Much of what Ed has written mirrors my own experience.
Fine Gunmaking had two printing of about 4500 each...[then Krause changed hands and]...with a great sales record I went back to the new company with a proposal for a second book and they didn't even return my call. Told me, "You have a good proposal but we only want to do softcover books that will amortize in one year" (i.e. Gun Digest).
The new book (Double Guns & Custom Gunsmithing, 2007) has sold enough to recoup the publishers investment and provide meager royalties for me.
But the book market is DEAD! I've two more books written but have nowhere to publish.
Some of us are compelled to write and take pictures and must see them published. Best, Steve
SDH's book,
Fine Gunmaking: Double Shotguns (1998) should be required reading for everyone who doesn't understand how a fine shotgun is put together. Many of the repeat threads on this very Forum would be obviated if more double-gun people read his book. My well-worn copy is so highlighted and marked-up that it couldn't be sold on eBay without the risk of adverse feedback.
Fine Gunmaking is quoted in my
Parker Guns: Shooting Flying @ pp. 255-56, and SDH is indexed.
Steve: I was pitching
Parker Guns: Shooting Flying to Krause and Don G. kept pitching me to sign a contract before it was done. I only sell done deals, talk it or leave it, to avoid performance disputes. When the book was done I called them, Don was history, and the new acquisition editor cautioned me that the new owners in Ohio had not a clue about gun-book publishing and that my efforts were sure to be wasted...and, thus, much of what SDH has written mirrors my own experiences.
Oh! Another good basic gunmaking book is
Recreating the Double Barrel Muzzle Loading Shotgun (2000) by Wm. Brockway
As to SDH being "...compelled to write and take pictures and...see them published..." I think if I lived in Livingston MT, my compulsion would gravitate toward fly fishing...and I just got an e-mail invite from Bozeman...Ah, Steve, you in the phone book? Do you know Little Blue Hand? I'm starting to think I need a trip to Bailly's (sp.?)...or maybe R. L. Winston's. EDM
