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View Full Version : THE DONZI BOOK...just an idea I have...



axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 02:46 AM
...woke up this night with a fantastic idea- don't know if it exists already but I haven't found one yet.

A DONZI BOOK!

All about the classic Donzi from 1964 till today, loads of fantastic pics and infos, a book for long winter evenings to do what we all try with our restorations- keep the myth alive!
Show some great restorations, articles about some of you guys who did great jobs on their boats, concours d'elegance boats, engines, drives, paints, history, racing...
I have nicked somebodys pic for my title- sorry for that- is no commercial interest at the moment, just an idea...

BUT WOULDN'T THAT BE GREAT????

jg480
05-12-2010, 04:32 AM
I'd love to have a hard copy of the restorations that have been perform our members. Not to mention alot of glossy photo's of a bunch of cool and unique boats. I'm sure it would be a book that I would look at quite often.
Jim

Greg Guimond
05-12-2010, 06:13 AM
Someone on the board is probably involved in the publishing industry. I think it would be awesome! I can see a page that would have a timeline with the various model introductions, or even better some type of horizontal bar graph, that would show the longest running model with a photo at the start point (1965 16 Ski Sporter pic) with the date. Then additiponal bar's below that filling in each additional model. Maybe you start Axel by doing a mock up of that given the talents you have with the computer graphics, then hand it off to a retired publishing type on the board to flesh out the concept :angel:

axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 07:00 AM
Someone on the board is probably involved in the publishing industry. I think it would be awesome! I can see a page that would have a timeline with the various model introductions, or even better some type of horizontal bar graph, that would show the longest running model with a photo at the start point (1965 16 Ski Sporter pic) with the date. Then additiponal bar's below that filling in each additional model. Maybe you start Axel by doing a mock up of that given the talents you have with the computer graphics, then hand it off to a retired publishing type on the board to flesh out the concept :angel:


Hmmm, may be I start a layout indeed... any more input? :)

3rdDonzi
05-12-2010, 07:54 AM
"I have nicked somebodys pic for my title- sorry for that- is no commercial interest at the moment,"


Thats my boat on the cover. No compensation necessary, I waive all rights, I'm flattered!!!
CC

axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 08:11 AM
Thats my boat on the cover. No compensation necessary, I waive all rights, I'm flattered!!!
CC[/quote]

thanks :wink:, beautiful picture with a beautiful boat by the way!

The Hedgehog
05-12-2010, 08:11 AM
I like the idea. I would pay some bucks for that book.

THEDONZ33
05-12-2010, 08:12 AM
Is this intendid to be a periodicle or a one time addition ? Ill Take Two !!
Either way put me on the subscriber and or contributer list......
I can even provide photos of my 1990 Crossbow and the new 1994 Sweet Sixteen for the edition

axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 08:15 AM
Is this intendid to be a periodicle or a one time addition ? Ill Take Two !!
Either way put me on the subscriber and or contributer list......
I can even provide photos of my 1990 Crossbow and the new 1994 Sweet Sixteen for the edition


...both ideas are good, either a periodicle mag or a hardcover one timer with at least 100 pages. Would first vote for the hardcover edition!

Just Say N20
05-12-2010, 08:45 AM
I think this is a great idea.

If all the information Matty and a couple others posses was put in one place with time lines, maybe a page with basic information about each classic model, information about the various Donzi clubs around the country, and the events they have been doing.

I'd also love to see a section (which would be huge) with perhaps a page dedicated to each member's boat, and what they know about its history, with perhaps "before" and "after" pictures, as well as a few "in-between" pictures showing the progression.

There are so many boats on here that have undergone some incredible transformations/restorations, that it seems a crime to not have their stories out there for everyone to enjoy. How cool would it be, to be able to easily flip to the Parnell pages, and in one place find the photographic journal of the creation of Sweet Cheekz, or the GT-21. Or the Axel section that documents the creation of his Unique GT-21 with splashes of the different paint packages he designed and considered. A must have would be the story of Mighty Mouse, and Ed's 100+ mph 16. gcarter's Minx project, and his current TR project both deserve sections because of the quality of the project, and the great information learned by going so deep into a project. Tony's restoration of the boat Jay now owns, and how Jay has carried on that tradition of excellence. Eugene's spectacular boat should have its own section. Carl C's under deck conversion. MOP, Younger and others who have put Blackhawk drives where they never were intended, with fantastic results. Certainly a section on "The Sting" benchseat Hornet Scott and Matty are just about completing. The amazing thing is, that these are just some of the recent projects. Greg G is doing some very interesting things with a 16 outboard. Michi in Germany with his awesome 22, Bobby D's phenominal boat, Dick B and his excursion into wooden excellence. I'm sure there are plenty more that have gone before, that should be preserved. (These are just a few of the many, many examples that came to mind. I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings by not including them in this example.)

