Getting motorsport books published

I am wondering if anyone can offer advice on having books on motorsport published (from a freelance perspective). I am aware it's a narrow field, there is almost no scope to make any money at all, and there are probably only very few publishers that will be remotely interested in even reading a manuscript, but I am still interested in one-day producing a well-researched book about some of the "lost" stories of Formula One (eg. forgotten teams, races, events, talents, etc). It would contain say 10 chapters on various topics, each one expanded on fairly comprehensively.

I have never written a book before, however I have written several fairly long articles (5,000 words plus) for motorsports websites, and have studied a few writing and journalism subjects.

Anyway, my questions:

1. Is anyone aware of anyone actually submitting a freelance manuscript on a motorsport topic and actually having had it published? Is it even possible?

2. What sort of publishers would I approach? What sort of people should I be getting in touch with?

3. Costs of publishing a book yourself? At this point in my life there is virtually no chance I have the funds to do this, but I'd still like to know about it.

4. Have you had a book published? How was your experience? Was it a worthwhile experience? Did you make anything from it?

Basically I'm keen for any feedback available - cheers.

I have made similar enquiries and have been told, several times, forget it! But I suppose it depends on your subject matter - certainly, it is not a way of making money!

Originally posted by DNQ
My questions:

1. Is anyone aware of anyone actually submitting a freelance manuscript on a motorsport topic and actually having had it published? Is it even possible? I suspect that any full manuscript submitted may not even be read if unsolicited.

2. What sort of publishers would I approach? What sort of people should I be getting in touch with? Not sure who operates in the field in Australia but a specialist motor car/racing publisher is the way to go.

3. Costs of publishing a book yourself? At this point in my life there is virtually no chance I have the funds to do this, but I'd still like to know about it. I suspect you are right with this one - i.e. too costly!

4. Have you had a book published? How was your experience? Was it a worthwhile experience? Did you make anything from it? You are not going to make a fortune that is certain! I enjoyed the experience as a whole but would suggest some precautions to take (see below).

Basically I'm keen for any feedback available - cheers.

I would suggest the following course of action:

1) Prepare an overview of the book and a sample chapter plus some photos.
2) Ring up several publishers to gauge interest.
3) Submit the overview etc to your preferred publisher and await their decision - be prepared for disappointment and having to switch to your second or even third choice!
4) Set aside more time for editing your output than actually generating the first cut!
5) Ensure you have the right to (a) buy copies of the book at a discount rate, and (b) sell them on.
6) Ensure that the final publisher's version is returned to you prior to printing for (a) final read through and possible correction, and (b) layout and format approval.

As I said above this isn't going to make you rich but it will fill you with a great deal of satisfaction once your opus is published and it has the coveted ISBN.

Best of Luck,

Steve

How about self-publishing? There's a few people who can deal with that.

It can take an age just to get an overview read, and even though I've had a some published (not all motorsport), it certainly isn't a way to make a living, but still very satisfying.

If going the self publishing route, there are loads of pitfalls, but lulu.com offers a good system.

My first effort (Around the Houses, 1980) started out a hobby, but word got around the Australian motor sports publishing world (very tiny, believe me) , and despite its - er - niche market, it got published in a smallish edition in A4 paperback format and I even got royalties eventually. About 570 dollars Australian total!

My second motor sporting effort (Fast Tracks , 1996) is still in print, and had the big advantage of me delivering camera-ready copy ex laser printer to the publisher. No typesetting or other tedious pre-publishing required, other than a cover. I'm still getting royalties.

Many years later I re-issued Around the Houses myself as a digital book - a virtual website on a disc. It cost me around $1100 Aust to have it professionally manufactured as a glass-master pressed CD-ROM, in jewel case, with inserts and with the disc label printed onto the disc. No big earner, but I did get my investment back fairly quickly.

It can be done.

With self-publishing, the big hassle (apart from spending your own money), is distribution. It's probably easier now than ever before, with modern equipment being able to print and bind books practically to order, and marketing can be done via the internet if you know what you are doing. And specialist motor book distributors are more likely to take on niche publications than the mass-market chains.

Go for it. It's very rewarding.

Q: Can I make a small fortune by publishing motorsport books?
A: Yes, if you start with a big one!






Yes, I know it's old...

Here are a couple threads on-topic:

http://forums.autosp...&threadid=78019
http://forums.autosp...&threadid=75387

(I found these with the search word "ballroom" !?!?! ... when you read these threads you'll understand.)

Self publishing seems a reasonable approach. Kurt Bilinski (www.kimini.com) self published his Kimini book on building a tube framed, mid-engined, Mini Cooper silhouette. The quality of the book is every bit as good as any publishing house softcover.

