :t While there are print-on-demand services they have a tendancy to be expensive to the end buyer and the writer gets very little profit (typical in this arrangement, really).

The most cost effective way would be to produce it in an electronic format. Cheaper to make, cheaper to ship, more profit to the author and more incentive to write more books like it!
The second choice would be to do as Stephen suggested and print them individually and bind them either yourself or at Kinko's, UPS Store, etc. Binding machines are pretty cheap if you look around and don't get too fancy, which you really don't need to. The second option is good if you are afraid of copyright issues associated with e-distribution, however there are many many many examples of e-distribution being overwhelmingly helpful to small scale/new authors, especially if they give away the first chapter or two of the book. Do a google search for e-books or pm me and I will give you some good examples.

Either way, I have to agree with Jon's sentiment. Whatever format you choose to publish in, count me in for a copy!!!!

 

[Will]

Interesting ideas - I hadn't considered digital publishing, but I guess that's the way the world's going. I'll mention it to Umberto if I continue to get dead ends with publishers.
Self-publishing and self-distribution in hard-copy form is not really an option
Stephan - Corso was published in 2000, so I guess about 5,000 Italian copies a year. It has just been translated into Spanish, so it will be interesting to see how it goes there.
Hopefully the next project will be translating Profondamente (autobiography with full colour plates) - incredible stories, and more publisher-friendly.
Jon - do you have the address of the GUE website?
Many thanks for the replies, Will

 

[Jon]

Their website is just GUE.COM, but here is the link to their E-books:

http://www.gue.com/classroom/manuals.shtml

Jon

 

[cdavis]

Will,

Count me like Jon, english, any format.

Thanks


Connor

 

[Pezman]

I'd buy a copy -- seems like db would be the ultimate marketing channel

 

[CEngelbrecht]

Who has published the Italian version? Is it Mondadori (who published 'Profondamente')?

What would an Italian publisher's chances be for publishing a book in English and offering it world wide? I mean, the Internet is wide open, and so is the EU trade borders. Don't know the publishing business, I'm asking...

Chris Engelbrecht, Copenhagen

 

[CEngelbrecht]

Look for UK & US publishers with records in scuba books.

US company www.aquaquest.com seems to be specialising in underwater books.
A UK company like www.newhollandpublishers.com seems to be having a series of adventure sports books.

A quick look at www.amazon.co.uk gave some of these publishers and titles:

Aqua Quest Publications, US
- Essentials of Deeper Sport Diving
- Fireside Diver
- Deep Diving, Revised: An Advanced Guide to Physiology, Procedures and Systems

Atlantic
- Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World

Human Kinetics Europe Ltd
- Scuba Diving
- Essentials of Sea Survival

New Holland Publishers, UK
- Diving with Sharks and Other Adventure Dives
- The Diver's Handbook
- Scuba Diving: The Essential Guide to Equipment and Techniques (Adventure Sports S.)

Betterway Publications, US
- Scuba Diving Handbook: A Complete Guide to Salt and Fresh Water Diving

There are a lot more, check:
[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/279458/ref=br_bx_1_c_2_8/202-0093782-1352621"]Amazon.co.uk: Water Sports - Sports, Hobbies & Games: Books[/ame]

Hope this helps.

Chris Engelbrecht, Copenhagen

 

[Will]

Good news!

Thankyou all for the great help. I just received a very promising letter from the editor of Idelson-Gnocchi, who published Homo Delphinus (Mayol).
Cheers Chris for all the ideas - if it falls through with Idelson-Gnocchi then I will follow these up. Thanks Pezman, Connor and Jon for the support. When we have something in print we will definitely be looking at marketing it on DB.
Will

 

[Stephan Whelan]

Will - keep me informed as we'll be interested in helping to market or sell the book.

Cheers!

 

[Will]

Will do, cheers Stephan.

 

[Jon]

Can we get signed copies form Umberto when (if) they come to market?

Jon

 

[Will]

Don't see why not - I'll let you know closer to the time. There is also talk of his autobiography Profondamente coming out in English (it has just been published in French) so that would be a prime target for an autograph.

 

[Jon]

I see that the English version has arrived at the Freedive UK headquarters. They will be writing a reivew of the book and will have them for sale in the near future.

Is there anyone out there selling copies of them right now?

Jon

 

[Jon]

I found this on Amazon:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1928649270/qid=1096924383/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-8031267-0500665?v=glance&s=books"]Amazon.com: Manual of Freediving: Underwater on a Single Breath (9781928649274): Umberto Pelizzari, Stefano Tovaglieri: Books[/ame]

I also saw on there that Kirk is suppossed to have a book coming out. Anyone have any news on that?

Jon

 

[Will]

Manual of Freediving

For bulk orders (>10) you can contact Idelson-Gnocchi directly, they can send from offices in both Miami & Naples.
Write to candotti@direcway.com in either English or Italian. There is a 30% discount in orders received this way.

Otherwise Amazon should have it in stock very soon.

 

[Jon]

Looks like the books are in at Amazon. I just ordered my copy and hope to get it by the end of the month.

Jon