The American Civil War Diaries (3 Viewers)

OzDigger · Aug 9, 2010

aujj65 said:
I agree Rob, all Bob has to do is get his arse into gear and get this thread published as a book!

Jeff

I understand the publishing company Louis and Kevin used for the K & C book is not to expensive.

Louis Badolato · Aug 9, 2010

OzDigger said:
I understand the publishing company Louis and Kevin used for the K & C book is not to expensive.

It is not expensive at all to use, but because of this it drives up the purchase price of the book. If we could have found a traditional publisher willing to lay out the expense and print 500 or 1000 copies of each volume of the K&C book, it would have retailled for around $50. Using Blurb's publishing on demand, each volume of the book retails for around $120.

Spitfrnd · Aug 9, 2010

Warrior said:
Yet another terrific battle scene Bob, a job well done as always.

Love these Civil War threads as they usually lead to a debate over who was right/wrong/good/evil regarding the US Civil War.

Sad to say here we are almost 150 years after the war ended but for some, the war continues.........

I think that is inevitable for those of us from the separate regions. No matter which side you are on, you must concede the complexity of the causes and a lament for the horrendous loss and suffering. That said, I am happy to see this thread does not suffer that distraction; any who tried would I suspect, be quickly reminded to find another thread.

UKReb · Aug 9, 2010

aujj65 said:
I agree Rob, all Bob has to do is get his arse into gear and get this thread published as a book!

Jeff

Guys

Many thanks for all of your appreciative comments and Jeff I have got off my arse and enquired on the possibility of getting some of these pictures and texts published. I freelance for a number of magazines-writing articles/reviews etc and through this have a number of good contacts with various publishing houses. All have expressed an interest in what they described as a "unique" way of illustrating by using metal miniatures a "foreign" conflict. And there lies the crux-Foreign! as it's not a British war would it generate enough sales to make it worthwhile? Answer is simply no-it wouldn't-but no doubt they said it would/should generate more interest in the USA. However, as Louis and Kevin have told me it's far from cheap or easy to achieve especially printing a book with predominantly so many color plates.

But thanks again for all of your continued support on this continuing saga of mine-but at the moment the book idea is definitely and unfortunately a non-starter

Bob

Spitfrnd · Aug 9, 2010

UKReb said:
Guys

Many thanks for all of your appreciative comments and Jeff I have got off my arse and enquired on the possibility of getting some of these pictures and texts published. I freelance for a number of magazines-writing articles/reviews etc and through this have a number of good contacts with various publishing houses. All have expressed an interest in what they described as a "unique" way of illustrating by using metal miniatures a "foreign" conflict. And there lies the crux-Foreign! as it's not a British war would it generate enough sales to make it worthwhile? Answer is simply no-it wouldn't-but no doubt they said it would/should generate more interest in the USA. However, as Louis and Kevin have told me it's far from cheap or easy to achieve especially printing a book with predominantly so many color plates.

But thanks again for all of your continued support on this continuing saga of mine-but at the moment the book idea is definitely and unfortunately a non-starter

Bob

That is a pity Bob. What about a PDF version which you could put together yourself? I know I would love to be able to just go through your text and photos, especially in the expanded scale you could do with PDF, without the "distraction" and page skipping required to read them here.

Spitfrnd · Aug 10, 2010

Actually, now that I think about it. You could do the whole thing in Word as well and still have page sized photos that could even be blown up to actual size on screen. How about it Bob??????

OzDigger · Aug 13, 2010

Bob, I reckon you should reconsider this book idea. As I said I'm not really into the ACW but I never fail to check out your Diodramas. I have seen dioramas in the Australian War Museum and hundreds of dioramas on the internet, and I have never seen anyone replicate trees and forests as well as you.

Please again check out the Blurb publishing option that Louis and Kevin used, I'm sure plenty of people would put their dollars down to secure one of your books: http://www.blurb.com/

UKReb said:
Guys

Many thanks for all of your appreciative comments and Jeff I have got off my arse and enquired on the possibility of getting some of these pictures and texts published. I freelance for a number of magazines-writing articles/reviews etc and through this have a number of good contacts with various publishing houses. All have expressed an interest in what they described as a "unique" way of illustrating by using metal miniatures a "foreign" conflict. And there lies the crux-Foreign! as it's not a British war would it generate enough sales to make it worthwhile? Answer is simply no-it wouldn't-but no doubt they said it would/should generate more interest in the USA. However, as Louis and Kevin have told me it's far from cheap or easy to achieve especially printing a book with predominantly so many color plates.

