MARKETING QUESTIONNAIRE
BOOK TITLE (please include state): The Long Island Rail Road: 1925-1975 (Long Island, NY)
This questionnaire provides sales and publicity information that will help us sell your book effectively to local retail outlets and publicize it to local press and media. Please fill it out as fully as possible and return it to your editor on or before your contracted due date. Your book cannot enter the production stage without this completed questionnaire. Previous authors must complete a new Marketing Questionnaire for each new book. (Note that the Marketing Questionnaire is separate from the New Book Proposal.)
This Marketing Questionnaire must be returned to your editor at Arcadia Publishing, 224 State Street, Portsmouth, NH03801 by the deadline on your contract or fax: (603) 436-7611. If you would like an electronic version e-mailed to you in Microsoft Word, please e-mail your editor.
Part A: Contact Name, Address, Telephone Number, and E-mail Address
1. Preferred Name: David Keller
2. Address (no post office boxes): 7256 Hiawassee Oak Drive
Orlando, FL 32818-8360
3. Telephone: (407) 578-4956 (evenings)
May we give your phone number to the media? YES NO
4. E-mail Address:
Part A: Contact Name, Address, Telephone Number, and E-mail Address
1. Preferred Name: Steven Lynch
2. Address (no post office boxes): 506 Choo Choo Lane
Valrico, FL33594
3. Telephone: 813-653-4047 (evenings)
May we give your phone number to the media? YES NO
4. E-mail Address:
Part B: About the Author David Keller
- Current Career: Chief Estimator with Foote Steel Corp. – Orlando, FL
- Past careers/ occupations; educational background; membership in clubs or societies (and offices held); interests and hobbies: Former LIRR summer Ticket Clerk and Special ServicesAttendant, teacher, bank officer, shipfitter, steelfitter and foreman, project manager and estimator. Graduated with a B.A. degree in history from SUNY @ Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY (class of 1974). Member, The Anglican Church in America, Traditional Anglican Communion.
- Previous works: My archival photos have appeared in various books, magazines and newspaper articles over the past 35 years. I currently have a website at:
Part B: About the Author Steven Lynch
1. Current Career: Insurance Agent
2. Past careers/ occupations; educational background; membership in clubs or societies (and offices held); interests and hobbies: BA degree Science/Math SUNY @ Oneonta, NY. Steve Lynch has 25 years computer/telecommunications experience. He has been modeling, following and collecting LIRR for 40 years. Other interests include photography and railroad history.
3.Previous works: Previously published magazine articles. Currently has a website at:
for LIRR information
for modeling and other rail information
Part C: How Far Will Interest in Your Book Spread?
Please note any neighboring communities with strong links to the area featured in your book. These communities may be interested in the book even though the communities are not themselves featured in the book. This book will be of interest across the nation as many Long Islanders have left Long Island and live throughout the U.S. Their ties to Long Island and the LIRR, however, are still especially strong, and are filled with past memories. This WAS a very memorable railroad!
Part D: Local Retail Outlets and Organizations
Please list all bookstores in your area and also retail outlets such as pharmacies, gift stores, grocery stores, antique stores, news shops, museum stores, and other outlets which might sell your book. Please do not include Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, Books-a-Million, and Borders on this list. Also bear in mind societies and museums who may have their own retail outlets or large membership mailing lists. Please include full address and telephone number as this makes it much easier to find and contact these outlets in advance of publication.
Are you interested in book signings? (Check one.): XX Yes______No
- Retailers
Company
/Contact Name
/ Address (Street, City, State, Zip) /Phone Number
Ron’s Books / / P.O. Box 714Harrison, NY 10528-0714 / (914) 967-7541
(914) 967-7492 (fax)
Cajon Rails / / 915 Arrow Hwy #130T
San Dimas, CA 91773 / (909) 394-1616
(909) 394-1053 (fax)
Rails ‘n’ shafts / P.O. Box 300
Laurys Station, PA 18059 / (610) 261-0133
(610) 262-7962 (fax)
RaritanBay Hobbies / / P.O. Box 4231
Metuchen, NJ 08840 / (732) 494-2932
(732) 548-0193 (fax)
RailroadMuseum of Long Island / Bonnie Cornett
/ (631) 924-7972
Willis Hobbies / / 300 Willis Ave.
Mineola, NY 11501 / (516) 746-3944
(516) 746-8169 (fax)
Trainbooks.com / Kevin T. Farrell
/ P.O. Box 209
Back Bay Annex
Boston, MA 02117-0209 / (978) 387-4997
Schrader’s Railroad Catalog / / 230 South Abbe Rd.
Fairview, Michigan 48621 / (989) 848-2225
(989) 848-2240 (fax)
Colonial Photo & Hobby / Mike Rausch
/ 634 North Mills Ave.
Orlando, FL 32803 / (407) 841-1485
Karen’s Books / / P.O. Box 191
Cardiff, CA 92007 / (760) 736-9288
(760) 736-9283 (fax)
Golden Spike Railroad Books / / 1161 N. Sonoita Ave.
