Yet Another Book Report Update
Jim Engel
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The original motivation for the police dog book was to provide a means of organizing my writing, to guide uncoherent and overlapping efforts in order to eventually produce a comprehensive and lucid body of work. This is now essentially complete and in a nearly printer ready format; the remaining step being to decide how much use is to be made of color photos and the processing of the photos accordingly. (This is a critical decision in that it dramatically affects the cost of printing.)
As the text and photo preparation were nearing completion electronic publication, the distribution of books in a digital format to be read on flat panel devices such as the Kindle, was being heralded as the beginning of the end of the printed page, implying that the book was as obsolete as the floppy disk or eight track audio tapes. This widely asserted imminent demise caused us to hesitate, concerned about the possibility of printing the first batch of books destined to remain in their cartons forever, unsold.
But somehow the revolution failed to materialize: E books, while appealing to some in text applications such as the novel, have turned out to be awkward and distracting for material where photos, drawings, tables and similar items are essential to the experience. In reality these devices still have relatively small screens which make them cumbersome and annoying when the eye needs to move back and forth between text and graphic material. Thus it turns out that electronic media is an evolving alternative rather than a wholesale replacement, books are here to stay because they are well adapted to material where the eye must be able to view more than just the immediate text and because many still strongly prefer the touch and feel of the book.
There nevertheless remain compelling practical reasons for an electronic version: international sales are expected to be a major component of distribution, involving complexity and expense in terms of shipping and especially payment. These issues can and will be resolved through services such as PayPal and perhaps the various print on demand services, that is printing individual copies regionally or locally as sales occur. There are solutions, but they have complex ramifications and are taking time and effort to sort out. There will likely ultimately be both printed and electronic versions of the book, a trend that might well become relatively common.
What all of this emphasizes is that the essence of a book is not the physical object; it is the information, the text and graphics. In this sense our book is or will soon be essentially out there, most of the material having been increasingly available on our web sites in one form or another for a number of years. Late drafts of the police and military chapters, the last unreleased material, will be made available shortly. Although it may very well effect ultimate revenue, the purchase of a book will in some ways be little more than a convenience, a way of obtaining the complete body of work in an attractive, flexible and permanent format.
The first generation of living in the internet age has taught us that communication and dissemination of information and ideas is most effectively implemented through integration of the various elements — web sites, email, printed text and images, social media—that leverages the unique advantages of each. Our evolving Email distribution system, which has become a key element, has required extensive software development both for gathering publically available Email addresses and for the mechanics of routinely mailing thousands of messages without disruption. (Internet service providers tend to get very annoyed and shut down service when more than a couple dozen messages are sent without appropriate pacing and time delays.) A successful communication and publicity process requires a seamless integration of all aspects of the technology, that is, quality web pages with intuitive navigation, effective usage of electronic media, comprehensive and timely Email broadcast and finally the offering of hard copy rendering, that is, a book.
An additional factor in delay, beyond the uncertainty created by the projected demise of the printed page, was the realization that our web sites, while rich in material and photos, were woefully behind the times in terms of readability, navigation and most especially adaption to the proliferation of hand held devices which are for many becoming their routine interface with the world at large. These small screen devices demand that the display format continually adapt to screen size and orientation, which required a ground up redesign of the traditional static web page. With the prodding of my daughter, who is a university instructor in this area, and the benefit of a good modern web design course these defects have largely been remedied.
In an ideal world information would flow freely and be easily available, each of us would have the opportunity of writing and creating images because of the need to contribute, labor out of passion and the desire for service rather than in homage to the god of money. Although there are enormous problems and abuses, especially in the areas of security and privacy, the internet has done much to bring this to reality; but the fact remains that scholars, commentators and reporters still need a roof over their head and food on the table. While it has streamlined and empowered the distribution of news and information in general, the internet has greatly diminished employment opportunities for many who made a living through their writing.
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The wholesale disappearance of specialty magazines in areas such as photography and woodworking, and the ongoing demise of the daily newspaper, are prime examples of the demise of professional writing opportunities. Although membership based organizations tend to persist in sending out magazines, this media is increasingly problematic and the magazine is disappearing when the recipient must chose to pay directly. Canine organizations, like government bodies, tend to put the interests, security and comfort of the bureaucrats ahead of the members or citizens, causing magazine expense to carry on far too long.
While on the one hand the internet has had devastating impact on much of the writing profession, it has presented an enormous opportunity to those who write as an avocation, from passion and commitment. This has provided direct access to the world at large, obviating the need to placate publishers and editors in order to reach out. It has brought freedom of expression and "the press" within reach of every citizen.
We have been fortunate in that a professional engineering career has provided a comfortable retirement, the opportunity to more or less live as we choose. Passion rather than money has driven my writing; in my Dog Sports days "Contributing Editor" meant free labor, there was no compensation. The Bouvier book, in print for almost twenty years and still readily available on the used book market, was most successful and provided an important financial resource in support of our avocation. Breed specific books are lucrative because every new puppy owner wants one; more general canine books not so much, especially in that editors are sensitive to what will sell into an unsophisticated market, looking for glib feel good material focused on pandering to pet owner mythology. (As a personal example of this sort of thing, an extensive search for a good book or books on the history of the domestication of the horse and the consequences for human social evolution yielded nothing really useful; if you know of one please let me know as I am still most interested in the subject.)
Although the process has been long and arduous, and the ultimate format is still a bit fluid, the material will soon all be out there. Over forty years, from the days of Dog Sports and Dog World magazines and on into the internet age, which god created especially for me, I have had the privilege of a voice in the emerging American working dog movement.
This is my legacy, let the chips fall where they may.