I learned something from the Internet today. If Ed has made enough from selling gun books and magazine articles to own and sail multiple yachts and vacation in Europe and the Carribean, I must be contributing to a nice life for him and the authors of the many books in my gun library.
Had I spent my time
not writing books and articles these past 16 years, but simply worked entry-level at the counter at McDonalds, I would have made more coin of the realm and would have got free french fries. The profit in having written and being published is that, by being well-known, I have an expanded group of friends and acquaintances who share my passion for the fine old double guns.
As a point of interest,
Parker Guns: The "Old Reliable" (Safari Press 1997-2004) was written during Winter 1995-96 while at anchor aboard
SOLENT for 4 1/2 months in Clark's Court Bay, Grenada BWI. Hard work, but somebody's gotta do it.
My last book,
Parker Guns: Shooting Flying and the American Experience (Collector Books 2008) came about as an elaboration of my controversial
DGJ article--"Why Parker?"--"Why Parker?" is chapter 1 of
PG:SF and the rest of the book answers the questions about how Parker Bro's survived for so many years and built so many good guns; not so much that The Parker Gun was better, but how PB was different in business plan, financial and dealer strength, distribution, marketing, all in the context of the American Experience with Shooting Flying circa 1866-1942.
My advice to anyone contemplating writing a gun book at this late date--DON'T. Newspapers and magazines are assuming the financial supine position (belly up!) and book publishers are suffering also. All the time spent on the Internet or Twittering or Texting or playing video games and watching TV subtracts from the time available to read books.
My first book--
PG:The "Old Reliable"--has sold over 8,000 copies, went to second printing, and is approaching the "go-or-no-go" for a third printing. My last book--
PG:Shooting Flying...--is ten times better, yet I doubt it will go to second printing. The dead-tree print media is dying a slow death. Alas! Parting shot:
Parker Guns: The "Old Reliable," and
When Ducks Were Plenty, and
Parker Guns: Shooting Flying all were conventional publishing contracts with an advance royalty paid up front and royalties paid on sales (quarterly).
My wrangling three "publisher pays and does the deal" publishing contracts with two major publishers is quite unusual in the gun book genre, where subsidy publishing is the most often, all but universal, way a gun writer gets in print. But given the sorry situation in the book publishing business, I doubt that I could ever get another advance royalty deal unless Tom Cruise options the book for movie rights.
C'est la vie! So, I'm going fishing. EDM
