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ť Forum Category: PT Boats of WWII
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ť Forum Name: PT Boats - General
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ť Topic: ANOTHER BOOK
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Hello Guys and Gals:

I understand that my book Building the PT Boats had just hit the market, but I am thinking about doing another book project. This second book will be one or the other, and this is where you guys come into play. I thought about doing a book about the PT Boats in the War Zone, showing the many photo's I have collected over the years of the boats in their actual element.

Along those lines, I also wanted to do a book about Elco and the pleasure craft years, from their first electric boats, the WW1 sub chasers, to the elegant Cruisers and Yachts, right through the Second World War and beyond, into 1949. Now, as PT Boat guys I would like to ask you, what would you like to see, and what would you think might attract more readers. I certainly can't do both at the moment, but don't want this to be just another PT Boat Book, although I do have materials to do both. I would appreciate your thoughts................

Posted By: Frank J Andruss Sr | Posted on: Jun 18, 2009 - 9:28am
Total Posts: 3497 | Joined: Oct 9, 2006 - 6:09am

I'd certainly buy either/both. Frankly (no pun intended), I think you'd reach a larger, more diverse readership if you went with the first one. You'd pique the interest of both military and civilian areas of interest.

If the book(s) format is to be similar to your current book, I hope you'll seek out a publisher who can do your work justice. Photos that look like they were printed on a home inkjet on matte paper are not particularly appealing.

Al Ross

Posted By: alross2 | Posted on: Jun 18, 2009 - 10:51am
Total Posts: 993 | Joined: Oct 30, 2006 - 8:19pm

Frank,

Go for it.

As for the photos in your book ... I PERSONALLY do not think they are all that bad ...

They are clear enough so that you can readily see details.

As for the quality, yeah they COULD be better, sure ... but c'mon, they're not that bad. But, hey - that's me. What do I know?

Garth

Posted By: TGConnelly | Posted on: Jun 18, 2009 - 3:03pm
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered

Frank,

If you go with option 1, there is a fellow who has done a lot of work on the civilian aspect of ELCO. I think his name is William Swan and I have some of his stuff (somewhere). You're welcome to use it if you wish. Also, Mystic Seaport has a lot of civilian ELCO material.

Looking forward to whatever you come up with.

Al Ross

Posted By: alross2 | Posted on: Jun 18, 2009 - 4:55pm
Total Posts: 993 | Joined: Oct 30, 2006 - 8:19pm

Al

I certainly appreciate any ducumentation you might have on the civilian side of the Electric Launch Company. Any photo's of the boats would also be a large help. I seem to remember someone who had been working on the civilian side of Elco, but lost track of him. Thanks again for your anticipated help............

Posted By: Frank J Andruss Sr | Posted on: Jun 18, 2009 - 6:52pm
Total Posts: 3497 | Joined: Oct 9, 2006 - 6:09am

All I can say Frank is go with your heart.
Dave

David Waples

Posted By: David Waples | Posted on: Jun 19, 2009 - 5:53am
Total Posts: 1679 | Joined: Jan 2, 2007 - 9:55pm

Frank

I agree a War Zone book might attract wider interest, but as you point out, runs the risk of being just another PT boat book (but what's wrong with that?). My sentiments, of course, lie with the Elco book, which would fill more of a vacuum even though its appeal might be to a smaller niche market. Here's a bowling pin to get you started!

[IMAGE]http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd62/edbhny/BOWLINGPIN.jpg[/IMAGE]

Posted By: Ed B | Posted on: Jun 19, 2009 - 9:20am
Total Posts: 91 | Joined: Oct 26, 2006 - 5:31am

I have been looking for one of those Bowling Pins for years Ed. Thanks all for your help in this matter............

