Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Want to be an author for History Press?

As a former Repository reporter, I must tell you how much I love “BJ Alums.” It’s an absolutely brilliant way to keep in touch with former co-workers.



And I’m hoping it’s an absolutely brilliant way for me to find potential authors in the Akron area.



I’ve recently accepted a commissioning editor position with The History Press, a publisher of local and regional history books based in Charleston, SC. It’s my duty to find authors/ historians in Ohio who are interested in preserving the rich history of the Buckeye State.



I’d love to get a title or two underway in the Akron area, and I’m hoping you guys may be able to hook me up with the right authors.



We publish several core series of books, including Brief Histories, American Chronicles and Vintage Images. We’ve also found a considerable amount of success with our works that focus on an area’s seedy past – and really, every place has one. These books generally run as one of three series: Murder and Mayhem, True Crimes or Wicked.



In Brief Histories, the history of a town or county is presented in a straightforward, readable style that will be accessible to all readers. The books are typically between 30,000 and 40,000 words long and contain around 50-100 pictures.



American Chronicles books are compilations of history articles or historical vignettes about interesting people, places and events in an area’s past. They are between 25,000 and 35,000 words long with 25-75 images. This is a great project for the local newspaper’s history columnist or blogger, as these works of tremendous local historical value can put together with surprising ease.



The Vintage Images series are visually driven books that present the history of an area through a collection of historic images. There are three different types of Vintage Image books:



-The “Lost” series comprises collections of images that document elements of a town’s history that have been lost to time. The number of images depends on the book’s layout but ranges from 140-200. Introductions and captions combine for a total of approximately 15,000 words.

-The “Picturing the 20th Century” series is similar in format to “Lost” books, but focuses on images of a town or county as it has grown and changed through the 20th century.

- Finally, our “101 Glimpses” books are smaller, gift books that show the highlights of an area’s history. As the series name indicates, these books have 101 pictures – as well as a short introduction and captions.



The History Press is a traditional publisher and handles all parts of the publishing process, including financing, sales, editorial, design and printing, and compensates its authors with royalties. For more information about us, please visit our website at www.historypress.net.



I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer as I look for book projects in the Akron area. I would be delighted to hear from you and answer any questions about our program. Again, “BJ Alums” is a truly beautiful blog.



Regards,



Joe

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If you're interested, call Joe at the phone number in this posting.

If you want to check on History Press, click on the headline.





Joseph Gartrell
Commissioning Editor
The History Press
18 Percy Street
Charleston, SC 29403
Office: 843.577.5971 Ext. 156
Fax: 843.577.6712

www.historypress.net

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