Lynx Edicions - What Next ? (2 Viewers)

[Pet]

Only one new book announced for 2022 so far. I'm curious how it will go on with Alala/Lynx.

https://www.10000birds.com/is-the-project-of-the-very-best-field-guides-in-the-world-dead.htm

 

[CaliSteve]

Given their history and all the wonderful books they have produced over the years it makes me quite sad that this is where we are at in 2022. They have been my favorite publisher ever since I bought my first volume of the HBW-series back in 2001. Aim still surprised that no one with serious captial behind them stepped in and bought the company when they ran into financial problems. I thought the Cornell Lab bought the whole HBW ALIVE project for a hefty sum?

As I understand the company is now owned by some former employees and it looks like they are determinated to take the company in another direction.

 

[Mysticete]

https://www.10000birds.com/is-the-project-of-the-very-best-field-guides-in-the-world-dead.htm

Apparently the folks at Lynx editions commented on twitter to the author, saying more are coming. So hope? But, I could definitely imagine they might be releasing fewer a year, so as not to flood the market with options.

I recently bought there Malaysia guide and quite liked the format. Given the illustrations are largely available, I would think that these guides are comparatively cheap to produce, at least compared to other field guides?

 

[Pet]

Apparently the folks at Lynx editions commented on twitter to the author, saying more are coming. So hope? But, I could definitely imagine they might be releasing fewer a year, so as not to flood the market with options.

Yes. Read that. Lets see what future brings.

Given the illustrations are largely available, I would think that these guides are comparatively cheap to produce, at least compared to other field guides?

Yes, if I am not wrong, these Guides largely use illustrations from HBW series excluding few exceptions. Definitely these are cheaper to produce as compared to starting a completely new series like Handbook of the Amphibians of the World for which they have to produce new illustration for each species.

 

[Pet]

Aim still surprised that no one with serious captial behind them stepped in and bought the company when they ran into financial problems.

Yeah. That is quite sad, as there is no shortage of money and mega-wealthy investors in the world.

 

[Butty]

mega-wealthy investors

They're people who invest, ie to make themselves (even) wealthier. You may be looking/hoping for a philanthropist.

 

[Pet]

They're people who invest, ie to make themselves (even) wealthier. You may be looking/hoping for a philanthropist.

Most of time philanthropists donate to Non-Profits. Lynx Edicions is For-Profit business and have been very successful until the covid arrived. Their all-time successful is "All the Birds of the World" of which thousands and thousands of copies are sold so far. They have to re-print it several times in order to meet demand.

So yes, any mega-wealthy investor can seize the opportunity now as travel is again opening around the world and there is a tremendous diversity of other life on Planet Earth that is yet to be defined and illustrated in a outstanding way that Lynx has published in form of HBW and HMW.

My suggestion for them is to approach any mega-wealthy investor in their home country of Spain and present a comprehensive proposal of their vision for Lynx Edicions for the next 20-25 years. Maybe, re-naming Lynx Edicions to Ortega Edicions in honor of Mr. Amancio Ortega will be good starting point for Lynx Edicions and their outstanding publications on the entire Natural World of our Planet Earth !

 

[Mysticete]

Most of time philanthropists donate to Non-Profits. Lynx Edicions is For-Profit business and have been very successful until the covid arrived. Their all-time successful is "All the Birds of the World" of which thousands and thousands of copies are sold so far. They have to re-print it several times in order to meet demand.

So yes, any mega-wealthy investor can seize the opportunity now as travel is again opening around the world and there is a tremendous diversity of other life on Planet Earth that is yet to be defined and illustrated in a outstanding way that Lynx has published in form of HBW and HMW.

My suggestion for them is to approach any mega-wealthy investor in their home country of Spain and present a comprehensive proposal of their vision for Lynx Edicions for the next 20-25 years. Maybe, re-naming Lynx Edicions to Ortega Edicions in honor of Mr. Amancio Ortega will be good starting point for Lynx Edicions and their outstanding publications on the entire Natural World of our Planet Earth !

From my perspective, it's just as likely (more likely?) that a major investor would just end up strip-mining the publishing company of resources or create a variety of "innovative" cost-crunching measures that would send the quality of the books produced into a death spiral. I have seen all too often something like this happen when a media source is bought out by a big investor looking to turn a profit.

