This is just my sad conclusion after analysing view counts of reviews and news report about different books. In News section view count is usually at the level of 25-30% in comparison to, for example, Trumpeter kit. Reviews are slightly better and get about 35-40% of view count in comparison to plastic kits.
I strongly consider discarding books from new content added to the site...
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Aeroscalers don't read books...
Mecenas
Joined: December 23, 2007
KitMaker: 1,596 posts
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KitMaker: 1,596 posts
AeroScale: 1,275 posts
Posted: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - 09:17 PM UTC
magnusf
Joined: May 02, 2006
KitMaker: 1,953 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 - 11:52 PM UTC
It might be the wrong conclusion Michal: the only thing you can say for sure is that we don't read book reviews. Or rather, fewer people find a book review interesting than they find a kit review!
It might also be so that a book is always a book, if the subject is of no interest there is no point in spending time reading the review. For a kit, even if the subject is of no interest of all, there might be a curiosity regarding what the plastic looks like and if the maker has made a good job.
Finally, the site is about modelling. Every member here is a modeller or at least enough interested in the hobby to get a membership. So just about every member is probably interested in plastic models. Books and references are a side interest seen from that point of view and many of the members can probably do without them! If that is reason enough to stop publishing book related news and reviews I don't know... There are still many modellers around who are interested!
I suppose it is a bit like publishing plastic model reviews in "The Times Litterary Supplement". I am sure a review would be read by a few people but certainly by far from a majority of the readers
!
Magnus
It might also be so that a book is always a book, if the subject is of no interest there is no point in spending time reading the review. For a kit, even if the subject is of no interest of all, there might be a curiosity regarding what the plastic looks like and if the maker has made a good job.
Finally, the site is about modelling. Every member here is a modeller or at least enough interested in the hobby to get a membership. So just about every member is probably interested in plastic models. Books and references are a side interest seen from that point of view and many of the members can probably do without them! If that is reason enough to stop publishing book related news and reviews I don't know... There are still many modellers around who are interested!
I suppose it is a bit like publishing plastic model reviews in "The Times Litterary Supplement". I am sure a review would be read by a few people but certainly by far from a majority of the readers
! Magnus
drabslab
Joined: September 28, 2004
KitMaker: 2,186 posts
AeroScale: 1,587 posts
Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 12:55 AM UTC
Quoted Text
This is just my sad conclusion after analysing view counts of reviews and news report about different books. In News section view count is usually at the level of 25-30% in comparison to, for example, Trumpeter kit. Reviews are slightly better and get about 35-40% of view count in comparison to plastic kits.
I strongly consider discarding books from new content added to the site...
Well, I strongly disagree!
Please allow me to explain:
1. Measuring the value of contributions only by the number of views they generate is a bad idea.
Today, book reviews may be the smallest service aeroscale is offering but stopping this will immediately lead to a new "smallest part" fit for elimination. So, after a few rounds of optimisation, what will be left? and will that leftover be enough to keep the users coming to the site?
2. Looking at my own contributions to the site, some of my reviews and features have generated a limited view count compared to the others, fit for deletion as well? If yes, how can we voluntary contributors know if it is worth writing something for the site?
Finally, maybe the above sounds a bit hostile, for which i apologise, I don't mean to hurt but I feel a bit strongly about "survival of th fittest" approaches
But you are definitively right about one thing, its a pity that this part of the site is not generating more interest of the site community, so maybe this topic could be formulated differently:
-> Why are aeroscale users not paying more attention to the book reviews,
-> what coudl happen to boost the interest?
vanize
Joined: January 30, 2006
KitMaker: 1,954 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 03:24 AM UTC
salient points:
1.I probably spend more time reading modelling related books than i do working on models.
2. an online review can show the whole kit visually, but if they do more than a few sample pages of a book, it is copyright infringement.
3. I need to look thru the majority of a book and read a few paragraphs before i decide if I am buying it, not glance at a small pic of a couple pages.
the result is online reviews of books just don't give me what I need compared to model kit reviews.
with a kit review, the thumbs up or down is less subjective - detail, shape, fit, all these things easily translate to other modelers. sure there are opinions too, but i can usually tell where I diverge in comparison, partly because i can see most of what comes in the box.
