Post #790623 by Prikli Pear on Tue, Oct 23, 2018 8:42 AM

History Press is my publisher. I have very few complaints, because they really went out of their way to make my Chicken Ranch book the best it could be, and made allowances from their normal publication parameters. I was like Sven, in a way, because I came to them with years of research, collected artifacts and a complete book ready for publication.

History Press pays no advance. The royalty rate is okay, but they base it on the wholesale price (which can vary) rather than the cover price. Their production deadlines are tight. Their book lengths are relatively restrictive. If these authors sort of fell into doing this book, I can guarantee they didn't have enough time to do proper research into the subject. Granted, they probably shouldn't have pitched a book on the topic if they didn't know what they were getting into, but they likely didn't know how much they didn't know, if that makes sense. An authoritative book on California tiki would take years to research, with countless hours of interviews, and cost significant out-of-pocket expenses to do right. Heck, the same could be said for a book on Texas tiki history, and we all know Texas never had 1/10th the tiki culture California had.

I'll likely get it, regardless. But it's not a priority.