This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

RE: [GWL]: Lifes work on Hydrangea

Rick --

I would take Yamamotosan's work on Hydrangea to Timber Press.  I 
consider Timber the obvious choice if the work has commercial potential. 
 If the work is strictly of academic interest, an academic press or 
academic science publisher would be best.  However, my guess would be 
that Yamamotosan's work might also be of interest to nursery people and 
serious hobbyists as well as academics.  So I would call Timber and ask 
who would edit a work on Hydrangea.  Then, I would explain the whole 
situation to that person.  The work may need to be translated into 
English before Timber can even evaluate it.  However, possibly not.  
Possibly, they can evaluate based upon photos and what you can tell 
them, and might prefer to hire a translator themselves.      
 
Here are the reasons why I consider Timber the obvious first choice as a 
possible commercial publisher for Yamamotosan's work:

1)  Timber publishes a number of excellent books on single genera.  For 
example, they have one on Hydrangea written by the curators of the U.K. 
collection.  This doesn't preclude their publishing another; they have 
multiple books by different authors on certain genera.  In this case, I 
consider the fact that they already have one book on the subject a good 
sign.  

2)  Timber does excellent work with books that involve a lot of color 
photography, which many publishers do not.  

3)  Timber's special niche is the more serious, more technical, often 
more scientific books that have a professional as well as cross-over lay 
audience.  

4)  Most of Timber's books are about ornamentals rather than food.

5)  I have several of their books, and they are all class acts with 
respect to the thoroughness of the material, the quality and use of 
photos, and the scientific accuracy.  I think Brian Capon's book BOTANY 
FOR GARDENERS, for example, is one of the all-time great works of 
science writing and teaching.  I have more of Timber's books, I believe, 
than anybody else's except Chelsea Green, my own publisher.    

6)  Timber Press has one of the best and most informative of publishers' 
websites and on-line catalogs.  In addition, they have direct 
fulfillment capability.  This is useful, since many orders would be 
individual orders from people reading reviews.  

7)  Assuming that the book would be of interest to both a professional 
and a lay audience -- Timber can probably do the best job of REACHING 
this audience.  This book would have too small a market to be carried by 
book stores, and thus would not be the right book for the big NY 
publishers that sell largely through book stores.  It would be sold 
direct mail and to people who order it (individually) through 
bookstores/Amazon/wherever when they see reviews.  Timber is of the few 
houses with gardening books that has a direct-mail operation.  (The only 
others I know of at this time are Chelsea Green and Rodale and maybe 
Garden Way.  I don't know about Garden Way any more; I haven't had a 
catalog or direct mail piece from them in a while.  This just isn't a 
Chelsea Green, Rodale, or Garden Way book.)  

Timber Press is at www.timberpress.com.


Carol Deppe
Author of BREED YOUR OWN VEGETABLE VARIETIES:  THE GARDENER'S AND 
FARMER'S GUIDE TO PLANT BREEDING AND SEED SAVING (Chelsea Green, Dec. 
2000)  (See table of contents, excerpts, & reviews at 
www.chelseagreen.com.)  

============================================================
Deal with it!
Make life easier (and cheaper) to deal with by signing up
for great offers from Topica and our partners.
Click now to sign up!
http://click.topica.com/caaacRabUrGSSbVSZwBf/TopOffers
============================================================

Pass the word to garden writers, editors publishers, horticultural businesses about our list.

==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bUrGSS.bVSZwB
Or send an email To: Gardenwriters-unsubscribe@topica.com
This email was sent to: topica.com@spamfodder.com

T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index