With a book, a review is mostly opinion that only has incidental chance of being in agreement with mine, and copyright laws restrict me from having enough info to draw my own conclusions if they are different from the reviewers.
Probably the only real benefit i get from a book review is the knowledge that the subject matter is out there, and to get that info i don't even need to click on the link. News items that mark the release of relevant books are therefor just as useful to me I suppose.
But for those of us not fortunate enough to have access to a nicely stocked LHS that carries this reading material, an online review is probably the best resource for making online purchases, so for their sake I'd say the book reviews are probably very important to the smaller segment of KitMaker members that read them.
1.I probably spend more time reading modelling related books than i do working on models.
2. an online review can show the whole kit visually, but if they do more than a few sample pages of a book, it is copyright infringement.
3. I need to look thru the majority of a book and read a few paragraphs before i decide if I am buying it, not glance at a small pic of a couple pages.
the result is online reviews of books just don't give me what I need compared to model kit reviews.
with a kit review, the thumbs up or down is less subjective - detail, shape, fit, all these things easily translate to other modelers. sure there are opinions too, but i can usually tell where I diverge in comparison, partly because i can see most of what comes in the box.
With a book, a review is mostly opinion that only has incidental chance of being in agreement with mine, and copyright laws restrict me from having enough info to draw my own conclusions if they are different from the reviewers.
Probably the only real benefit i get from a book review is the knowledge that the subject matter is out there, and to get that info i don't even need to click on the link. News items that mark the release of relevant books are therefor just as useful to me I suppose.
But for those of us not fortunate enough to have access to a nicely stocked LHS that carries this reading material, an online review is probably the best resource for making online purchases, so for their sake I'd say the book reviews are probably very important to the smaller segment of KitMaker members that read them.
JackFlash
Joined: January 25, 2004
KitMaker: 11,669 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 10:40 AM UTC
To me this says that 25-30% of the members need our input to make informed choices concerning reference materials.
Dragon164
#226
Joined: February 20, 2012
KitMaker: 1,909 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 11:24 AM UTC
I think the book reviews are needed!
I have not read a book review here yet but only because I have not built anything I did not have references for, when I do build something I need references for I am sure the book reviews will come in handy.
Cheers Rob.
I have not read a book review here yet but only because I have not built anything I did not have references for, when I do build something I need references for I am sure the book reviews will come in handy.
Cheers Rob.
Mecenas
Joined: December 23, 2007
KitMaker: 1,596 posts
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KitMaker: 1,596 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 08:15 PM UTC
Good provocation always works 
I had to use some strong title to get your attention and scare a bit with the threat of discarding new content about books.
To be honest I wanted to get your detailed opinions as I really couldn't understand why these articles get less attention than other. Personally I love books and reading so this was quite important for me, as one of the editors, to know what drives our readers into reading or not reading "bookish" articles. From what you all say I guess that books or magazines about building model kits should be more welcomed than those e.g. about general history of air-battles over Normandy on D-Day.
I had to use some strong title to get your attention and scare a bit with the threat of discarding new content about books. To be honest I wanted to get your detailed opinions as I really couldn't understand why these articles get less attention than other. Personally I love books and reading so this was quite important for me, as one of the editors, to know what drives our readers into reading or not reading "bookish" articles. From what you all say I guess that books or magazines about building model kits should be more welcomed than those e.g. about general history of air-battles over Normandy on D-Day.
spaarndammer
Joined: January 28, 2007
KitMaker: 1,945 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 08:20 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Probably the only real benefit i get from a book review is the knowledge that the subject matter is out there, and to get that info i don't even need to click on the link. News items that mark the release of relevant books are therefor just as useful to me I suppose.
I hardly read books (but nevertheless I buy them now and then), but I often take a look at the book reviews to see whether this can be useful for me. The book about the Fokker DXII is such an example. Now that I know its there, I will look for it when published. And the information provided in the book review helps me determining if its worth looking for.
So yes, please continue with these reviews and news items.
drabslab
Joined: September 28, 2004
KitMaker: 2,186 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 - 09:23 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Good provocation always works
To be honest I wanted to get your detailed opinions as I really couldn't understand why these articles get less attention than other. Personally I love books and reading so this was quite important for me, as one of the editors, to know what drives our readers into reading or not reading "bookish" articles. From what you all say I guess that books or magazines about building model kits should be more welcomed than those e.g. about general history of air-battles over Normandy on D-Day.
