NEWS and CHAT
Last updated March 2010

The English Churches series continues with the release this year of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Titles for Avon and Somerset are planned but fieldwork is currently far from complete so publication earlier than 2012 or 2013 is unlikely. I have reasonable stocks of the other English castles and churches titles and no new editions are planned.

Although the 2009 Irish Abbeys & Friaries book hasn’t sold very well it has inspired the production of a book about Medieval English Friaries. Researching it proved to be a real voyage of discovery. I’m unsure how I will be marketing this since it’s unlikely to be stocked by any high street shops. Only a few specialist shops like Oxbow at Oxford and Castle Hill at Kington are likely to stock it. Suggestions for other ways of selling this title are welcomed.

A Scottish Abbeys book is tentatively planned for 2011, along with Medieval Churches of Scotland to replace the out-of-print Old Parish Churches of Scotland. This new title will cut off at about the time of the Scottish Reformation c1560. A third Scottish title tentatively planned for March 2011 is a new edition of Castles of Lothian & The Borders.

Profit margins on the walking trail guides have always been wafer-thin, mainly because it's difficult to swallow the proportionately high costs of laminated covers into the prices I think people will pay for 20 or 24 page booklets. I have however put the prices of several of them up to £3.50, as on a price of £3.00 copies posted to wholesalers at trade discounts of up to 52.5% were actually making a slight loss. I may release some future projects as pamphlets, ie without covers, although that means they could only be sold in tourist offices rather than in proper bookshops.

If you wish to contact Mike Salter, please e-mail me at: salter.mike@ukonline.co.uk