Pissed off about books today

[Ron Weinand]

What you are failing to understand is that publishers feel those interested in WW2 are older and can't see as well, so they make them easier to read for the elderly in this historical area.

[Enzian]

If you want to see something that will really piss off even those of us maybe
or maybe not so oldsters, check out Pen & Sword Pub.'s "Eastern Front
Primary Sources" books "The Waffen SS In The East", 1941-1943, and 1943-1945.

Large cropping of sometimes-effective photos does not hide the hideously
misleading and sometimes downright inaccurate cutlines. These "books"
are flooding the book club market. At least with old-school bare-bones
series like the Bantam WWII items, you got readablle history that was
halfway accurate.

Like everything else, what we are witnessing is the dumbing down of
a culture, pure and simple. Fortunately we have RZM, Bender and books
like Ron Weinand's we can really rely on. There are some good German
sources too, but the D'oh factor keeps those volumes on the other side of the pond for the most part.

The Powers That Be just don't want us to know the German side. That's
why the statutes of limitations and convoluted access are what they are.

[oldflagswanted]

Ditto TRaFot3R read

...I remember reading the Rise and Fall of the
Third Reich when I was in grade school...

Ditto that, same story for me too. And
I still have that 1600 page paperback,
and in both the black SS & red SA cover.
OFW

[Mark C. Yerger]

Well, I use my kindle for most fiction that I read. It's convenient and easy. That being said, it will 'never' replace hardcopies for reference and history.
The padding out of books is definitely annoying and, to me, generally reflects a lower end reference to be avoided from the get-go. I have enough trouble with shelf space without clogging it with rubbish. Fiction included.
I can't say that I've seen alot of padding with text, usually it's with the oversizing of photos that would've served the same purpose at half the size. If a photo's out of focus, filling the entire page isn't going to make it any clearer or useful to me.

I feel mine are as "dense-per-page-per-dollar" as possible. But agree on overblown photos (often then distorted) to make a book bigger and cost more. Fedorowicz is famous for that, some his I've looked at give me a headache for that reason. But they sell as there is a market for Tiger tank lubricants volume 3 or some of the other nonsense being printed; 3rd Reich UFOs, Nazi occult, etc.

In books on aircraft I see a lot of garbage FAR outclassed by books on the same topic done decades ago, but few are aware the books ever existed so don't seek them out (or reprint them).

I never had interest in ebooks, as mentioned worthless for what I write with photos, lengthy data footnotes, etc.,

With today's technology, I'm surprised people do not print their own. My printer goes up to 1200, at 600 I can print as good as r better an image than many conventional printers. And while hardbound is not possible due to cost, a SB reference book can be printed and bound basically on demand. I'm considering for my SS Main Offices book as I have more knowledge in design than any publisher for the simple reason I know what is unpublished, rare, or common.

Each book Bender does I end up making changes to not waste a common photo in full page or large size, replacing it (when design interruption allows) with a better choice. The domino effect of design changes makes such changes limited.

Publishers do not know the material they publish; that's why authors are called authors. But control can't be had unless doing yourself. I've had nearly 20 books published and really only liked the design of 4. A knowledgeable author can "force" design in a smaller book by how he writes and presents the material, harder when it's hundreds of pages.

A recent example of the former is Marcus Lippl's Teddy Wisch book, in which I showed him how to "force" a publisher who "speed designs." Book looks exactly as planned, and would no doubt been a monstrosity if a designer at the publisher had been given a free hand in design.

I hate justification (even line spread of text) as I work in 2 languages and the design program is created for one with obvious problems as a result.

Mark

[Butch Gooch]

Large Letters and Spacing

Ron ! You have hit the nail on the Head! Being the wearer of thick Glasses since the first Grade, it really helps if the print is larger. They have some Wonderful books at the Militaria shows. And interesting topics! I for one am thankful for large print!
Thanks Ron! All the Best to all of you, Butch

[pasoleati]

Ron ! You have hit the nail on the Head! Being the wearer of thick Glasses since the first Grade, it really helps if the print is larger.

To be frank, I really hate this excuse for large print. I myself have quite thick glasses (about -7.5 each eye): I can read clearly to perhaps 10 - 15 cm distance without glasses, beyond that anything is blurry. Yet, I do not even want to read large print books.

If small print is a problem, there is a cheap solution: large magnifying glass. And in my country those who have their poor eyesight diagnosed, some organizations helping visually impaired people can provide reading devices that reproduce even smallest print in large size on a screen.

[pasoleati]

Called text "justification" and most do it, including my own. Thus rank with to many spaces (as you did both times). Should be Oberst i.G.d.R. though General Staff weren't reserve. I never lack punctuation for German terms in mine, but hate the spacing. Publishers seem to think it "looks better."

Do original documents list "i.G." without spaces? Note that my example was figurative plus that the example is not due to justification: since Osprey (as per apparent "modern" British degenerated English) has adopted "periodless" style, writing "d.R." without spaces ("dR") could be ambiguous.

[DBRoyal]

e-books

Does anyone else suspect that printed books will survive longer than most e-books or other electronic literature?

[behblc]

E Books ( as far as good quality WW2 reference material goes ) hold nothing for me, they seem like cold and soulless productions.
Being the wrong side of 50 I do need my "rangefinders" or the printed word defeats me , reading from a PC or tablet is really not for me and often it is helpful to have more than one book open at the same time.

