NF Savas Beatie

Non-Fiction
Joined
Mar 2, 2019
Location
Reno, Nevada
I just have to share my admiration for history/military publisher Savas Beatie. That publisher seemed to be best place to submit my history of the 14th Iowa in the Trans-Mississippi in 1863 and 1864 (with my great-great-grandfather's camp diary). They have just rejected it, but during the five months they considered it the managing director sent me several emails assuring me they hadn't forgotten me. And when he rejected it, he gave me the name of a publisher I might have better luck with. It just seems to be a class operation, and I wish I had other manuscripts to send them.

I will check out the publisher he recommended but probably will begin the self-publishing process at the first of the year.
 
How about Schiffer Publications? It was recommended to me by John Heberich (Masters of the Field - about the 4th U. S. Cavalry).

Did you annotate the diary (notes on locations, campaigns, battles, persons mentioned)? Most diaries need that so the reader has some context in which the diarist's comment was made.
 
I just have to share my admiration for history/military publisher Savas Beatie. That publisher seemed to be best place to submit my history of the 14th Iowa in the Trans-Mississippi in 1863 and 1864 (with my great-great-grandfather's camp diary). They have just rejected it, but during the five months they considered it the managing director sent me several emails assuring me they hadn't forgotten me. And when he rejected it, he gave me the name of a publisher I might have better luck with. It just seems to be a class operation, and I wish I had other manuscripts to send them.

I will check out the publisher he recommended but probably will begin the self-publishing process at the first of the year.

Hi Laurel,

A friend just shared your post with me, and I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for taking the time and trouble to write something nice even though we could not publish your manuscript--not because it isn't worthwhile, it absolutely is--but because it is a bit outside our wheelhouse in terms of what we handle well.

I wish you well with your book.

Theodore P. Savas
Savas Beatie LLC
www.savasbeatie.com
 
Hi Laurel,

A friend just shared your post with me, and I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for taking the time and trouble to write something nice even though we could not publish your manuscript--not because it isn't worthwhile, it absolutely is--but because it is a bit outside our wheelhouse in terms of what we handle well.

I wish you well with your book.

Theodore P. Savas
Savas Beatie LLC
www.savasbeatie.com

Safeword Author Services will be proofreading the manuscript, designing a cover, and formatting it for Kindle and paperback. I am familiar with the person's work, and she was my first choice when I decided to self-publish. Thanks again!
 
How about Schiffer Publications? It was recommended to me by John Heberich (Masters of the Field - about the 4th U. S. Cavalry).

Did you annotate the diary (notes on locations, campaigns, battles, persons mentioned)? Most diaries need that so the reader has some context in which the diarist's comment was made.

Thank you, but I am using Safeword Author Services because I am familiar with that person's work (and like it!).

I DEFINITELY annotated the diary.
 
Hi Laurel,

A friend just shared your post with me, and I wanted to take a moment to say thank you for taking the time and trouble to write something nice even though we could not publish your manuscript--not because it isn't worthwhile, it absolutely is--but because it is a bit outside our wheelhouse in terms of what we handle well.

I wish you well with your book.

Theodore P. Savas
Savas Beatie LLC
www.savasbeatie.com

What an honor to have you here on CWT. Maybe, you can confirm the rumor that you will be republishing the Bachelder Papers?
 
I just have to share my admiration for history/military publisher Savas Beatie. That publisher seemed to be best place to submit my history of the 14th Iowa in the Trans-Mississippi in 1863 and 1864 (with my great-great-grandfather's camp diary). They have just rejected it, but during the five months they considered it the managing director sent me several emails assuring me they hadn't forgotten me. And when he rejected it, he gave me the name of a publisher I might have better luck with. It just seems to be a class operation, and I wish I had other manuscripts to send them.

I will check out the publisher he recommended but probably will begin the self-publishing process at the first of the year.
Curious if you contacted camp pope publishing at all?