Posted By: Frank J Andruss Sr | Posted on: Jun 19, 2009 - 10:12am
Total Posts: 3497 | Joined: Oct 9, 2006 - 6:09am

Frank,

Over the last few years I have seen a great deal of unique, never published, PT photographs pop upon the Internet. I beleive there is a great deal of war zone photography that has not been published that would be a welcome addition. I would also like to see crew photos published, these tend to have a bit of detail in them with respect to the configuration of each boat at specific points in time. In other words the background of these photographs is as interesting as the crews themselves. You may want to talk to Will Day, I beleive he has a large collection of these photos.

Another source for ELCO information is the book "The Legend of Electric Boat" by Jeffery L. Rodengen. The book is focused on submarines for obvious reasons, but there is content regarding ELCO in the book as well.

Billl

Bill Smallshaw

Posted By: smallwi | Posted on: Jun 20, 2009 - 1:24pm
Total Posts: 130 | Joined: Jun 21, 2007 - 3:02pm

The biggest drawback I can see in an attempt to do a Book that deals with the boats in the War Zone, is trying to research the photographs. I know I have many shots that show no boat numbers, tents in some area, even Tenders that show no numbers. It is tough to find those that can remember where these shots were taken, so you run the risk of not having enough shots to fill a book. I do however feel I have more then enough shots to try the pleasure boat side of things. I think I love the aspect of doing both. We shall sleep on it more............

Posted By: Frank J Andruss Sr | Posted on: Jun 22, 2009 - 1:46am
Total Posts: 3497 | Joined: Oct 9, 2006 - 6:09am

Frank,

There are more than enough photos in that area to do a book like that. Sometimes, you can make out numbers on the cockpit sides, on the front of the charthouse, on the turrets, on the air vents, some boats carried their numbers on their transoms or small numbers on the bow.

Alex Johnson tells me that Ron 10 boats carried their numbers on the bridge wings - go to www.pt171.org or .com and have a look ... there are ways to ID a boat.

The Tenders? They did carry numbers on the bow and aft, they just might be awfully small - but they're there ...

Posted By: TGConnelly | Posted on: Jun 22, 2009 - 7:15am
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered

Let me chime in with a publisher's perspective ... as I try to figure out the market for the two competing ideas, I am torn between two propositions:

1) publishers love to revisit genres, topics, etc. for the simple reason that it sells -- as Al Ross noted above, ALONG THE FRONT would hit the PT boat and WWiI Pacific market, which is something of a known topic.

2) but, conversely, it is always good to have the best and ideally the unique book on a particular topic.

With 4 PT books in print now and more coming, I have a fairly good idea of the size of the "PT" market for *me* (it would be different for other publishers, some smaller, some larger), but I have few numbers to help me gauge the size of the market for a book about the history of Elco pleasure boats.

Does anybody have any ideas on "comparable" books whose sales history I might compare? Any way of quantifying the size of Elco/pleasure craft audience that is *not* a part of the PT audience?

Posted By: wfzimmerman | Posted on: Jun 22, 2009 - 9:24am
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered

1) publishers love to revisit genres, topics, etc. for the simple reason that it sells -- as Al Ross noted above, ALONG THE FRONT would hit the PT boat and WWiI Pacific market, which is something of a known topic.

Does anybody have any ideas on "comparable" books whose sales history I might compare? Any way of quantifying the size of Elco/pleasure craft audience that is *not* a part of the PT audience?

I wasn't clear with my initial response. My choice would be a book that addressed ELCO's early boats and the yachts. Frank's idea for covering the MLs and the yachts would add greatly to the literature.

As for getting a feel for he potential audience, you might consider reviewing "WoodenBoat" magazine's cumulative index of articles and some of the glitzier magazines like "The Rudder", "MotorBoating", and "Yachting". The defunct "Nautical Quarterly" might also be a source of info.

Al Ross

Posted By: alross2 | Posted on: Jun 22, 2009 - 10:52am
Total Posts: 993 | Joined: Oct 30, 2006 - 8:19pm

Thanks for the knowledgeable vote, Al.

Posted By: wfzimmerman | Posted on: Jun 22, 2009 - 1:36pm
Total Posts: | Joined: Unregistered