When Bruce and I started this last book (Volume 2), we decided that we would pack everything we could find into the book, and set no limit on how big this book could be. We assumed that it would be 650 pages or so after doing Volume 1, which seemed reasonable enough. Fast forward to where we are now - the book is over 840 pages, closer to 860-870 now, and could even grow a few pages beyond that. We've talked about paring it down, cut out some of the non-essential things like accessories, period images, etc., but both decided that wasn't an option.
We got a sample book from our printers that is 870 pages. They can physically make the book that big, no problem. But this thing is huge. It's heavy. It's unwieldy. These books are meant to be used by people, and some people will use them a lot. We've come to the conclusion that it's too big for 1 book. When you open it, the sheer thickness makes it almost unusable if you lay it flat. You have to press the center down hard to read the center section. Our fear is that this massive weight and bulk will wear out the spine quickly, "breaking it's back" so to speak. We want these books to last.
So with that, we've decided that we HAVE to break this project into 2 separate books. They will be only sold together as one (basically Vol.2 Part I, Vol.2 Part II). We've got to figure out the logistics of packaging them as a set for shipping. We both liked the idea of a single volume, but it's just not feasible.
An unfortunate side effect is that all of the costs will increase. We are negotiating with the printer for a price break which they are receptive to. I won't go into exact pricing now as we won't truly know until the books are completely printed but I'm thinking it will be around $140-150 for both Vol.2 books. It's like 2 Kriegsmodell books in size. Ridiculous.
The upside, since we are splitting it up, we now have a bit more room to add a few more things. We are still hopeful for a June 1 print date, and are working hard on the final edits, as are our peer review guys and errors/omissions/proofreading teams.
So thanks for all the support from this forum, and collectors in general.
Mike
We got a sample book from our printers that is 870 pages. They can physically make the book that big, no problem. But this thing is huge. It's heavy. It's unwieldy. These books are meant to be used by people, and some people will use them a lot. We've come to the conclusion that it's too big for 1 book. When you open it, the sheer thickness makes it almost unusable if you lay it flat. You have to press the center down hard to read the center section. Our fear is that this massive weight and bulk will wear out the spine quickly, "breaking it's back" so to speak. We want these books to last.
So with that, we've decided that we HAVE to break this project into 2 separate books. They will be only sold together as one (basically Vol.2 Part I, Vol.2 Part II). We've got to figure out the logistics of packaging them as a set for shipping. We both liked the idea of a single volume, but it's just not feasible.
An unfortunate side effect is that all of the costs will increase. We are negotiating with the printer for a price break which they are receptive to. I won't go into exact pricing now as we won't truly know until the books are completely printed but I'm thinking it will be around $140-150 for both Vol.2 books. It's like 2 Kriegsmodell books in size. Ridiculous.
The upside, since we are splitting it up, we now have a bit more room to add a few more things. We are still hopeful for a June 1 print date, and are working hard on the final edits, as are our peer review guys and errors/omissions/proofreading teams.
So thanks for all the support from this forum, and collectors in general.
Mike