I plan to use some of my writing skills to make a book this winter on large cents. It's going to be very informative, easy to use, and also contain a laminated bookmark as a field guide. My question is, does anyone think there would be a good interest in this book?
That depends on the book. There are several already so you'd need to do something that was different, or "more" than those already written. But even if you did manage to pull that off, it is a rare numismatic book that actually pays for itself. Most of the time the authors lose money just paying the printing costs.
I think its a great idea! Id love to slearn about large cents but never found the perfect book about different types and such. Also, if you put my namein the special thanks, i'll give you a dollar
Of course, publishing these days can cost you nothing more than time. I know quite a few, including myself, who have published through Lulu.com. No fees whatsoever. They use professional binding, quality paper, and they promote your work for free, even selling on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and more. But, like Doug said, to sell it'll have to stand out from the already well known and popular books already out on the subject. That will be the hard part. Guy
There are some great books already out there. Do you consider yourself knowledgeable enough to undertake this?
There's always room for one more factual and informative book. The question of "Does he know enough?" will bear itself out when the book is published. If he offers information not previously available, the book will become a reference of sorts. If the info is either already published and/or not reliable, the book will fall by the wayside as millions of books have. I say it is always good to have more people write and share their knowledge.
Is this to be a general information book or a specific reference on the varieties? The varieties are pretty well covered at the moment but a good general information book could be useful.
The space I see a hole in would be a great introductory book. Something covering the overall history of the series, going over the importance of grading, and surface issues, specific series grading issues, and the like. Then going over all of the resources available, every large cent book, what they cover, the value of each, (ie if I wanted to collect matron heads, but only wanted one book, which would it be?), and maybe even discussing collector societies and contact information. I just think there is an absence of great books like this. Its a pretty far leap from a Red Book to Penny Whimsy and the like. Something to get a novice more up to speed on the entire series before they start to get too in depth in very specialized books. Chris
Chris: Are you suggesting more of an almanac type book? History and basic info about the series as well as how to grade and collect them? Current works and associations, that kind of stuff?
Exactly. I would even go into a lot of the tricks of the trade, how to distiguish unacceptable toning, and other problems newer collectors would face. But yeah, just like you describe. Maybe there is one like this, and I simply am unaware of it. I think even each book written about large cents could have a page at least devoted to it, going over its strengths, weaknesses, availability and pricing, all of the practical information a new collector would die to know.
I agree. Particularly one with new/updated information -- it's been a while since a good general information type book on large cents has been written, IMO.
I believe new authors in this industry is lacking. When the older books are out dated to the new trends of collecting, we need new books and information to keep the collection active. Even updated old versions are almost hard to find. I think anyone that can author good information should go for it. With the knowledge that you may loose your a--. Be careful and good luck. Big Ed
