Possible book project
 

I am putting this question out as a feeler.

I am thinking of writing and publishing a book or manual on Parker service. I mean something that is totally comprehensive and covers every type and variation of Parker action with tear down instructions and parts diagrams.

What are members thoughts on the demand for such a thing? Would you buy it?

I have done some looking around and purchasing of some other materials on the market and I find that none are all that good.

That's a great idea Brian. I would buy and keep it right next to my TPS set.

absolutely - hope you have documented your hammer 20 and heavy duck projects

there are a couple chapters right there

i would be interested in one of your books if published...charlie

Brian: Seeing your posts and helpful tutorials along with inputs in the DGJ leads me to believe it would be popular with us vintage sxs and especially Parker guys. I would purchase it but have no idea if it would be profitable or even break even for you. How about some of us contributing to the cost of publishing with refunds if successful? I would be willing to invest $100.00 for this project. The $100.00 could go toward purchase of the book. It could be the next best thing to TPS. Bob

Brian
I would buy that in a minute.

I have to start compiling material to get an idea of the size of the project and then look into publishing and printing costs to see what I am looking at.

I will buy one for the reference for sure. Best wishes

Brian

I just published a book on Lynch turkey calls. I'm not in the book writing or publishing business but I can give you some insight. I learned a lot in the process. It is not that hard to do.

The proceeds of my book are going to a charity supporting disabled vets. Go to lynchturkeycallbook.com or huntforvets.com and you'll find it. You shouldn't have a problem selling enough books to cover publishing costs. Whether it is profitable depends on what your time is worth. The key is the deliver it to the publisher print ready. That saves a lot of money. It is a time consuming project tho.

Ray

This is a great project and I think you will have problem finding a publisher.

You would have to self publish and you would need to use an on demand print method.... you print the copies when you have firm, paid orders.

You might get 100 to 200 orders at around $40 to $50 each, possibly more depending on illustrations. You'll find lots of expressed interest that disappears when it comes time for writing a check for the real cost of what it takes.

This project might be subsidized by PGCA..
The BODS of PGCA give NRA $ 10,000 from time to time and I think you book would merit some help. It sounds like a super project that would benefit all Parker people.

Brian, I would be willing to be a prepaid sponsor for a signed and numbered copy when the first edition is finally printed. This is how Ed Muderlak started the "Shooting Flying" book. I think this would be a great idea, easy for me to say with all the work resting on your shoulders.:)

I would buy it especially if there was a chapter on restoration and wa list of craftsman like yourself who do resatoration

I think what has been said above is true, Bruce brings up a good point about when it's time to send the money some people disappear, but prepaid orders would be something to look into and yes some kind of support from the PGCA whether it be advertising it in the PP or ordered through the Parker store would both be no cost to the PGCA and a great tool that has been needed for a long time. And yes I would buy the book also.

Brian, Sounds good to me , I would buy one. Hope it works out and happens.

Print on demand is an option, as pointed out by Bruce. I choose not to go that way for several reasons. It works great for inexpensive paperbacks but cuts into profit margin because it's ultimately more expensive. You have to set it up with the right company and they get their cut plus the printing cost.

Printing cost to fairly simple. The items that affect price the most are the cover, quality of paper, the number of books printed and the number of pages. Some printers charge on increments of 16 pages. It has to do with their printing method. I stayed away from that because it's a pain in the layout and why pay for blank pages.

My book has a leather cover. Very expensive. Going with a standard hard cover and dust jacket is much cheaper but the dust jacket is a pain in the neck so I didn't go that way. Of course, going with a standard soft cover is even cheaper. I think my printer calls it's a "Perfect Cover" or something like that. Paper weight is also a factor. Photo quality also influences price but overall your paper selection doesn't increase/defeated price that much.

Like my book, yours would have a very specific market. Amazon would probably not be the best place to sell. My book is a limited edition of 500. Once the collector community learned it was out there, 100 books were sold in a matter of weeks. Once all of the diehards get their copies, sales do slow down.


If you can do all of the work and deliver it print ready on a high quality flash drive, the printing cost is not that bad. Most folks I talked to who had published these types of books always just paid to have a certain number printed and avoided the on demand method.

The biggest cost is your time. It took me two years to do it working on and off. I figured my time was free anyway. That said, I don't think you'll change careers after doing it. I don't think there is a lot of money in the book writing business generally.

Brian, I once attended a gun auction that had a full color catalog, plastic spiral bound. They probably got it printed in weeks. I still have the catalog and I want one like it to sell my guns some day. I would recommend spiral bound for a book like you are planning.

What Bruce said is kind of what I was thinking.