Tucson, AZ 85712-5171 / (520) 546-5778
Dollhouse Junction / 679 Hawkins Avenue
Lake Ronkonkoma, NY / (631) 467-1222
Hobbytime / 1038 Old Country Road
Plainview, NY / (516) 933-3818
3 Guy’s Hobbies / 99 East Main Street
Smithtown, NY / (631) 265-8303
Sunrise Trail Hobbies, Ltd. / 34 Hempstead Turnpike
Farmingdale, NY / (516) 752-0636
2. Local societies and museums
Company
/Contact Name
/ Address (Street, City, State, Zip) /Phone Number
RailroadMuseum of Long Island / Bonnie Cornett/ (631) 924-7972
DanburyRailMuseum / (gift shop sales?) / 120 White Street
Danbury, CT / (203) 778-8337
Strasburg Railroad Shops / (Gift shop sales)
/ P.O. Box 122
Strasburg, PA 17579 / (877) 475-8990
(717) 687-9226 (fax)
The Twin forks Chapter-National Railway Historical Society / Joe Lupinacci / P.O. Box 188
Port JeffersonStation, NY 11776-0188 /
- Special Events or Anniversaries
Company
/Contact Name
/ Address (Street, City, State, Zip) /Phone Number
RailroadMuseum of Long island / Jay Eichler(possible book signing) / 130 Lynncliff Road
Hampton Bays, NY 11946 /
The Twin forks Chapter-National Railway Historical Society / Joe Lupinacci
(possible book signing) / P.O. Box 188
Port JeffersonStation, NY 11776-0188 /
Part E: Media Relations
Please list relevant media contacts who might publicize the book. This includes your local newspaper, local radio station (talk format for possible interview), and television stations (PBS, local affiliates of major networks, morning news programs, as well as cable stations where appropriate.) Also include any county- or state-wide magazines you are aware of, either historical or general interest in nature.
Company
/Contact Name
/ Address (Street, City, State, Zip) /Phone Number
Newsday (newspaper) / 235 Pinelawn RoadMelville, NY 11747-4250 / (516) 843-4000 or
(631) 84304000
Trains (Magazine)
Kalmbach Publishing / P.O. Box 1612
Waukesha, WI 53187-1612 / Retail sales: (800)
558-1544 X818
(262) 796-0126 (fax)
Railfan & Railroad (Magazine)
Carstens Publications / / P.O. Box 700
Newton, NJ 07860-0700 / (973) 383-3355
(973) 383-4064 (fax)
New York Times
(For book review?) / 229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036 / (212) 556-1234
The Twin Forks Chapter-National Railway Historical Society / Joe Lupinacci
(possible entry in their newsletter) / P.O. Box 188
Port JeffersonStation, NY 11776-0188 /
Classic Trains (Magazine)
Kalmbach Publishing / Erik Bergstrom
/ P.O. Box 1612
Waukesha, WI 53187-1612 / (888) 558-1544 x647
Railroad Model Craftsman (magazine)
Carstens Publications / / P.O. Box 700
Newton, NJ 07860 / (973) 383-3355
Model Railroad News (magazine)
Lamplight Publishing /
/ P. O. Box 1080
Merlin, OR 97532-1080 / (541) 955-1096
(541) 955-0346 (fax)
Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society / Chuch Blardone, Editor / 2886 Wimbledon Lane
Lancaster, PA 17601-1454 / (717) 898-9057 (evenings)
Railroading on Long Island / Richard Einhorn
Part F: Description of your book
Please highlight ten interesting features of your book that can be used by the publicity, marketing, and sales departments:
1. With over 250,000 riders per day multiplied by the 50-year period covered in the book, there should be lots of interest to even the most casual rider as well as the seasoned, veteran commuter of today and yesterday to see the LIRR as it used to be, and as they remember it.
2. The book focuses on people, buildings, trains and surroundings. Photos of locales the way they once looked should be of interest to former residents of those areas and to those people who traveled through those locales as well as seeing familiar trains and structures no longer around.
3. Long Island's suburban town communities' development is a direct result of the LIRR being able to populate the Island's farmlands making a 1-3 day trip into a 1-2 hour commute. Additionally the movement of goods to market (potatoes, sea food) in a timely fashion are critical elements to a regions economic growth.
4. What once was common is no longer so. Reminiscences bring fond memories. The book would be a fine present to give to someone who once rode the LIRR or someone whose life was affected in some positive, memorable way with the railroad whether a former or current rider, a former or current railfan or a former or current LIRR employee.
5. With the holiday season coming shortly after publication, this would be a great time to market the book at the various hobby shops and book stores that railfans as well as modelers frequent. Non railroad-specific bookstores will sell their share of books to non-railroad people who see something they like, or that they remember, or of which their grandfather, etc. may have been a part.
6. Railroad modelers use the era of the late 1940s to the late 1950s as a transitional era for their train modeling. There are thousands of modelers out there who model some aspect of the LIRR in this era as well as other ones. A goodly amount of them subscribe to the various model railroad-oriented magazines on the market.
7. Due to the suburban explosion following WW II, many of the earlier photographic scenes reflect a Long Island that once was: rural, bucolic, and sparsely populated along the railroad line with farms abounding. This is in contrast with the scene today. This "look back" evokes the sense of roots, historical curiosity, and current search for one's youth and past that is such a popular trend today.The subject matter and time frame of the book represent “the good days” as many remember them. The post war years may bring fond memories of new cars, new homes, new appliances and a sense of optimism. The railroad was a part of that lifestyle and optimism. People remember the trains that took them to work, and even the trains that took them to war in the 1940s
8. The majority of the photos in this book have never before been published. Many of them have never been seen by an entire generation of railfans. The mixture of photos chosen is not just another locomotive roster book. Rather, it is a look at a railroad for both the fan, historian, commuter, and anyone interested in 20th century history.
9. The format that Arcadia has used for their covers is very eye-catching, especially with the added sepia tone. People will buy the book because the cover is attractive and it catches their eye in the store. A flip-through and they will be sold!
10. Most people interested in the LIRR as a hobby will purchase ANY book about the railroad. Many have complete collections of every book that comes out. Many who don’t will spend all kinds of money to do so via e-bay, second-hand bookstores, etc. This will guarantee sales amongst this very large group of individuals who will wish to keep their library “up-to-date” with the latest work.