IMHO, we can't have too many motor racing books, particularly on the obscure marques, races, drivers, etc which are unlikely to be covered by the established authors. It's the spice that makes racing (at least the Nostalgia bit) so interesting.

Good luck!

If you feel the urge to do it - just go for it. Contact publishers and start a dialogue with them. Most have two heads and eat their young. As long as you are fully aware of their predatory nature at the outset the pain should be neither unexpected, nor unendurable. Really decent, really good enthusiast publishers do exist - but they are a desperately endangered species these days.

If your seed falls on stoney ground explore self publishing...there are worse ways of losing money if you have the urge to produce a book...

And the best of luck.

DCN

PS - If you want to, send me a PM. You might not get a prompt answer...but you will get one eventually.

I can say that I've had a different experience to all above, my first book was signed up as the result of a drunken email from Uni years ago - I'd not written a word of it.

Of all the 5 books I've done the toughest to get a publisher on board with was Autodrome - and it was a torment to get out (hence the 'missing' chapter). Oddly enough Autodrome was the best seller - and yes I actually have made a nice bit of money from it - BUT it took over a year from finishing the book to seeing a penny.

As some of you know I'm a bit obsessed woth 'lost' motorsport so this project certainly interests me. For me there are two types of book the ones that turgidly tell every detail, lap time, sector time, trap speed and spark plug thread - and they have a place for sure - then there are ones that try to tell a good story. For me the latter are a lot more fun to do.

1. yes this happens frequently - but its a bit pointless to get to that stage and not talk to publishers (e-mail I find is best)

2. As mentioned any specialist motoring publisher, Haynes, David Bull, Heel, Veloce etc...

3. Don't even go there, whilst its possible to make a lot more money that way - to get any reasonable amount of sales you need to get decent distribution - that simply will not happen if you self publish. We investigated that for the Autodrome sequel and its not really possible to get the quality without a huge outlay.

4. Yes. five so far - sixth is slowly developing (seems glacial at the moment). Seventh and final motorsport book for now is planned and will appear at some point if a publisher goes for it. Sort of run out of ideas in motoring at this point so am looking to do something very different indeed.

Did I make any money - yes all of them have seen some return to an extent, but enough to make it worthwhile if they were not fun to write. Autodrome predictably has made the most.
Working with publishers can be tricky - they have ideas about what to do - you have ideas too - rarely are these the same.

I find the best way to hook one up is to do a sample chapter - pics and everything. Then a full and detailed chapter plan. The hawk it around the publishers (start with the biggest and get smaller) and go with the first yes. If its all no's knock it on the head.

Perhaps you should discuss self-publication with two recent publishers of motor racing marque books in Australia.

The Nota Files - "Nuts & Bolts Press" by Rod Moore and Bruce Bloodworth

CENTAUR - The Story of eleven Australian Sports Racing Cars by John Campbell

These books had a limited market compared to the title you are proposing, so self-publication was their only option.

Originally posted by The Chasm
Perhaps you should discuss self-publication with two recent publishers of motor racing marque books in Australia.
The Nota Files - "Nuts & Bolts Press" by Rod Moore and Bruce Bloodworth
CENTAUR - The Story of eleven Australian Sports Racing Cars by John Campbell
These books had a limited market compared to the title you are proposing, so self-publication was their only option.

As indeed it was for another Australian, Mike Bennett, with his excellent self-published volume on his Lotus 12, chassis 353 IIRC, a comprehensive history of the car, in A4 format, and very nicely hard-backed IMHO, pleased to have it on my shelves.
Roger Lund.

Hi,

Have you tried the Michael Sedgwick Memorial Trust?

On the face of it, they may be able to help.

Chairman is Michael Ware.

Kind Regards


Stuart

If you have the drive, self publish. If you have the time, distribute yourself. If you have the photos it will be easier but make sure it is well illustrated and well set out. Try to get a 'name' to write the foreword or introduction.

Yes, I have done it with a partner and it was a truly rewarding experience. For us it paid off but it was always looked upon as a labour of love. If it had lost then we would have lived with it. It was that rewarding personally that we are now embarking on a new project.

Hello,

Have you tried Mercian Manuals (www.mercianmanuals.co.uk) as I am aware they are publishing books now and especially small print runs/print on demand etc....
I believe they have just finished Graham Rood's 'The Works Tigers' and last year they published 'Marquis de Portago The Legend' by Ed McDonough.

Regards.

As regards self publishing, I went to a very interesting seminar last year held by lulu.com. This is a US based company, with a UK arm, who publish on a demand basis. There were several 'real' authors of specialised books there, who thought it excellent.

