As much as the Air War Publications team loves traditional, printed, hardcover books, we also enjoy releasing our electronic publications, or eArticles as we call them. They provide us with a means to publish our stories more regularly and more affordably. We are also able to update and re-issue the eArticles if new information surfaces (or to correct mistakes, which we occasionally make!).
From time to time, Air War Publications tries to get our products reviewed for a bit of PR, and since we keep this little publishing company a hobby, we do not have a budget for marketing and advertising. However, getting an electronic product reviewed is not always easy, because a lot of the blogs and websites are used to receiving printed books and magazines, and model kits where they can open the box and hold the sprues in their hands. When that is the norm, receiving a .pdf file for review holds less appeal.
Fortunately, there are open-minded people around, and one such person is Andy Wright of the Aircrew Book Review web site. For the past twelve years, Andy has read and reviewed books, and does a very thorough job of it (he has another aviation history book review site called Flight Line Book Review). On the Aircrew Book Review site, he focuses on books about RAF and Commonwealth Second World War aviation, and reads many titles featuring the RAAF. Despite his doubts about electronic products, he wrote very positively about Andrew’s article regarding Australian fighter pilot Barry E. Gale. His review can be read here: LINK
It is not just people like Andy that we get feedback from. We also hear from people who are sceptical of the electronic articles, but when they do come around and try them, they are very positive about the ‘price versus value’ that we provide. From time to time we get an email response after a purchase, as with Michael from Germany writing to us last month that: “I really like the articles of Air War Publications – well researched with new and adapt fotos [sic] and conclusive map materiel. Bravo.“
Despite the efforts in preparing and publishing our eArticles, we have not forgotten our other projects. Progress on our three book projects continues apace. For Air War Courland, after working on the late-war chapters and making a start on the 8 May 1945 evacuation chapter, Andrew has gone back to write about August 1944, when the Germans launched a counterattack from northern Lithuania and Courland to reconnect Heeresgruppe Mitte with the isolated Heeresgruppe Nord (this counterattack and its background are succinctly covered from the German perspective by Earl F. Ziemke in his excellent book, available online). Meanwhile, the 31 colour profile subjects for the Courland book have been decided on, and more photos are being gathered by the week.
Morten and Adam have not been idle either, with the entire text of Doug Norrie’s No. 450 Squadron RAAF history currently being finalised, with everyone involved in the project agreeing that the story reads very well. Doug’s research is complemented by hundreds of relevant photographs, maps, and colour profiles, and the result will be a great book and an excellent addition to the library of any student of the air war during the Second World War.
Meanwhile, work on a third book project – another Eastern Front story – is also steadily moving forward. We do not want to give too much away, but the text of the project is currently working its way through the editing process, and has been a major focus for both Morten and Adam in recent weeks.
