Polish Speedway Book

[norbold]

I have a Polish colleague at work who is mad keen on speedway (one of us in fact). He is also considering writing a book (in English) about Polish speedway stars. He is thinking of doing fairly short biographies of Jancarz, Plech, Woryna and Szczakiel to start with (as a single volume).

 

I would be interested to know what you all think about the prospects of such a book. Would you buy it? Even if you wouldn't personally, do you think it would sell well enough in the UK to make it worth a publisher's while?

 

Do you have any better suggestions for a book. He is also considering at some point a complete history of Polish speedway but wants to start with something else first to see what the demand for books about Polish speedway might be.

 

Any views and comments will be gratefully received and passed on.

 

Thank you.

[Guest inaction man]

I already have three books on Polish speedway-an Encyclopedia containing short biographies of famous international riders and results of Polish championship meetings etc and a two part history of Polish league speedway between 1948 and 1998 including a yearly review, league tables and the leading riders averages per season.The only downside for me is the fact that all the books are written in Polish although the statistical content is impressive enough to compensate for that. I personally would certainly be interested in books on Polish speedway written in English-how about an A TO Z of Polish riders since 1948 with their career records.

[arnieg]

I suspect that it would be a fairly limited audience - but it would certainly include me. I have the Polish Encyclopedia. I've not seen the other two books, but the stats are on the web at:

 

 

http://www.republika.pl/rlach/index.htm

 

I only discovered it a few days ago, and it contains an extraordinary amount of detail.

 

For league averages from 1982 try (click the links in the "listy ksm" column):

 

http://www.jsp.alpha.pl/speedway/strona1.php?kl=kr&g=stat1l

 

PS The most beatiful speedway book I've ever seen is one called "rot, bla, vit, gul" which is a history of Swedish speedway. For swedish stats go to:

 

 

http://www.speedway.org/history/index.htm

 

PPS For more detail on Ice Speedway World Champs go to the Novosibirsk site:

 

http://www.sibirspeedway.boom.ru/statistics.htm

 

however it is in Russian (I knew my Russian 'O' level would eventually come in handy)

[Kevin Meynell]

I would be interested to know what you all think about the prospects of such a book. Would you buy it? Even if you wouldn't personally, do you think it would sell well enough in the UK to make it worth a publisher's while?

Your mate certainly won't get rich on such a book, so it would have to be a labour of love. Even with decent sales, the royalties are next to nothing.

 

As for whether a publisher would be interested or not, it's a matter of luck. You can interest publishers in quite low volume sales provided they get the content for nothing. Alternatively, you can get the book printed (which is not so expensive) and publish it yourself.

Edited December 31, 2003 by Kevin Meynell

[norbold]

I would be interested to know what you all think about the prospects of such a book. Would you buy it? Even if you wouldn't personally, do you think it would sell well enough in the UK to make it worth a publisher's while?

Your mate certainly won't get rich on such a book, so it would have to be a labour of love. Even with decent sales, the royalties are next to nothing.

 

As for whether a publisher would be interested or not, it's a matter of luck. You can interest publishers in quite low volume sales provided they get the content for nothing. Alternatively, you can get the book printed (which is not so expensive) and publish it yourself.

Thanks for the advice about royalties and finding a publisher Kevin.

 

I would never have known about such things otherwise.

Edited December 31, 2003 by norbold

[iris123]

Why go for small bio`s first and not a more comprehensive book?From what i have seen of Speedway books lately they are very sparse on info but cost a packet.The best i got this year was a history of Güstrow.Maybe including other countries,say in a look at the rise of the eastern block as a whole might widen popularity?

[dex01]

I have a Polish colleague at work who is mad keen on speedway (one of us in fact). He is also considering writing a book (in English) about Polish speedway stars. He is thinking of doing fairly short biographies of Jancarz, Plech, Woryna and Szczakiel to start with (as a single volume).

 

I think it's a great idea. If he needed any help, I have lots of historical materials about speedway.