And then there are the great "all-original" boats out there, with some fantastic family memories attached to them.

Who wouldn't want to sit down with such a book, and just marvel at what people have done with these boats. Those stories would never get old, and it would be a shame for them to be lost. It would also serve as a tremendous inspiration for new stories as boats find new owners.

It would be a potentially huge project, but what a spectacular finished product it would be.

Carl C
05-12-2010, 08:54 AM
I think it could be a collaboration with chapters written by different people ranging from Donzi's history to restorations and customizations. Focusing only on the smaller boats of course. There would be no shortage of pics offered. It would have to be independently published. Hmmm, a collection of stories, history and pics. I'd contribute one chapter with pics. Let's do it! :)

mattyboy
05-12-2010, 09:04 AM
I have been working on this for awhile do have some outlines, but don't think there is a real need to make it worth it.

Just Say N20
05-12-2010, 09:10 AM
. . . but don't think there is a real need to make it worth it.

I don't understand. I think there would be a good market. Especially if well done, and the word spread that it was good.

Too much volunteer time. . . .? It would be a huge undertaking, but I think it would be fun to assemble. As well as make a person a little crazy.

axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 09:12 AM
I have been working on this for awhile do have some outlines, but don't think there is a real need to make it worth it.

very enthusiastic idea, of course... I am not the marketing guy, can't guess if there is a need or not. May be it stays a dream because of too much research work and costs, copyright and so... but worth thinking about it!

mattyboy
05-12-2010, 09:22 AM
I don't understand. I think there would be a good market. Especially if well done, and the word spread that it was good.

Too much volunteer time. . . .? It would be a huge undertaking, but I think it would be fun to assemble. As well as make a person a little crazy.


just as an example the LGDCC club printed a photo calendar, printed say 250 not expensive nice pictures of classics we sold about 50. just barely covered costs . think that is a fair test market

z33donzi
05-12-2010, 09:26 AM
iam not a reader really but i would love to see a book like this iam more of a hands on kinda guy at least thats what my wife says any way ive keep some pics of my project along the way i d be glad to donate them for the book if interested sounds like a really good idea research research its only time right how can i help ??

Just Say N20
05-12-2010, 09:37 AM
Matty, I hear what you are saying, but there might be a difference between a calendar for a one time local event, and a "timeless" book available for anyone with an interest in Donzi Boats.

I didn't attend the event, and didn't know there was such a calendar available, or I would have purchased one.

I was thinking about the interest in, and prices commanded by the Don Aronow book, The King of Thunderboat Row.

I still think it a worthy project.

axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 09:42 AM
Or a special edition "donzi shelby" to attract more potential buyers because of shelbys name?

I know you guys think I am crazy and have nothing else to do... :wink:

I agree with matty this project would barely compensate the costs.

Anyway, I guess many of us would love to have a book like this and there will be a lot of people supporting this project with pics and stories... that would be on little expenses... but printing/copyright? No idea!

z33donzi
05-12-2010, 09:47 AM
always have a plan // still sounds like a good idea to me also this is how things get started small talk leads to more talk then talk leads to action then its all down hill baby just like this idea i have /invention ' just do it'

mattyboy
05-12-2010, 09:51 AM
Matty, I hear what you are saying, but there might be a difference between a calendar for a one time local event, and a "timeless" book available for anyone with an interest in Donzi Boats.

I didn't attend the event, and didn't know there was such a calendar available, or I would have purchased one.

I was thinking about the interest in, and prices commanded by the Don Aronow book, The King of Thunderboat Row.

I still think it a worthy project.



It was not a specific event realted calendar it had all of the donzi gatherings in it nationwide thru out the year plus other milestones in the industry listed as well.

it was placed here 16 dollars now try and get 100 or 125 for a real coffee table book
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=55643

it may be a great idea but making it come to be and not loosing your shirt doing it is another story. don't compare a book on classics to a book on Don his appeal is more widespread.

seems all the stuff you want in a book is here on the boards maybe a better use of time having someone spend some time getting in all together here ??

is it worth it to put a nice book on say 150 people coffee table.? that's what keeps me away from it. then to think you'll have to go thru it with a publishing editor/company :eek:

Carl C
05-12-2010, 10:08 AM
I'd be willing to lose a little money on it. I think it would need to be a large "coffee table" book with lots of pictures on glossy paper. Everyone contributes a chapter. Matty and S Pearson could write about the history and restored boats. Others could cover restoration projects with minimal text and lots of pics. Others could cover their customized boats and personal stories. Maybe a chapter or at least a preface from someone at Donzi Marine or even one of the Aronow brothers. With the connections here maybe we could get some stories from Brownie, Matt Trulio, Jim Wilkes, Bob Teague or someone else well known in the boating world. Everyone would sign a waiver to use pictures that they took and text that they wrote. Then we find someone here with the skills to compile the book and we get several hundred copies printed. It would be very cool if it could actually be done.