I figure that I would sell a good amount at first and then not so many after that. I could have it sit out on Amazon or Ebay and maybe sell a couple a year after the initial flood of orders.

I am leaning towards a spiral bound or paperback as being the best options for it iven what it will be.

I do not want to go the on CD only route as it is chinsy and too prone to copying.

Ed Muderlak would ask people whether they might be interested in a certain subject book, he would get many positive responses, so he would have printed what he considered that the demand was. He financed the printing himself and would take delivery of the number.

There would be initial sales at less than the number of people who said they were interested and would buy. He would then have boxes filling his garage and would do promotional offers and finally, about anything to get them gone.

I like these books, I buy them, but those who write them and finance them repeatedly report that there are many who talk a lot about how they would buy, are very interested, then don't seem to be able to pay for the book when it comes out. They want it, but they want something for nothing.

Since it's a how to book I think a spiral bound book would be better as the page would stay open to the section the person needed a paperback always wants to close it's cover. Agree with the CD too.

Brian in order to keep publishing cost at a minimum you might consider making it available as an e-book as well as a conventional print version. This would also make it possible to imbed videos which would be quite innovative.

I think Bill's idea of a spiral binding makes a lot of sense. You can open it up to the correct page and put it on your workbench while you are following Brian's crystal clear directions.

Brian,
I'll buy at least one copy and maybe more to give as gifts. I know that lots of collectors have wanted something like this for a long time.

I would buy it in a heartbeat. Limited edition and regular

Brian
I am new to this expensive and addicting pass time but I would take two copies for sure.And I am sure that with your talent for explaining things you might be surprised how fast and many might sell.
I would suggest a chapter on condition(case color,engraving).I think your insight would be helpful on these.
Look forward to the book.

book
 

I will take at least one. It sounds like what I need. Thanks,

Book
 

Woundering if it could include proper tooling and places to purchase hard to find itims.

Brian I will buy one. You might talk to Daniel Cote from DGJ and get him to mentor you.

Brian: I wholeheartedly support your proposed book project, and I would certainly buy one. It also occurs to me that perhaps you should approach Blue Book Publications with your idea. After all, this publishing house issued the Parker Gun Identification & Serialization, so the precedent is certainly there. Anyway, it seems to me its worth a try. Best of luck with the project. Frank

I have used blurb.com for some personal projects and they are good. The advantage there is you don't have to order the copies. The customers order directly from Blurb (and you can mark up the price to get a cut).

Brian, You might also include chapters on other double guns such as Win 21, Fox , etc. Most of us do go over to the dark side for a short while and info on those guns would be nice to have.

As they say "nothing ventured nothing gained" , sounds like it would be a great addition to the gun bench..

Parker gun book
 

Brian : why not get the Parker Gun Collectors involved, they could sell the books and make a few dollars to boot. I think you could probably sell 300 to 500 easily to our members. Keep the cost as low as you can and you could sell book for under 35.00, no fancy printing and binding. The book would be a useful tool for all of us. People pay 300.00 fpr Parker story and do not even blink.

Ron Moore

Brian, the spiral catalogs I mentioned are from Conestoga Auctions in Manheim, PA, 2002 and 2005. There is not a publishing company mentioned but you may be able to get information from the auction house. They are 8 1/2X11 inches, glossy pages, card stock glossy covers. One is all black and white and 40 pages, the other is color and about 45 pages, 80 and 90 counting both sides. They are very classy with thick plastic spiral binding.

Brian - I think this a great idea, and I would support the project with an advance sale. The real cost of this effort would be your time. You might want to do a little business plan and project your expenses and revenue to see if it works economically. I second the idea of consulting with Mr Cote', and perhaps getting some money from PGCA. You may also want to enlist some collaborators.

I was barely out of my teens when I came to the realization that I shouldn't go inside these things!! More than happy to pay those who are qualified to do it for me. Such a book of no interest here.

I agree with Dave. I would much rather pay a craftsman to work on my guns.

I still buy the books, regardless of whether I will attempt the repairs explained in the book.

The previous few posts present a worthy point for consideration regarding any such "how to" manual. And it involves human nature.

On one hand, it would seem generous and helpful to provide the novice with a certain level of tuition on the proper disassembly procedures required. Better to "do it right" than make a muck of it is the easy rationale.

On the other hand, it is a well-worn phrase that "just enough knowledge to be dangerous" can indeed be - dangerous. Especially when a garage gunsmith reaches the FUBAR stage on a nice Parker's takedown.

Then the sorry bits must be sent off to some professional to be put right again. If they can be.

Finally, the Parker hammerless is not a boxlock for the neophyte to be learning anything on. It's more like asking a local tech at the Goodyear garage to tune your Ferrari.

Just my opinion.