They are rather specialized into T-M and specifically Iowa.
 
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I just have to share my admiration for history/military publisher Savas Beatie. That publisher seemed to be best place to submit my history of the 14th Iowa in the Trans-Mississippi in 1863 and 1864 (with my great-great-grandfather's camp diary). They have just rejected it, but during the five months they considered it the managing director sent me several emails assuring me they hadn't forgotten me. And when he rejected it, he gave me the name of a publisher I might have better luck with. It just seems to be a class operation, and I wish I had other manuscripts to send them.

I will check out the publisher he recommended but probably will begin the self-publishing process at the first of the year.

By the end of 2020, S-B will have published about ten of my books. It's probably fair to say that the company has made more from selling my work than any other single author's. That's not bragging, it's just a statement of fact.

There's a reason why I work with the company that much. Ted Savas listens to me when I make suggestions. He shares my philosophy that no book can have too many maps or too many illustrations. He does a great job of marketing his books on a macro scale, and his staff is always pleasant to deal with. I've worked with a lot of publishers, but S-B has long been favorite. And I'm not always the easiest to work with. I'm demanding and I can be very short-tempered at times, and they put up with me. What do you think, @Militarybooks? :smile:
 
I just have to share my admiration for history/military publisher Savas Beatie. That publisher seemed to be best place to submit my history of the 14th Iowa in the Trans-Mississippi in 1863 and 1864 (with my great-great-grandfather's camp diary). They have just rejected it, but during the five months they considered it the managing director sent me several emails assuring me they hadn't forgotten me. And when he rejected it, he gave me the name of a publisher I might have better luck with. It just seems to be a class operation, and I wish I had other manuscripts to send them.

I will check out the publisher he recommended but probably will begin the self-publishing process at the first of the year.

McFarland does a good job with regimental histories.
 
Curious if you contacted camp pope publishing at all?

They are rather specialized into T-M and specifically Iowa.

Camp Pope was recommended to me because its reputation might help with marketing. However, to me (just me) it seemed a little too much like a vanity publisher. If I have to pay to publish it, I want to do it totally on my terms. I am using a designer and editor I know and am comfortable with.

I did not write it to sell a lot of books--I just want to publish the information so it will be out there for anyone who's interested. I understand there are not a lot of books available about the Trans-Mississippi. My subject is three companies of the 14th Iowa who fought in Banks's Red River Expedition and Pilot Knob, Missouri, in 1864. The first part is the camp diary one of the men kept at Camp Halleck (Columbus, Kentucky) in 1863. I found all of it fascinating and hope others do too.
 
McFarland does a good job with regimental histories.

Thank you--I did consider McFarland, but Savas Beatie sounded much better! (I also considered and rejected university presses.) An important consideration to me is the cost of the final product, and McFarland and university presses charge more than many readers will pay. By self-publishing, I can charge as little as I choose to make it accessible.
 
Thank you--I did consider McFarland, but Savas Beatie sounded much better! (I also considered and rejected university presses.) An important consideration to me is the cost of the final product, and McFarland and university presses charge more than many readers will pay. By self-publishing, I can charge as little as I choose to make it accessible.

Understood. Good luck with it.

Cost is the downside for McFarland. Their primary market is libraries, so they tend to be very expensive.
 
As both a retired history professor and professional editor, I have to say that some of their books could have been much improved by better editing, especially with regard to structuring and fact checking. To be fair, hardly any publishers invest in that level of editing anymore.
 
What an honor to have you here on CWT. Maybe, you can confirm the rumor that you will be republishing the Bachelder Papers?

I'm sorry--just spotted this. Thanks for the kind words.

Yes on the 3-volume The Bachelder Papers: Gettysburg in Their Own Words (only 500 sets, with 320 spoken for already). If you have an interest and want to reserve a set, you can see them here: http://www.savasbeatie.com.

Happy to answer any questions about any title! Have a great weekend.

-- tps
 
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