Support Your Small Publisher – Not the Amazon Squeeze

By John Fox

Angle Valley Press will celebrate its 10^th anniversary next May. I am very proud of the books that this little company has put together over the years and I hope many of you have enjoyed reading them too.

My goal has always been to find authors who have uncovered new stories about the Civil War and then to work with them to put together a pleasing package for you, the reader. What is my definition of a “pleasing package?” First of all an interesting, well-written story accompanied by plenty of pertinent images that have captions. Next come professionally drawn maps that are related to the narrative, not some generic miniature map copied out of somebody else’s book. One of my big pet peeves is trying to read a battlefield narrative and flipping pages looking for a nonexistent map or finding a map that I need my cheaters, a magnifying glass and a microscope to understand.

While the manuscript is being edited [also professionally] copies are sent to several Civil War historians for their feedback. At the same time, a graphic designer is working on several different views for the dust jacket and the best looking jacket design is then selected. After all this is accomplished, then it is time for the interior book design to begin. Again we hire professionals to do this. You ever see a book with screwy looking font and unusual gaps and spaces on some pages? It screams amateur.  The final stage is getting the book printed which can be a time consuming process.

My point in describing this here is that time and quality mean money. Because I believe that a book is forever, Angle Valley Press will only produce quality professional books. This means that our books are expensive to produce because we do small print runs of 2000 to 3000 copies. You might wonder why we don’t print more copies which would reduce our per book production cost? Good question and the answer is that we have a small marketing budget and the more copies we print then the more we pay in storage costs at our distribution warehouse in Ohio.

There have been many changes in the book industry in the past ten years, some good and some bad. My distribution arrangement represents my biggest monthly cost. My distributor [who will remain anonymous] stores our books and then ships them to the “book trade” as orders come in. Most of the “book trade” represents book wholesalers like Ingram and Baker & Taylor who receive orders from independent bookstores and then order our books from our Ohio distributor.

For Angle Valley Press to have our books available throughout the country then we have to give a significant 50% to 55% discount to the wholesalers [middle men]. But because of this discount the wholesalers pay for the shipping. My distributor then hits me with an additional 18% charge on the net. This has generated some heartburn but up to this time has been acceptable.

However, just recently Amazon has decided to act like the 800-pound gorilla and change the rules. My Ohio distributor ships a lot of our books directly to Amazon. Even though Amazon receives a 55% discount they recently decided to charge the small publisher for shipping. Why? I guess because they can. This will place a significant squeeze on Angle Valley Press. Amazon has already forced many independent bookstores to go down the drain and now I wonder what this will do to all the small publishers.

Amazon Anaconda Squeezes Life Out of Worlds Largest Rodent

My appeal to you as a history book lover is this – if you like our unique Civil War stories accompanied by numerous images and specially designed maps then please purchase our author signed first edition books from the Angle Valley Press website. We have always given Free Shipping/Handling for mail and website orders. Also, please spread the word to other Civil War aficionados and get them to visit our web page and get them to “like” our Angle Valley Press Facebook page. Let me thank you in advance for your support and your loyalty and know that we will be working to continue to bring you outstanding history in 2014. Our website will be hosting a Special Christmas sale that will begin on December 1.

In the meantime, enjoy the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas season and I hope that you and your families will be blessed with much joy.

By John Fox

Yes, I ended this headline with multiple question marks. As a longtime member and supporter of the Museum of the Confederacy [MOC] I have many concerns over the merger with The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar [ACWC]. Why has the behind the scenes maneuvering by the leadership at both institutions been conducted in secret? In fact, last July when rumors surfaced that a merger would happen, the MOC/President, Waite Rawls, stated that no merger would take place. Rawls indicated that there would only be additional collaboration on programs. That has turned out to be untrue and the leadership at both places knew that last summer. One reason this great country of ours has such a leadership crisis right now is because leaders from the White House down to the local level have no problem telling a lie as long as it serves their own purposes and allows them to get the end result that they want.

I have questions about the splitting up of the MOC’s vast collection of artifacts and archival material. Apparently, the artifacts [uniforms, flags, weapons etc] will go into a proposed $30 million museum to be built next to the current ACWC site on the James River. The vast archival material [manuscripts, letters, books etc] will be housed at the Virginia Historical Society several miles away. The MOC was founded in 1890 and through the years thousands of Southern families donated memorabilia to the collections. Is the memory and trust of these families going to be “preserved” in this merger? Is the true story of the Confederate soldier and why he fought going to be “preserved” too?

How is the combined collection at the new entity going to be interpreted or “reinterpreted”? Seekers of historical truth are frankly tired of being drowned by the Politically Correct [PC] wave that continues to wash over this country. As a native-born Richmonder, I can testify that certain elements are continually trying to sweep anything Confederate out of the city and into the James River. Is this merger another attempt to do that?

Focus groups will be formed to invent a new name for the combined museum. Does anybody believe that “Confederacy” will remain in the new name? BTW, I am not a fan of focus groups because they are too often used as political cover by people who call themselves leaders.

A huge amount of money has been raised recently by the ACWC. Most non-profits are struggling to raise funds now and I am very curious to see where all the ACWC $$$$ came from. Would the ACWC open its donor list so that the public can see what companies and organizations have written big checks? Is it possible that a left-leaning group hoping to rid Richmond of the Museum of the Confederacy is fronting this merger so that they can influence the “reinterpretation” of the MOC’s massive collection?

I know that most longtime MOC members would like to see these questions answered in a truthful way with no spin.  

