Lets make DIVE ATLAS - USA

[drrich2]

500 Pages for 50 states = 10 pages/state. Let's assume no table of contents or index and that some inland states could be touched on in 4 pages, letting you shift their 'share' of pages to others. What are the big dive states - Florida, California, Hawaii, maybe North Carolina, Washington (Puget Sound), put the Great Lakes together... Let's say the rest of the states/content would average 7 pages x 40 or so, 280 pages? So we get 220 pages for those major destinations.

I'm thinking maybe you could give Hawaii 25 pages, California 50 pages, Florida (both coasts, caves, springs, and the Keys and Dry Tortugas) 110 pages, North Carolina 20 pages and the Great Lakes 15?

Figure to cut the Floria page count to make room for table of contents, index, etc... And we're leaving off US holdings like Puerto Rico and the USVIs.

This is very rough brainstorming to get some frame of reference. Is this the sort of spread you had in mind, or were you going to try to give the states more equal footing?

I'm trying to get a sense of how many pages you mean to commit to a given destination. That understanding may help bring your project into focus.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

500 Pages for 50 states = 10 pages/state. Let's assume no table of contents or index and that some inland states could be touched on in 4 pages, letting you shift their 'share' of pages to others. What are the big dive states - Florida, California, Hawaii, maybe North Carolina, Washington (Puget Sound), put the Great Lakes together... Let's say the rest of the states/content would average 7 pages x 40 or so, 280 pages? So we get 220 pages for those major destinations.

I'm thinking maybe you could give Hawaii 25 pages, California 50 pages, Florida (both coasts, caves, springs, and the Keys and Dry Tortugas) 110 pages, North Carolina 20 pages and the Great Lakes 15?

Figure to cut the Floria page count to make room for table of contents, index, etc... And we're leaving off US holdings like Puerto Rico and the USVIs.

This is very rough brainstorming to get some frame of reference. Is this the sort of spread you had in mind, or were you going to try to give the states more equal footing?

I'm trying to get a sense of how many pages you mean to commit to a given destination. That understanding may help bring your project into focus.

I did not want to do a state by state breakdown. Instead I divided USA into 7 regions/ sections . With 500 pages, this gives each region approximately 71 pages. Some sections will be bigger than others so this is division not carved in stone. Some places have a lot of data already available while others will need a few dives just for the purpose of this project. Passamaquoddy Bay in Maine is one of those places that supposedly has mind blowing diving but not a lot of people who dive it. Same with Alaska.

 

[RJP]

I'm still not sure there's a clearly defined objective for this idea. Who's the audience for the content... and what are they supposed to get out of it?

 

[drrich2]

When people hear 'Atlas,' they envision a comprehensive guide, very broad in scope, while likely superficial on detail. Like a water body said to be a mile wide and an inch deep.

Some places have a lot of data already available while others will need a few dives just for the purpose of this project. Passamaquoddy Bay in Maine is one of those places that supposedly has mind blowing diving but not a lot of people who dive it. Same with Alaska.

I'm wondering if a smaller book called 'Off the Beaten Path; Diver Reflections from North America' or some such might serve you better for exploring & raising awareness of some of these special, less well-known places I think you have an interest in. It'd be cheaper, have a more targeted customer demographic, and a clearer mission. Such a book would lend itself to 'quirky' eccentric dives like a missile silo, or the Bon Terre guided mine dives. Things that would make for an uncommon logbook. Just a suggestion.

Richard.

 

[SeaHorse81]

Note: Start a book on your own area and see how it goes.

This, totally. It will give you a sense of what this project will really require, with the most easily available information and resources. You'll either discover you don't want to do this so much after all, or will learn a lot of lessons more easily and less painfully than you would if you just started with the big project. I'm pretty sure that however much work you imagine this will be, it will actually be a lot more.

 

[100days-a-year]

The "off the beaten path" sounds like a winner.The unknown always has a little extra appeal.Maybe a volume each of fresh and salt water dives.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Alright fellas .... so after discussion with a few interested sponsors it seems like the book will be "NO PASSPORT NEEDED! A Divers Guide to Diving USA." The target audience is the newly certified OW and AOW diver ... so no overhead environments and caves. We discussed the possibility of something that was "Off the beaten path" but the sponsor felt like the audience for such a publication would be limited to experienced divers who have already exhausted the well known dives most dive operators cater to. After a lot of back and forth we reached a compromise. For the benefit of dive operators, we will include dives that they offer in their own areas and we will also feature dives that are "off the beaten path" for which divers may need to arrange their own logistics. The sponsors wanted a black and white book with a few colored pages as that would have kept the cost low. It took a lot of convincing but this will finally be a book that will be all color pages. It will not be a hard cover and the number of pages may have to be reduced from my proposed 500 to 350.

Yup!

