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  #21  
Old 09-23-2020, 08:09 AM
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tbzep tbzep is offline
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Location: TN
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Initiator001
George (And everyone),

Thanks for the kind comments concerning my writing about the history of this fine hobby.

I doubt I will ever write a book on the subject but I did at one time have a plan.

After my Enerjet article was published in LAUNCH Magazine I thought I would write a series of history articles concerning hobby rocket companies that had closed.

The first up was Cox Hobbies.

I had completed a full outline for an article and written the introduction when I was pulled into some other project.

Before I could finish the Cox article LAUNCH magazine closed up shop.

I was disappointed because Mark Mayfield was an excellent editor and had worked with me to make my Enerjet article better than it was originally written.

A few months later I stumbled onto some additional information about Cox and realized I would need to revise my article before submitting it anywhere else for publication but never proceeded any further.

I have file boxes full of stuff about dozens of rocket companies big and small.

There is some fun material in those boxes...

I hear an NAR publication calling your name!

.
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  #22  
Old 09-23-2020, 10:28 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
I hear an NAR publication calling your name!

.
Indeed--or, if you would prefer, the stories of all of these model rocket companies could be combined in one (or more) POD (Print On Demand) published books, by CreateSpace.com or Lulu.com. Both of these POD publishers also handle all order-taking and shipping (relieving the author from these chores), and make a percentage on each copy sold, sending the rest (which is greater) to the author in royalty payments, via check or payPal (the cost to the author is zero), and:

The author retains the copyright on the work. CreateSpace www.createspace.com is owned by Amazon.com, so doing POD publishing with them automatically gets the book (or other publication, such as an illustrated calendar, etc.) listed on Amazon.com. Lulu.com www.lulu.com , through which I POD publish my book (100% of my royalties for its sales go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre in England, as is written in my signature file below), has an arrangement with Amazon.com by which works POD published by Lulu.com can also be advertised free on Amazon.com. Now:

(My book used to be listed on Amazon.com "automatically," but now such Lulu.com POD published works must have ISBNs in order to be listed on Amazon.com; I *could* do that, as getting an ISBN isn't difficult or expensive, but the book has sold steadily if not spectacularly even after Amazon's arrangement with Lulu.com changed, so I see no need to get an ISBN for it.) The NAR--and perhaps NARTS, in particular--could simply include the link (or links) to the model rocket company history book (or books), from its (or their) POD publisher's website (the royalty payment arrangement could be set to send a certain portion to NARTS, for listing the book or books on their website).

I hope this information will be helpful.
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
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  #23  
Old 09-23-2020, 10:38 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
Wowwwww
Yeah...that records stash looks as voluminous as the CUFOS (the Dr. J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies) one--boxes upon boxes of documents, publications, correspondence, and what-have-you!
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
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  #24  
Old 09-23-2020, 11:45 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rocketflyer
Bob, you are a better wordsmith than you think.
Plus, people who are interested in the subject *won't* refrain from buying your book--or books--on the histories of the closed model rocket companies just because you aren't an H.G. Wells (who is?). Also, there are situations where being a wordsmith is overkill--I can provide an example from our own hobby and sport, which Stuart Lodge (a long-time British space modeler, competition flier, and contest judge--he almost single-handedly got model rocketry legalized in the UK [the infamous 1875 Explosives Act stood in the way; it kept the British Interplanetary Society from conducting rocket experiments]) told me about:

G. Harry Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry" is, as Stuart pointed out, "muddy" and longer than it needs to be, given its intended purpose. While it provides all of the technical information that a good handbook should have, it is "muddy" in the sense that it needlessly includes too much personal information about Mr. Stine, too much historical information about the hobby, and too much extraneous material (such as the account about Dr. Frank Malina's comment about three-feathered arrows [made after Army aerodynamics experts expressed doubts that the three-finned WAC Corporal would fly stably, as all previous rockets and bombs had used four fins]; there are other such anecdotes in the book). But:

Stuart wasn't for a moment suggesting that these things aren't interesting; they *are* interesting, and useful, but their proper place is in a model rocketry history book. The extra material makes Stine's book dauntingly thick, which makes the hobby appear to be dauntingly complex, to many beginners and would-be beginners. Recognizing this, Stuart Lodge wrote a true handbook ("The Model Rocketry Handbook," which has been updated since its first [1990] edition, see: https://www.amazon.com/Model-Rocket...r/dp/B01B99PYNS ), which is now called "The Model Rocketry Handbook: 21st Century Edition" (see: https://www.abebooks.com/book-searc...r/stuart-lodge/ ). I can't, offhand, think of any pithy quotes from either edition of Stuart's handbook, but the logically-ordered technical information that they present is well-imprinted in my mind, and:

Both editions--which can be read in an afternoon, leaving ample time to spare--are only a small fraction of the thickness of G. Harry Stine's "Handbook of Model Rocketry," because they contain only the information that a handbook should have, yet they cover all of the subjects and techniques that Stine's book does. (Stuart has also written other, specialist books about model rocketry, which cover competition flying, scale modeling, etc.). Also:

Your book (or books) about now-defunct model rocket companies (and about the history of Quest Aerospace) could--and should--be written as a book (or books) containing the extraneous information in Stine's handbook should be written. That is, it (or they) should be written in a conversational style, the literary equivalent of an old-timer telling stories about his or her past experiences (as is done, verbally, in "living history" audio and/or video recordings series [we have a local radio program that does this with older residents]). In a book or books, your written accounts could be interspersed with, and amplified by, photographs, catalog and technical report/experiment manual artwork (even Cox had a model rocketry experiments book; the Ninfinger Productions website http://ninfinger.org/rockets/rockets.html is a great online resource for scans of such publications), etc.

I hope this information will be helpful.
__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR
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