By John Fox

I recently visited historic Shepherdstown, West Virginia with my wife and my parents. The town sits high above a picturesque curve on the Potomac River. A modern bridge spans the river just upstream from the stone abutments of a destroyed Civil War era bridge that forced troops from both sides to wade the stream at Boteler’s Ford [Pack Horse Ford]. We had a great lunch at the Bavarian Inn and clearly visible across the river from our table was the red-brick boyhood home of Colonel Henry Kyd Douglas. Douglas worked on the staff of numerous Confederate generals but most famously he served on Stonewall Jackson’s staff and he later wrote I Rode with Stonewall which wasn’t published until 1940, thirty-seven years after his death.

Confederate Monument at Elmwood Cemetery, Shepherdstown WV

This Panhandle area of West Virginia was part of Virginia until 1863. A group of Unionists, unhappy with the seceded Virginia government at Richmond, decided to secede from the Old Dominion. Though their effort was unconstitutional, the move was supported by President Abraham Lincoln who strangely had decided two years before to launch a war against the Southern states because of their own secession. Political expediency at its finest!

When I began research for my newest book, Stuart’s Finest Hour, which details the cavalry raid that made  Jeb Stuart famous, I discovered that most of the men who came from Company F, 1^st Virginia Cavalry hailed from the area around Shepherdstown. Many of these men accompanied Stuart on the dramatic three day ride that circled the entire Union army east of Richmond in June 1862. Two 1^st Virginia troopers who had a big impact on the success of Stuart’s mission are buried in Shepherdstown’s Elmwood Cemetery.

Captain Redmond Burke was born in Ireland in 1816 which would make him forty-six years old when he served as a scout on Stuart’s mission to recon the right flank of George McClellan’s Army of the Potomac. Stuart was so happy to have Burke join his staff in December 1861 that he wrote, “Redmond Burke rode up & reported for duty yesterday – we have made a great glorification over him. He had many narrow escapes & has a wonderful set of yarns to tell.” Burke’s scouting abilities proved invaluable, but perhaps the most important skill that the Irish stone cutter brought to the mission was his bridge building skills as he and Corporal William Henry Hagan led a team that resurrected a burned Chickahominy River bridge early on June 14, 1862. Seemingly trapped, Stuart’s 1200 tired and anxious cavalrymen waited to cross the rain-swollen river expecting all the while to hear gunshots from approaching Union cavalry.

Early in the war, Stuart discovered Hagan’s talent for scrounging needed equipment and food items and appointed him to be in charge of the cavalry staff escort, which ensured that he would always be close. The large hairy man continued to excel and after the June 1862 raid he was promoted to a lieutenant’s position as the staff commissary and then the quartermaster.

Grave of Captain Redmond Burke, 1st Virginia Cavalry & Stuart staff officer

The bodies of Burke and Hagan lie near each other next to the Confederate section in Elmwood Cemetery. Burke came home to visit family and was ambushed by Union troops on November 24, 1862. Hagan, who lived in Shepherdstown as a young man, survived the war and was buried here when he died in 1895.

However, the most visited grave along the green-grassed hill of this historic spot is the grave of Colonel Douglas. When the war ended he returned to Shepherdstown only to be arrested for having his photograph taken in his Confederate uniform. This “violation” cost him three months at Fort Delaware military prison. He later practiced law in Winchester, Virginia and then moved his practice to Hagerstown, Maryland where he died of tuberculosis in 1903.

The Elmwood Cemetery is open daily and it sits on the south side of Shepherdstown on Kearneysville Pike [Rt. 480]. 

Savas Beatie to Sell Angle Valley Press Titles

El Dorado Hills, CA, October 17, 2013

 Savas Beatie is pleased to announce that it has finalized an agreement with Angle Valley Press to distribute its titles into non-book trade accounts within the United States and Canada.

 Savas Beatie, a leader in the independent military and general history book publishing industry, has produced many award-winning titles and national book club selections. One of the company’s strong suits has been its ability to open and maintain a vibrant revenue stream outside the general book trade. In addition to bulk specialty sales, the company has been especially successful establishing relationships with state and national park sites, gift shops, museum stores, and other related outlets. This ability has been especially important given the weak general economy and shuttering of Borders, Inc.

 Angle Valley Press of Winchester, Virginia, is an independent craft publisher of unique award-winning books on the Civil War and is well known to students and buffs of the conflict.

 “We have long respected what John Fox does at Angle Valley, and his books are always well-received by the community,” explains Managing Director Theodore P. Savas. “This agreement allows each of us to focus on our strengths. This broadens the title selection Savas Beatie can offer outside the book trade, and John can focus more of his attention on creating additional titles for sale.”

 Angle Valley Press’s publisher, John Fox, is also looking forward to the partnership. “This indeed is a win/win for both of us, and allows me to focus on two exciting new titles we have planned for release soon. I am very pleased to be working with a dynamic and creative company like Savas Beatie.”

About Savas Beatie  

 Savas Beatie LLC is a leading independent military and general history publishing company. The company address is 989 Governor Drive, Suite 102, El Dorado Hills, CA, 95762. For more info please contact Sarah Keeney at 916-941-6896 or visit them on the web at  www.savasbeatie.com

About Angle Valley Press

Angle Valley Press is an independent craft publisher of unique award-winning books on the War Between the States. The company address is P.O. Box 4098, Winchester, VA, 22604. For more information please contact John Fox at 540-539-1260 or visit  www.anglevalleypress.com