This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race

Some of you may already be aware of the campaign regarding Campbell's unpublished manuscript. His book Naval Weapons of World War Two is the standard reference on the subject, but his death found his manuscript for Naval Weapons of World War One unpublished. It was been sitting in his sister's home for years, and there is a danger it may vanish forever. The only hope for getting this book published is for people to convince Conway Maritime Press that it would sell. This book is relevant to us as the number of WWI weapons in the WWII navies is considerable--just look at all those old battleships. A recent flood of e-mails was sufficient to get the attention of John Lee himself, the publisher at Conway. He issued the following reply:

Dear Sirs,
Please accept our thanks for the series of e-mails received in support of the posthumous publication of Naval Weapons of World War I by John Campbell. Such a level of interest and support for a publication does underline the opinion we already have of John Campbell’s reputation and his previously published volumes. It also sends a clear message from the readership to the publishers which is of course much appreciated. I would be most obliged if this communication could be posted (in its entirety) onto the web forums and discussion boards where the question originally arose.
I can assure you all that we will now take the necessary time to assess the situation regarding potential publication of the book. This will include an approach to John’s family and an assessment of what would be required to get the book to press (i.e. how much work, if any, is required to complete the manuscript and drawings for the book: if work is needed then who would be capable of completing it?). We would then need to put the book through the standard financial and budgeting processes at Conway which (as with all Conway titles) also involves an appraisal of the international market and commercial demand for the book. The publication of a volume of this scope is of course a huge financial undertaking. Should this appraisal process be successful we would then recruit and appoint a rigorous and suitable editor to move the book forward.
I will report back on progress made on the above in the coming months. Should other members of the various forums cited wish to be included in future e-mails updates please send an e-mail labelled “Naval Weapons of World War I” to Conway@anovabooks.com
Please accept my thanks for all of the e-mails in support of publication. At Conway, we will do our best to try to get this project moving in the right direction and ensure John Campbell’s work reaches the readership it deserves.
On related, I am pleased to confirm that we are currently reprinting Naval Weapons of World War II and stock should be available from late April 2007.
Yours faithfully,
John Lee
Publisher

Please note the passage I put in bold. You can still write to impress upon Conway the demand that such a book would have in the reading public. This would be a great reference, so please write.