The production of books - I have to agree with Mark in what he says about Fedorowicz approach to publishing goes, their format and publishing approach is probably my least favourite and in truth makes me think twice or three times about buying their product and this is an instance in which "on line" buying does work against the reader.
(The oversized , ill defined photo is IMO a trademark of fedorowicz which puts me right off).
I do agree that RZM and RJB do a better job and RJB in particular does have a consistently high standard of production and presentation which appeals to me.
Font size, paper quality and decent photographic reproduction in an uncluttered presentation always results in clarity which is important.

A few years ago I asked Mark Bando about the expected production of an english language edition of his "Breakout in Normandy" - mark had expected that a production deal which was going to result in a US based publication, this failed to appear and may not be forthcoming in the near future - lack of publisher commitment and indifference being the main reasons ,which is a crying shame to be honest.
MB told me that the first edition had no maps because the publisher wanted to go for "more photos , people are not interested in maps" - this resulted in a good book being sold short as the publisher failed to appreciate the importance of a decent map or two which would orientate the reader.
(I ended up with a Michelin Map of Normandy at hand when reading the 1st edition of Mark'B's. book , and opted for a french edition of his reprint as for the foreseeable future an excellent revised work which has new and valid information has no publisher , or at least one which lacks the brains they were born with).
Small cramped , overly detailed does not work a decent size with that key word clarity. ( maps are often a down side in David Glantz's books).
I can't blame MY in wanting to have some hands on control in his books - publishers can screw things up.

Publishers which have worked for me of late, Classic Aviation, Rodger Bender, RZM , Heimdal and Seaforth Publishers.
(Going back a number of years martin Middlebrook's books from Penguin ? Allen Lane always had an excellent production standard.

From a buyers point of view the publishing house is often an indication of what you are being asked to pay for and so often "you pay for what you get" and decent authors /publishers who are in tune with their readers / market get the job done.

[SSamir]

As much as I dislike e-books I will take one any day over television. Overall television is a bad influence, especially these days. There's almost nothing interesting on, but some bullsh*t so-called reality shows like "new jersey shore", and some animal they have called "snooky". Unbelievable.

[behblc]

These "SHOWS" with chinless wonders are what some people , a lot of peole want effortless easy almost voyeuristic in nature and content , a window into the life real or imagined of someone else.
As far as Tv and history goes almost all will find that it tells you little about WW2 that you do not already know but well made serious material is scarse.

[pasoleati]

As much as I dislike e-books I will take one any day over television. Overall television is a bad influence, especially these days. There's almost nothing interesting on, but some bullsh*t so-called reality shows like "new jersey shore", and some animal they have called "snooky". Unbelievable.

That is why most of my TV watching today consists of actually DVD/BR reruns of Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek, Stargate, Foyle's War. Well, I do watch 24 - London right now. Plus Mythbusters...

[Herr Lyppe]

Out of interest, what is more important for you lot as readers and punters? Content or Presentation? I know that for myself, I can certainly forego issues with layout and editing if the content is excellent.
With multiple publications from most of the common publishing companies (Bender, RZM, JJF, Schiffer etc.) I think that Bender is the only one where I can be almost guaranteed of knowing what I'm going to get. This isn't to say that the other publishers aren't reliable, which is why I continue purchasing their product.
I'm wondering what are the best examples of a finished product that stands out to you as readers? Irrespective of subject.

Allan

[pasoleati]

Well, I am quite picky about book layout and design issues. For me the purpose of book design and layout is to provide the best possible "information-informee interface" combined with wallet friendliness. So, e.g. the choice of font is very important as it affects readability and thus the efficiency of information transfer from the pages to the brains of the reader as well as from that monetary point of view.

Personally, the ideal layout depends on the size of the book and whether it is a text book, photo book or a mix of both. For example, the ideal 6" x 9" format layout would have
-two columns fully-justified and a vertical line between the columns
-Adobe Jenson Pro font in 10 pt for main text (8 - 9 pt for captions)
-side margins 10 mm tops and between columns 5 mm

As for actual examples of books whose design I like (though not necessarily perfect):

-After the Battle series: These have excellent layout that blends the text and illustration as perfectly as can be. The only improvement I could suggest is the the font be changed to Jenson Pro and reference notes be added. AtB books don't waste space and therefore are excellent value for money.

-newer Classic titles on Luftwaffe aircraft (Fw 190, Ju 88): Since adopting tighter and much smaller font the amount of information per book has increased dramatically.

-old Profile Publications booklets: Through excellent design these booklets managed to have plenty of information despite having only 16 or so pages.

-Jason Mark's Island of Fire and Cholm books: Despite not having two columns plus non-ideal font these are next to perfect in all other ways. Excellent value for money.

-JJF's "Soldiers of the Leibstandarte" and "From Caucasus to the Austrian Alps": These are excellent too with small enough print using Garamond.

All these above are examples of excellence. As for an example of disastrous book design: Lyle Cummins's "Diesels for the First Stealth Weapon-Submarine Power 1902-1945": this is a large format book with 8.5" wide pages, yet employs a single column with large font and very wide line spacing. This has bloated the book to approx. 750 pages and possible to keep costs down it is printed of appallingly poor paper. The book has plenty of extremely interesting drawings of the engines, yet the detail is often illegible to to the lousy printing quality due to the poor uncoated paper. With better design the page count could have been halved and and better coated paper used without increasing costs.