Sums Up State Of Speedway Today

[arnieg]

You've made some valid points, but there is far simpler reason why there are no books published on modern speedway riders: they are just not commercially viable.

 

By the time the rider took his cut in royalties (albeit a very small one), the 'ghost' writer received a few quid and the bills for print, paper, distribution, delivery are met, there's very little left in the pot unless you are a well-known 'celebrity' or 'famous' sportsperson.

 

And when the book is finished and ready to be sold in bookshops, the retailer (WHS, Waterstones, or Amazon online) swallows up around another 50% of the cover price.

 

Tempus (or whatever they are now called) churned out quite a few historical-type speedway books but I very much doubt that any sold more than 1,000 copies, and in many cases nowhere near it.

 

Apart from ourselves at Retro Speedway, no other publisher will touch speedway books with a bargepole (and we have rebuffed quite a few approaches, including one or two books mentioned on this thread).

 

On the other hand modern technology makes it much easier for d.i.y. books. Print on demand companies like lulu (Blunsdon Blog books went this route), or self a publication as I did, make it possible for a trickle of new books from a variety of sources.

 

I self-published 'Tears & Glory' and it ended up turning a profit (although that assumes my time was costed at zero - but as I thoroughly enjoyed researching and writing it that's fair enough).

 

My print run was less than 1000, and most of my sales were through the Racers club shop and website (although I did get it into WH Smiths in Reading). I think distribution would be quite tricky for a book without a specific club focus - but other than that issue I think it can be done.

[TonyMac]

Tmc- is it likely the dave Morton and John louis books will come out on Kindle?

 

Possibly, but why not buy the real thing?

 

For me, eBooks will never replace the feel of traditional printed books.

[Humphrey Appleby]

For me, eBooks will never replace the feel of traditional printed books.

Having the option of either would be great. I travel a lot for work so that's when I mostly read stuff, and it's much easier to do that using an iPad or Kindle than carting books around.

Trouble is there's a culture whereby society tends to over generalise today and tarnish everybody of a certain generation with the same brush.

You need to give people the option. The sales of ebooks have been increasing year-on-year (except 2016 which seems to have seen a small decline), so clearly there are those do like them and see the advantages of having their libraries on a tablet instead of gathering dust on bookshelves. I think it's foolish to ignore any potential sales channels.

[TonyMac]

Having the option of either would be great. I travel a lot for work so that's when I mostly read stuff, and it's much easier to do that using an iPad or Kindle than carting books around.

 

You need to give people the option. The sales of ebooks have been increasing year-on-year (except 2016 which seems to have seen a small decline), so clearly there are those do like them and see the advantages of having their libraries on a tablet instead of gathering dust on bookshelves. I think it's foolish to ignore any potential sales channels.

 

We're not ignoring the eBook option - our Kenny Carter and Simmo books are already available in Kindle format via Amazon and I'm in the process of converting many of our other speedway and football titles for Kindle, too. We get it that people, like yourself, are on the move and it's an easier way to transport the books you want to read while 'on the go'.

 

Just saying, personally, I would always prefer a printed book and hope the day never comes when traditional printed books become obsolete.

 

Last year we published a lavishly illustrated 'coffee table' style football book and never in a million years will it look anywhere near as impressive as an eBook, but, nevertheless, to meet market forces, I am converting the text for eBook, to include a relatively small number of the images used in the original print version.

Edited December 2, 2016 by tmc

[steve roberts]

Having the option of either would be great. I travel a lot for work so that's when I mostly read stuff, and it's much easier to do that using an iPad or Kindle than carting books around.

 

You need to give people the option. The sales of ebooks have been increasing year-on-year (except 2016 which seems to have seen a small decline), so clearly there are those do like them and see the advantages of having their libraries on a tablet instead of gathering dust on bookshelves. I think it's foolish to ignore any potential sales channels.

My comment wasn't questioning the matter of books but a general observation made by commentators regarding people's changing habits...which is a too simplistic outlook made with very little substance and/or knowledge of the real world.

[Tsunami]

Bit old fashioned, if all young people think that ..... I hope they don't. I have my doubts because young parents still read their little kids books so giving them good habits from an early age ...

Yes, it is still a very important building block to a child's education. With reading, and understanding, how does the child acquire and seek knowledge and satisfy their curiosity without being able to read. My wife is a volunteer Childrens assistant at our local early school, and takes care of the poor readers age 6 or 7. It is obvious the some get no encouragement at home and have to be shown how to get into reading, and getting them excited about mastering reading and understanding. Interesting contrast sometimes when taking on siblings of previous children she has had. She only takes the worst children and loves to see the child change and enjoy what they are doing.

[waiheke1]

Yes, it is still a very important building block to a child's education. With reading, and understanding, how does the child acquire and seek knowledge and satisfy their curiosity without being able to read. My wife is a volunteer Childrens assistant at our local early school, and takes care of the poor readers age 6 or 7. It is obvious the some get no encouragement at home and have to be shown how to get into reading, and getting them excited about mastering reading and understanding. Interesting contrast sometimes when taking on siblings of previous children she has had. She only takes the worst children and loves to see the child change and enjoy what they are doing.

And this has always been the case imo. Reading is fundamental to do much other learning, and children who get the support at home have a great advantage. Similarly "reading recovery" programmes (or whatever they are called in the uk) are a massive boost to those who struggle, though inevitably such programmes are underfunded.

[steve roberts]

There are two books compiled by Alan Robertson - History of British Speedway Leagues 1991-2014 and The History of British League Speedway 1946-64 - which cover the periods before and after Peter Oakes book.

Just received my copies...fabulous publications! So much information packed into both volumes. A must for anyone interested in the statistical side of the sport.

[TonyMac]

Our brand new BACKTRACKING (Vol 1) book is reviewed in today's Speedway Star (w/e Dec 10).

 

To quote editor Richard Clark: "If you don't want these in your Christmas stocking, you're not a speedway fan.

"Only in speedway can you get such a colourful cavalcade of characters all so willing to talk open and honestly about their time in the sport."

 

www.retro-speedway.com