Tuesday 29 May 2012

To Publish or Not - a book on terrain modelling

Some time ago I was approached to see if I was interested in writing an article for a book on building terrain - wargaming terrain. I have actually produced three articles, two of which are currently being cast in resin and the third, a 15mm building is sitting on my computer desk, completely finished and looking a little forlorn, although the book idea seems to have 'hit the buffers'.

In addition there is a fourth article/model which was originally made as an experiment in seeing just how much detail I could cram into a small model - a small Pigsty in fact. However due to some comments and discussions I have started to think about producing a book of my own showing how I make wargame terrain; the inspiration, the construction and finally the painting


At this moment, I think I would like a traditional full-colour book - either hard bound or soft, similar in style and set out to many that have gone before but as new technologies come on-line there is always the option on an e-book or Web-based publication.

At this stage it is still a 'pipe-dream', but one that I hope will come to fruition.

Regular readers and followers will know that I committed to producing an article a month for Barking Irons Online and this continues. Actually there are a number written and awaiting publication, I am sure that Craig is on the case.

This is not an attempt to get-rich-quick, but more an attempt to pass on some of my hints and tips in a more traditional format, and if I'm honest to see my name in print. As things stand at this moment I am still modelling and writing - I just want to see ALL of my articles in a format that is a little more tactile than just the Web.

So, what do you think? Is there really a marked for such a publication? Or am I just being foolish?

Comments as always are very welcome and should anything change, I will of course post details here.

Tony


6 comments:

Karitas said...

Have you considered a smaller scale ePub book as a way to drum up both interest and finances for a larger actual print run?

It's something I've thought about for many things, hobby and work related..

You notice.. "thought about". Sadly I have yet to find the time to commit anything to PDF.

Varangian said...

I like the idea, I really enjoy your terrain articles.

Something I WOULD like to see is a handful or articles that take one basic shape and do different builds from it to show how flexible things can be.

I have to admit, I'd likely be more interested in an e-book format. I use my tablet as a reader constantly, and it helps me keep my space a bit more organized.

Andyroo said...

I for one would go for this - there are very few books on wargames terrain but lots on train.

ePub would be a great idea (Lulu / Blurb for example).

Lasgunpacker said...

yes, a book would be of interest, and with desktop publishing the way it is, fairly easy to assemble on your own too, if you wanted to do more of a POD sort of way.

phf said...

You could try something via Blurb.com or Lulu where you set you price and the books are printed on demand.

Ubique Matt said...

Seeing your own work published (even if it is digital) will always give you a buzz.

I'm not sure there's a decent market for 'real' modelling books as a lot of people expect something for nothing especially on the web nowadays. But I did enjoy looking through a Stan Catchpole modelling manual recently (must have been over twenty years old). A quality book will still hold intrinsic value for years.

Good luck with the book, I might even buy a copy ;)