Customers can order your book from the lulu site, or via Amazon and get it within 5 days. Advantage is that you have no printing costs, no wastage and Lulu take about 20% for printing. No real book shops though! Might be worth a look at www.lulu.com

Further to my earlier post about lulu, I have just looked again at their UK web site (www.lulu.com/uk) and they are now offering an ISBN facility, which means that you can get your book into real bookshops.

If it's a short run, don't worry about ISBN. The maximum any small run should consider is 3,000 and in most cases half that. Find your own printer and launch just before Christmas using forums and charitable magazine editors. Buy your book wrappers and get to the post office or whoever every day.

One other thing, try to make it hard cover with a dust cover as it'll just give it more of a feeling of quality and select your paper well too. Printing costs will surprise you pleasantly.

Got a manuscript? Publishing now a snap By CANDICE CHOI, Associated Press Writer
Wed Jan 2, 8:29 AM ET



NEW YORK - Getting a book published isn't the rarefied literary feat it once was.

New printing technologies are making published authors of legions of aspiring writers, a population that once toiled for years on tomes that might not see the light of day.

The vast majority of today's instant authors may sell only a few dozen copies of their books, but on-demand publishing is letting thousands realize the ambitions of generations of would-be writers.

On-demand publisher Lulu.com has churned out 236,000 paperbacks since it opened in 2002, and its volume of new paperbacks has risen each month this year, hitting 14,745 in November. Retail giant Amazon.com got into the game this summer, offering on-demand publishing through its CreateSpace, which was already letting filmmakers and musicians burn DVDs and CDs.

The programs are easy for just about anyone to use: Authors select basic options, including the book's size, binding style and paperback or hardcover. After the manuscript is uploaded, users go to a page where they select a font and design the book's cover. Even after a book has been printed they can fix typos for later printings.

Unlike vanity publishing, in which aspiring authors pay to have their books run on traditional presses, on-demand publishing doesn't have to cost writers a cent.

Publishers produce books only after they're ordered and paid for, which eliminates overruns and the need for warehousing. They charge for printing, or take a cut of sales, and they set up payment systems, online bookstores and Web marketing tools.

Some authors publish on-demand books in hopes of catching the eye of a major publisher. But not all writers who use on-demand publishers aspire to write the great American novel.

The system also allows small businesses to print high-end brochures, screenwriters to shop their scripts around and others to assemble wedding and other special-event books for friends and family.

"I'm just amazed I have the book in my hand," said Catherine Dyer, a 49-year-old Atlanta resident who co-authored a cookbook with her four sisters through Lulu.com. "I knew trying to get a traditional publisher would take ages. With this, I knew at the onset I could have a book in my hand."

"You Want Me To Bring a Dish?" — the sisters' 104-page cookbook — sells for $22.76. They've ordered about 100 copies to stock stores around Atlanta and are promoting the book through local signings and radio appearances.

Dyer's already brainstorming ideas for a spinoff.

"Cause I know I can get it published," she said.

The challenge for authors now is getting the word out about their work.

"It's all about the marketing and distribution. We realized early on that that was the bigger challenge," said Eileen Gittins, founder and CEO of Blurb.com, an on-demand publisher with 11,000 available self-published titles.

To help authors, Blurb automatically creates widgets that can be dragged and dropped onto other Web sites.

What makes self-publishing viable is the Internet, which gives writers instant access to audiences that share their same interests, no matter how obscure. Authors also use online communities such as blogs, MySpace.com and others to market their works.

"It used to be, if you created a book about an obscure topic, your audience was limited. Now maybe you're part of an online gardening community, and you already have an audience of 5,000 who care deeply about roses," Gittins said.

For most aspiring authors, a book deal with a major publishing house remains the ultimate dream, however.

Big companies like Random House Inc. or HarperCollins Publishers can promote authors on a national scale and get titles in major bookstores. Professional editors also polish copy in the traditional publishing world, a step that can transform a manuscript into a best-seller or perhaps a masterpiece.

"The value and cachet of being with a larger house is still something authors value," said Tina Jordan, vice president of the Association of American Publishers.

Users of Amazon.com's CreateSpace are listed the same way as literary giants online. Keyword searches will pull up self-published books along with those of Grisham, Shakespeare, Hemingway or Rowling.

The writers are willing to live with drawbacks that would drive a purist crazy. Printing quality can vary, with images possibly emerging denser or brighter in some copies. Some in the industry say the quality of on-demand publishing has improved greatly and few would be able to distinguish the difference from those printed on traditional presses. And on-demand books are priced according to their length, making them pricier than books printed en masse.

But Gittins said shoppers are willing to pay a little more for a book tailored to a specific audience.

"It's really an opportunity for people to get their creative content out there to millions of people," said Stacey Hurwitz, spokeswoman for CreateSpace.

______

On the Net:

http://www.Lulu.com

http://www.Blurb.com

http://www.createspace.com