About provocation: yes it usually leads to a strong reaction and it is therefore sometimes used by staff to ask our opinion on one topic or another. Unfortunately, a reaction to a provocation is usually not th most balanced one and may overshoot the reason behind the provocation.
About the book reviews, obviously I am not visiting aeroscale to find reviews of coock books, for the rest, as long as it is relevant to aircraft, i am interested.
Also, chewing again on an issue that I brought up several times, its a pity that "individual topics" are not linked. A chapter at the bottom of a page with "Selected Related Reading" could lead the reader of a review of a tamiya F-16 kit to relevant aftermarket stuff, and why not, the reviewed books related to the F-16. But I guess that could becoem a nightmare to catalog all that.
Snorri23
Joined: March 25, 2010
KitMaker: 514 posts
AeroScale: 244 posts
Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2013 - 04:38 AM UTC
I do enjoy that there is a section for book reviews, knowing that said book exists, learning the related value of the book. Having the reference material handy will save hours looking for the reference on-line. Models will come and go yet always return. Though books once gone will never return. I suspect that the value of books is in direct inverse to the age of the modeller. Correcting a blob is easier with reference,with modern 1000+ piece jumbles not so much. Maybe more.
FalkeEins
Joined: March 07, 2005
KitMaker: 868 posts
AeroScale: 690 posts
Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2013 - 12:45 PM UTC
.. as an aeroscaler who has written book reviews for aeroscale I do tend to think that there are perhaps too many reviews of Osprey books on aeroscale - I think most modellers know what to expect from an Osprey title, although I doubt many modellers actually use them for reference!
JPTRR
Managing Editor
#051
Joined: December 21, 2002
KitMaker: 7,772 posts
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Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2013 - 06:13 PM UTC
Quoted Text
.. as an aeroscaler who has written book reviews for aeroscale I do tend to think that there are perhaps too many reviews of Osprey books on aeroscale - I think most modellers know what to expect from an Osprey title, although I doubt many modellers actually use them for reference!
I know many modelers who actually use Osprey for reference. Osprey authors and contributors include erudite names such as Dr. Atwater; Guttman; Jentz; Sweetman; Zaloga, et al. Osprey title subject material is limited by standardized number of pages per series, although they are combining like topics into comprehensive hardbacks. Thus, many titles tend to be a taste of a subject rather than a banquets.
I have not ventured to other model websites for quite some time so I do not know how active Osprey is elsewhere; I surmise that we have so many Osprey reviews because Osprey actively participates with KitMaker. I surmise that Osprey actively participates with KitMaker because of the quantity and quality of KitMaker review production.
drabslab
Joined: September 28, 2004
KitMaker: 2,186 posts
AeroScale: 1,587 posts
Posted: Friday, January 18, 2013 - 01:10 AM UTC
Quoted Text
.. as an aeroscaler who has written book reviews for aeroscale I do tend to think that there are perhaps too many reviews of Osprey books on aeroscale - I think most modellers know what to expect from an Osprey title, although I doubt many modellers actually use them for reference!
Osprey is specialising in books directly or indirectly interesting for modellers, so it may be normal that a lot of reviews of thier publications are available.
Or, you could say it differently, its a pity that there are no more reviews of non-Osprey books. i know, a bit cheecky.
FalkeEins
Joined: March 07, 2005
KitMaker: 868 posts
AeroScale: 690 posts
Posted: Friday, January 18, 2013 - 01:27 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I surmise that Osprey actively participates with KitMaker because of the quantity and quality of KitMaker review production.
I'd agree with that to a certain extent - Osprey gets some extensive well written coverage here - albeit a tad 'uncritical' in my view..
I'd agree with DS, its a shame other publishers don't seem to get much of a look in...
raypalmer
Joined: March 29, 2010
KitMaker: 1,151 posts
AeroScale: 985 posts
Posted: Friday, February 22, 2013 - 12:05 PM UTC
Whenever I see a "profile bible" of aircraft I buy it. But I only really value the ones with lots of profiles and other much else. But I guess wings palette sort of obviates the need for those now.
So really I do one hundred percent of my modelling related reading online. Read novels otherwise...
So really I do one hundred percent of my modelling related reading online. Read novels otherwise...
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