OK, back to reality now, heading out to the garage to install my sea strainer...

CHACHI
05-12-2010, 10:36 AM
How much is "The King of Thunderboat Row" fetching these days?

Ken

CaribouLou
05-12-2010, 10:45 AM
I'd buy it, but only if there's pictures of my boat in it ;)

Jraysray
05-12-2010, 12:19 PM
OK, back to reality now, heading out to the garage to install my sea strainer...

I was about to say.... :kingme:

Greg Guimond
05-12-2010, 12:41 PM
It would have to be a coffee table piece of very high quality and you would need a board member who perhaps is recently retired AND had a career in the publishing biz to be able to comment on a little business plan. These things are not done for big return, they are like restoring one of the boats. That person would need to edit the piece so that a consistent voice was applied. Content with this group would be NO PROBLEM!

The Hedgehog
05-12-2010, 12:45 PM
I think that the calendar is a neat idea but many of us don't use them anymore. I am sure that many of us have cool calendars with great pics that are outdated. Do we ever use them again?

A coffee table book on the other hand? No, I don't think it would be a great money maker but how many of us would really want one and how much would we pay?

I would have no problem paying $100 or more for one. I wonder how many others would?

gcarter
05-12-2010, 01:00 PM
I understand it is pretty easy to self publish these days.
I guess you could do just the number you want.

axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 01:01 PM
I would have no problem paying $100 or more for one. I wonder how many others would?

yep, that's the question...

I would also pay like 100$ or so for a nice high gloss printed book with beautiful Donzis, not too much text, but pics pics pics...

mattyboy
05-12-2010, 01:40 PM
see we already have a difference in opinion one for articles and history and another for a big picture book.

I have a few $100 plus coffee table books big thick glossy pages probably less than 150-175 pages each

one on muscle cars ,one on the world series ,a few on golf and golf courses ,and one on nu joisey and it's weird phenomenon

all big paged and glossy picture with very big print and overview and surface material not alot of indepth text.


I would love to have one on the table in the donzi room too


I've done a few different book formats from a donzi for dummies to a connect the dot and I keep coming back to the coffee table book as the general appeal book


and please am I hearing this right "have Matty right something" after i get my balls broken about punctuation,grammar and all that happy horse **** :rolleyes: wait I'll do the books on tape part the nu york edition baddabing baddaboom

LOL

Just Say N20
05-12-2010, 02:12 PM
It sounds like everyone would like to have the front of the book have some Donzi history, including a time line, and information about the specific models. I wouldn't envision that being a large section at all. But after the guest speaker is done talking at the LG outing, perhaps much more could be added.

Then the main content of the book highlighting current owner's boats, with nice, hi-resolution pictures, and information if there were changes/modifications/restorations, along with some minimal text of some details of the project/boat. Also any interesting personal information like someone's first memory of a DONZI experience, or why they decided to own one, etc.

I have heard many mention Matty as a source of great information, but I don't think anyone has pointed a finger at any particular individual regarding the actual writing of the content.

I too would pay $100 for a classy Coffee Table Donzi book. It would be awesome, especially being able to turn to the page(s) with your boat on them! I can't speak for others, but I would think we could easily get over 100 people to contribute pictures/comments/history for the project. If your boat was part of the book, you would most likely want a copy of the final result. That would provide $10,000 of revenue. People gladly pay $200 for the reproduction Donzi Marine scripts Seano made, and $100 for the reproduction walnut shift knobs. What a fantastic gift idea such a book would be.

I'm really liking this idea. :yes:

DonziJon
05-12-2010, 03:08 PM
I am a big collector of books....many Brand Specific: Ferrari (10), Vincent (2), Ariel (3), Packard (2), Hacker Craft, Gar Wood, Herreshoff, which some might consider Coffee Table Books. Many of them have much text, as well as pictures. The ones with more pictures than text usually cost less than $30.

I have two large books on Packard (The engines) which were over $60 each. ....The most expensive books I have and just under 400 pages, each measuring 9.5x12 inches, they probably weigh over five pounds. Books with plenty of text are a valuable resource for those who are interested in the details. :lookaroun:


In this Wikipedia definition of Coffee Table Books, I was struck by the term "Superficial".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_table_book

mattyboy
05-12-2010, 03:18 PM
some of the other things I have gone thru is book shape.

if you are mixing text and high res pics the size of "the king of thunderboat row " is the best. if you are going more high res pics a shorter wider page fits the classics better. nothing I hate more than seeing the money shot with staples thru the middle of it. this way you could have say an 8x11 landscape picture on each page. but that's just me

dwiggl
05-12-2010, 03:25 PM
We all dig Donzi's because they are quality, and they last. The book should be the same. I think you would see them have the same lasting value over time as Michael's book has. Yes, I would pay $60-$100 for one.
I would think that very boat restoration shop in North America would want to sell them! Sure glad I bought Thunderboat Row years ago....

axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 03:35 PM
...just found out that "the king of thunderboat row" is selling as a used item for about 330$ - 800$ !! Anyone knows how many of this book have been produced?

jl1962
05-12-2010, 03:50 PM
Well - after 35 posts in less than one day I would say there is NO interest in it! :wink:

Matty - LGDCC would've sold more calendars if there had been ANY 16's in it! Sorry - Couldn't resist!

