Starting a small aviation publishing company

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I am thinking about starting a small aviation publishing company, based in the UK.

I am trying to gauge the startup and running costs of such an enterprise.

As I understand it, mainstream aviation publishers typical have print runs of 2000-5000 for each title? They normally pay authors about £1000-3000 per title + a box of books for them to sell themselves? They also have substantial production and warehousing costs.

My company would be very niche, specialising in titles that are usually not commercially viable for mainstream publishers.
Production would be mainly in-house, or by virtual teams, to keep costs low, with distribution via companies such as Lulu, Blurb, Amazon etc which offer buyers a choice of Print-on-demand or electronic format. Costings would be based on sales (print +ebook) of around 500 copies for each title.

I would like to feature specially-commissioned original artwork, but photos may have to be public domain or volunteered. Obviously, I couldn't afford to send a print copy of the book to everyone who allows their photo to be used, it would have to be an ebook version.

Titles would feature the less glamorous aircraft types, helicopters, and various aircraft companies and operators: Mitsubishi MU-2, Agusta A109, New Aircraft for 2022, Sikorsky Aircraft since 1909, NAVAID Calibration Aircraft Around the World, Fugro and its Aircraft, Flying Units of the Spanish Air Force: Aircraft and Lineage, etc...

Legal contracts with authors and artists are something I don't have any experience with.

I wonder if I could get away with a production budget of £2000-2500 for a 50 page A4 book and pro-rata for longer titles?

Comments are welcome!


Regards,

John
 
Unless you intend this as a sort of "hobby" I would do almost anything in the world right now rather than start a publishing house.

If you insist on considering it, dont even think about it unless you have very convincing answers to >

1) Who will write these books ?
2) Why would they want you to publish them ?
3) Why will you make money where they have been rejected by bigger publishers ?

You will NOT sell 2000 copies of the books you`ve mentioned above, without a big marketing and distribution network
I`d say 100 to 300 is realistic (if they are VERY good books). Assuming a sales price of under £20 GBP each,
the author might get £0.70 a book, so thats £70 to £210.

I do not think that is even vaguely commercially viable even as a semi-hobby idea.

My advice is, think of something else. Sorry to be negative, but that is what I would want someone to tell me
if I were considering it.
 
It can be done, especially now. I would contact publishers currently involved in publishing aviation titles. I've been in book publishing for some decades but not in that niche. However, certain basic costs can be determined.

Cost for printing. I am now contacting various printers to get costs. My company is moving into hardcovers, along with the softcovers we usually publish.
Art costs? Contact the artists you like and ask them.
Writers. There are various ways payment can be arranged. Contact some published authors and actual publishers.

Make sure you speak to actual people on the phone. I cannot stress that enough. Emails can turn into a jumbled mess quite quickly. Speak to someone and take notes. My company, that is, the company I work for, started with a small sum and grew. Be polite. Make sure you ask for permission before asking any questions. Be prepared to hear from some people that "I'd rather not discuss that" even though they will help with other matters.

Make a list of all the steps required to get from point A to point B. I can assure you that I was in the same boat and simply called and called until I got my questions answered. I have no degrees in anything by the way.

Legal advice. Do not be afraid to call "Copyright" Attorneys. That is, those familiar with publishing in any medium. Do not be afraid to ask how long they've been in business or to ask for references. References meaning others you can contact who've already dealt with them. They can write your contracts for artists and writers and most importantly, explain them to you.
 
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I don't get Calum's pessimism. Here in Finland any reasonable Finnish-language (and there are only 5+ million Finnish speakers in the world) military aviation book sells hundreds of copies.
 
While the following applies to all books, I thought it would be instructive to others here.

"According to Publishers Weekly, unit sales of books have risen every year since 2013, and while the increases are small on their own — at 2% or 3% per year — it’s something of a surprise that numbers continue to climb even as digitization increases. Last year, print book sales rose more than 8.9%."
 

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