 

[Steve_C]

For this kind of project it is good to derive a style for the sections as to layout and content before getting content. Same goes for any figures. Need to decide on the format and size and resolution. Also, will there be acknowledgements to the contributers. You have avoided the question of the revenue flow. Who is this sponsor? Is this a publisher? Where do the royalties go? Who does the editing and proofreading? I have been involved in a number of book projects and even when you have the contents the actual assembly is a lot of work. It is made much worse if the contributions area not already in the desired format and of the desired quality. Who will hold the copyright. Will the topic contributers retain the right to use their content? Who makes this decision of a high quality dive worthy of being included.

 

[drrich2]

The target audience is the newly certified OW and AOW diver...

After a lot of back and forth we reached a compromise. For the benefit of dive operators, we will include dives that they offer in their own areas and we will also feature dives that are "off the beaten path" for which divers may need to arrange their own logistics.

Might be helpful to further delineate your target audience and your mission. Also: is the audience the customer you're trying to please? After all, you might be more concerned with pleasing vendors who want to sell them something. Potential conflict of interest.

Are you mainly after the independent dive tourist, flying in from out-of-state? Or are you targeting dive shop staff, travel agency types, etc.., who plan group trips?

Do you intend to simply lay out the varied dive offerings at each, or offer a critical analysis of where to go? These are different things. To explain:

1.) Some dive guides list the various destinations for a location as if nearly all are wonderful. If discussing Florida diving, a guide might discuss the 'emerald coast' and the east coast as though they were equally worthy to most divers.

2.) On the other hand, let's say you're looking at California (as I have been). A critical analysis might say:

a.) Shore diving California is more difficult, and in some places much more hazardous, than the shore diving done in, oh, say, west coast Bonaire, & the viz. at the Channel Islands is likely to be more reliably better, so if flying in, recommend boat diving.

b.) California waters are colder north of Point Conception, warmer south of it, truly warm nowhere, and if I understand correctly the north has rougher conditions. Unless you have a special reason to head north, plan your trip south of Point Conception (southern California).

c.) The North Channel Islands tend to have somewhat colder water, and from what I've read tend to rougher conditions. Go Southern.

d.) You can do a day boat or stay on Catalina Island or do a multi-day live-aboard. Day boats won't go out if you don't have enough people (neither will Scuba Luv, a boat operator on Catalina Island), and from the online offerings I recall, the boat trips focus on Fridays & weekends; a multi-day live-aboard gives the flying in diver more security to dive every day for a few days. Catalina Island has shore diving at Casino Point, so if the boat doesn't go out, you can probably still dive.

Summary: For the 1st time long-distance tourist aiming for a dive trip to California, a southern California multi-day live-aboard to the Channel Islands may be your best option. If you've got non-divers to entertain, Catalina Island, or a day boat out of Long Beach to the Southern Channel Islands may be your best shot.

Another example: Claiming the diving in Key Largo & Islamorada is better overall than at Key West.

To provide the info. & critical analysis needed to ferret out the best destination option for the new dive tourist is, in my view, the more valuable, and I've started trying to include it in some of my trip reports, and my questioning of other people about theirs. It's also contentious, controversial, and can run afoul of business interests (e.g.: if someone suggests to me hitting Morehead City, NC for my trip because it's closer to the wrecks & he thinks less likely to get blown out by bad weather, what's a dive op. based in Hatteras going to think about that?).

In other words, are you mainly going to say 'Here's a bunch of places you can dive,' or are you going to also say 'And here's the best choice for most of you,' and tell them why?

Richard.

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

You have avoided the question of the revenue flow. Who is this sponsor? Is this a publisher? Where do the royalties go? Who does the editing and proofreading?.

I see that you are from North Carolina Steve. If you could do a 10 page write up on the best diving in North Carolina then you have already written 3% of the book. In that case we need to find some way of ensuring that you get 3% of sales royalties. That is one level of participation that I envision, in which you take responsibility for the accuracy of the content and in return you get a percentage on the after sales royalties equal to your efforts into the project. If you know all the diving in NC like the back of your hand but are unable to write 10 pages, then we will need a writer to put that information in writing. Then royalties and flow of revenue is something that will have to be discussed with that person while you can still be credited for information photographs etc. In the end, this project will need writers and I would prefer that the writer and diver be the same person so that this complication does not arise.

In the beginning I was envisioning tiny written contributions from a very large diving population but when royalties are distributed in such a tiny percentage among a very large number of people then no one gets enough financial incentive to feel motivated. This has created the need to work with a small core team that can also ensure the accuracy of content. I am personally inclined to keep the writing and editorial team small. If each state or region can have one writer and editor who submits the best dive sites from that area in a written and usable format then a team of 20 people or less can do the whole book.

So if there is anyone who thinks they are the ideal person to introduce their specific region by submitting a write-up then send me a pm.