I would love to own this book!

JL

Just Say N20
05-12-2010, 03:51 PM
Matty, I agree with the format of shorter and wider.

Sounds like a description of me, now that I think about it. :lol9:

axelkloehn
05-12-2010, 04:21 PM
Well - after 35 posts in less than one day I would say there is NO interest in it! :wink:

Matty - LGDCC would've sold more calendars if there had been ANY 16's in it! Sorry - Couldn't resist!

I would love to own this book!

JL

yep, guess it's the winner-thread of the day with more than 350 people viewing and 10% of them replying in less than a day :kingme:

Greg Guimond
05-12-2010, 04:34 PM
Rock on Axel, nice bootstrap concept!

gcarter
05-12-2010, 04:44 PM
One of the most important things to consider would be the quality of the photography.
I would suspect that a professional grade photographer would have to go to all the events for a year to get the diversity necessary.
If it were a collection of our own pictures, I probably wouldn't be interested, particularly at that price.
Then to the question of format.....
Maybe history first, with the usual historic pictures that are available on HORBA.
Then maybe new, high quality, high resolution pictures arranged by era and model. These could be sourced at events, etc.
But to get several hundred folks to cough up $100, or more, it would have to be VERY well done.
The content is what I'm talking about.
The publisher will do whatever you want, in any quantity you want.

CHACHI
05-12-2010, 05:18 PM
Lets not forget Kenny Lessard's (DONZI) effort.

Ken

(Took me a while to find the link.)


http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/162488

joseph m. hahnl
05-12-2010, 06:17 PM
Lets not forget Kenny Lessard's (DONZI) effort.

Ken

(Took me a while to find the link.)


http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/162488

Well there yah go. Reality at it's best, and only $25.95

The double plus ++ 15 pages are free to view++:wink:

Pismo
05-12-2010, 06:21 PM
A Donzi book would be great.

Lots of books on classic wooden boats out there. Good Lyman one, Hacker.

The Story of the Century was written by a guy who worked at the factory for years. Out of print but still a collector fetching >$100 on eBay. Little/no money made I am sure.

It would be a labor of love with no/little money to be made but it would be fabulous.

Photos, restorations, story of the factory, options, production numbers, etc

Great idea.

yeller
05-12-2010, 06:32 PM
Sounds like a great idea, but also sounds like a money loser. I'd buy one though if you want to spend the cash. :yes:



I'd buy it, but only if there's pictures of my boat in it ;)Would that be the one where you're being towed back to shore?

Sorry, couldn't resist :wink::biggrin:

DonziJon
05-12-2010, 06:34 PM
Here's a link I think some of you may be familiar.

http://www.motorbooks.com/ Click on the left on your favorite category once you get there.

They have done small Brand Specific books for decades. If you are considering doing a DONZI Book, and are serious, it might be informational to take a look to see what's Out There...and the prices for comparable books to what you have in mind. :wink:

Pismo
05-13-2010, 05:24 AM
Sounds like a great idea, but also sounds like a money loser. I'd buy one though if you want to spend the cash. :yes:
Would that be the one where you're being towed back to shore?
Sorry, couldn't resist :wink::biggrin:


So funny, made my day...

axelkloehn
05-13-2010, 05:26 AM
Lets not forget Kenny Lessard's (DONZI) effort.

Ken

(Took me a while to find the link.)


http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/162488


Oh, I did not know this exists! Thanks! Gonna buy it and see what it's like.

The major question is, what will be the idea behind a new donzi book?

Is it to show the donzi history, is it to show some great restorations and the process, is it just a photo collection of all types of donzis which surely needs to be done be a very good photograper?

I personally would make this book a piece of art, which means to do something different with an extraordinary, artistic layout, add some beautiful illustrations or design sketches, fantastic detail pictures or picture compositions, try to show why donzi is a legendary masterpiece of powerboat design, investigate the design vocabulary, what all comes together to make it a desirable product, the art of donzi.
This could be a nice approach, all the other above mentioned I can't do cause I don't live in the states.
Means too much research and travelling with a professionel photographer makes it expansive and may be you end up in just doing another book about powerboating.