But thanks again for all of your continued support on this continuing saga of mine-but at the moment the book idea is definitely and unfortunately a non-starter

Bob

Nooooo9 · Aug 13, 2010

I always enjoy looking at your dioramas and I would like to see a book, but I think that it could only be marketed to a small subset of a Niche Business. People who like photo books who also like toy soldiers who also collect the American Civil War. It might be a great book but it won't make any money. When Anthony Mingella directed the film version of Charles Frazier's book "Cold Mountain", I think he realized the limited appeal of a story involving a conflict that isn't well known outside the US. He hired famous actors from the UK and Australia to widen the interest in the movie. So, unless you can get Jude Law and Nicole Kidman; I'd think long and hard before you put any money in a book project.

thebritfarmer · Aug 13, 2010

OzDigger said:
I understand the publishing company Louis and Kevin used for the K & C book is not to expensive.

Does the person buying the book not pay for the publishing? It is done on an individual order basis. So there is no cost to the person who has written the book and he would make a small profit for each book sold.

OzDigger · Aug 13, 2010

thebritfarmer said:
Does the person buying the book not pay for the publishing? It is done on an individual order basis. So there is no cost to the person who has written the book and he would make a small profit for each book sold.

You would have to ask Louis for the details, but that is as I understand it, user pays, It's not so bad really

6th Wisconsin · Aug 13, 2010

Nooooo9 said:
I always enjoy looking at your dioramas and I would like to see a book, but I think that it could only be marketed to a small subset of a Niche Business. People who like photo books who also like toy soldiers who also collect the American Civil War. It might be a great book but it won't make any money. When Anthony Mingella directed the film version of Charles Frazier's book "Cold Mountain", I think he realized the limited appeal of a story involving a conflict that isn't well known outside the US. He hired famous actors from the UK and Australia to widen the interest in the movie. So, unless you can get Jude Law and Nicole Kidman; I'd think long and hard before you put any money in a book project.

There is some chance of reenactors being interested in the book too, I guess, but on the whole I agree with you. These photos are wonderful enough though to make a very fine website of their own. Then again, I bet Reb could create a believable Jude Law and Nicole Kidman for his scenes if he chose.

OzDigger · Aug 14, 2010

Nooooo9 said:
I always enjoy looking at your dioramas and I would like to see a book, but I think that it could only be marketed to a small subset of a Niche Business. People who like photo books who also like toy soldiers who also collect the American Civil War. It might be a great book but it won't make any money. When Anthony Mingella directed the film version of Charles Frazier's book "Cold Mountain", I think he realized the limited appeal of a story involving a conflict that isn't well known outside the US. He hired famous actors from the UK and Australia to widen the interest in the movie. So, unless you can get Jude Law and Nicole Kidman; I'd think long and hard before you put any money in a book project.

I doubt that monetary gain is the main concern for people that use publishers like Blurb publishing.

Louis Badolato · Aug 14, 2010

OzDigger said:
I doubt that monetary gain is the main concern for people that use publishers like Blurb publishing.

We still haven't even covered Kevin's travel expenses to do the photography for the two K&C Volumes.

VanguardFC007 · Aug 23, 2010

Finally back online after a summer of drum corps, for those who know what that is (and for those who dont, marching band on steroids). Definitely a pleasure to come back and see your fantastic pictures are still telling a great story Reb.

Spitfrnd · Nov 16, 2010

Re: The American Civil War Diaries - WHERE IS REB?

Has anyone noticed anything seriously wrong on the forums lately? Well with all the Facebook style chit chat we seem to be missing one of the forums best features. So the question is where is our highly talented British master of American history and what can we do to lure him out of his long absense from these marvelous vignettes? I don't know about the rest of you but I have re-read this thread a couple of times now and it never ceases to amuse and educate me. I just wish I had 1/10 of Bob's considerable talent and a larger percentage of his troop size for my chosen period of focus. Maybe if can keep this thread on the front page for a while with our humble requests for his next chapter he will bless us with some more light and magic.

Rob · Nov 16, 2010