 

[Butty]

You miss my point (Pet) - which is that maybe your desired business model is just not profitable. Lynx are a smart and innovative bunch - so they've likely already tried all that you suggest, and more.

 

[Pet]

From my perspective, it's just as likely (more likely?) that a major investor would just end up strip-mining the publishing company of resources or create a variety of "innovative" cost-crunching measures that would send the quality of the books produced into a death spiral. I have seen all too often something like this happen when a media source is bought out by a big investor looking to turn a profit.

It all depends on Lynx Eds and how they manage to achieve their goal of not letting their quality (which remained excellent throughout the major 2 series they did on HBW and HMW) go down.

Actually, if you have a clear vision of your company for its next 20-25 years, then I think there are still many investors who want to hear your suggestions and then work on them considering your (in this case Lynx) extraordinary past achievements. So any additional measures can be avoided in the long run.

 

[Torcol]

Bird Photo guides with high quality photos would be great like the mammal series by José R. Castello
They would sell like hot cakes imho

 

[Andy Adcock]

Bird Photo guides with high quality photos would be great like the mammal series by José R. Castello
They would sell like hot cakes imho

Birders don't generally like photo guides, do they?

Lynx went to all the trouble of canvassing birders to see where the gaps in the market were, only to ignore the results.

 

[Mysticete]

Birders don't generally like photo guides, do they?

Lynx went to all the trouble of canvassing birders to see where the gaps in the market were, only to ignore the results.

Were those results published?

If not, I can't help but feel that folks conversing on a subforum about bird books on a birding forum may not be the representative of the surveyed market. I would imagine most of us would prefer specialized guides for parts of the world with poor coverage and inferior field guides, however popular travel destinations might get more positive feedback as more people are interested in those spots, and who might not be aware of the existing market.

On a random note, even if there are multiple books out there, I still really would like to see a new mammal guide for North America, which I also mentioned earlier on my want list. All of the current books are flawed in one way or another, and most are a bit out of date.

Although the mammal situation is far far better than the herp situation for this region.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Were those results published?

If not, I can't help but feel that folks conversing on a subforum about bird books on a birding forum may not be the representative of the surveyed market. I would imagine most of us would prefer specialized guides for parts of the world with poor coverage and inferior field guides, however popular travel destinations might get more positive feedback as more people are interested in those spots, and who might not be aware of the existing market.

On a random note, even if there are multiple books out there, I still really would like to see a new mammal guide for North America, which I also mentioned earlier on my want list. All of the current books are flawed in one way or another, and most are a bit out of date.

Although the mammal situation is far far better than the herp situation for this region.

I believe the reulsts were published, IIRC, Brazil or Argentina came out on top.

 

[Mysticete]

I believe the reulsts were published, IIRC, Brazil or Argentina came out on top.

I hope if they get around to Brazil, they try a regional approach like that really good but cancelled series that only got through the Pantanal and Atlantic Forest.

I don't remember when the survey was, but even if they go with the top options, they still need to line up authors, write text, and possibly add more illustrations. All of these places are super birdy and so it would take a lot of work, so it could take awhile before we see anything on our end.

 

[Melanie]

There is a new coffee table book titled Ornithologies which will be out in November 2022.

 

[Melanie]

Accrding the future of Lynx Edicions: if they want to survive the competition on the book market eg from the American publishers they should merely concentrate on books from niche categories.

 

[Swissboy]

There is a new coffee table book titled Ornithologies which will be out in November 2022.

Coffee table books are definitely not what we need. They may keep some employees busy but not more than that.

 

[pbjosh]

Accrding the future of Lynx Edicions: if they want to survive the competition on the book market eg from the American publishers they should merely concentrate on books from niche categories.

I don’t know. I can see a lot more demand for a guide to the Birds of Brazil than for a guide to extinct birds or for coffee table books. It seems the artwork they have is their massive advantage over other publishers who depend on authors to contract or generate art.

 

[Melanie]

A new book is announced at Lynx:

Seabirds Counts by Daisy Burnell, Allan J. Perkins, Stephen F. Newton, Mark Bolton, T. David Tierney, Timothy E. Dunn

Seabirds Count – Lynx Edicions

www.lynxeds.com