Lynx Edicions - What Next ? (2 Viewers)

[Mysticete]

Aim having a really hard time making any sense of the direction that Lynx Nature Books (as they are called now) is taking. They claim there is no economy in publishing field guides as publication costs and demands have made it unsustainable.

At the same time they are announcing second editions of field guides published just a few years ago? looking at some of their new releases I can't help but thinking that many of these titles must have very limited sales numbers so where is the economy and logic in that?

There is a forthcoming edition of Birds of Spain but it is only available in Spanish (just as their recently published mammal guide to Catalonia and Andorra) despite the fact that Spain is a very popular tourist destination. I think an overhaul of the HBW project is very unlikely given that we have BoW now.

Most of the cost of a new field guide comes from the writing of text, art (most of which comes from the HBW project?), editing, and layout. Once that is done I imagine it costs very little to publish further editions, as long as they are not complete overhauls

 

[Andy Adcock]

With what to me, seems like an unambitious 'to do' list, I predict a slow, lingering, death for Lynx, perhaps we've seen the halcyon days of paper, field guides?

 

[njlarsen]

perhaps we've seen the halcyon days of paper, field guides?

Two answers: electronic, where sound and perhaps videos can be combined in does have some advantages.
Secondly, Helm/Princeton still seems to be able to make money producing them?

From what we have heard, no-one else have taken on the challenge of making the remaining 2+ regional guides for Brazil, that might be a place where Lynx could do something that would make sense?
Niels

 

[Andy Adcock]

Two answers: electronic, where sound and perhaps videos can be combined in does have some advantages.
Secondly, Helm/Princeton still seems to be able to make money producing them?

From what we have heard, no-one else have taken on the challenge of making the remaining 2+ regional guides for Brazil, that might be a place where Lynx could do something that would make sense?
Niels

Totally agree Niels but as I said above, they seem to lack ambition, limiting themselves to squeezing the last drops of income by re-hashing, existing titles and producing the occasional coffee table book.

 

[Mysticete]

One kind of wonders if Lynx's hesitance with field guides might simply be a result of financial issues. They might not have the ability to invest significantly in the production of new guides as they did before.

 

[Andy Adcock]

 

[Andy Adcock]

So, apart from the stunning, front cover, how can the purchase of this 2nd ed be justified, have there been so many, taxonomic changes?

 

[Melanie]

So, apart from the stunning, front cover, how can the purchase of this 2nd ed be justified, have there been so many, taxonomic changes?

Lynx state: Fully updated second edition with new additions to the Vietnam country list and the latest global conservation status for each species following the IUCN Red List.

 

[Andy Adcock]

Lynx state: Fully updated second edition with new additions to the Vietnam country list and the latest global conservation status for each species following the IUCN Red List.

How may is that, less than ten, excluding splits?

 

[CaliSteve]

First edition included 916 species and the second edition will include 928 species Birds of Vietnam - Lynx Nature Books

 

[Melanie]

There are several red list changes, e.g. the conservation status of Charadrius dealbatus is changed from DD to LC (IUCN 2023).

 

[David Swain]

I just completed a tour in Colombia and have some observations on the Lynx Hilty guide. Reserves/lodges that had guidebooks had the new McMullan (Spanish only) and/or Hilty in flexibound, which is marvelous and completely unavailable. Meantime I toted around my hardbound Hilty and barely took it out it was so unfriendly to use. I have the Spanish 2021 McMullen and should have taken it instead (despite the tiny print). Lynx's decision to produce it both ways seems to presume a large audience for essentially a coffee-table guidebook; I assume the flexibound version sold out right away, as it should have. Why, oh why, even bother with a hardbound version? Surely an overstock of these is part of their financial problem?

A second and more concrete observation. Our guide was Dusan Brinkhuizen, author of the Galapagos guide, and he stated in no uncertain terms that the series was done as far as he knew, but that his information was about a year old.

On my tour not a single person except for me had the Hilty guide. Lynx, with all its profits from coffee table books, should do a print run of 2,000 FLEXIBOUND ONLY copies of Hilty and see how quickly they sell out.

 

[njlarsen]

I just completed a tour in Colombia and have some observations on the Lynx Hilty guide. Reserves/lodges that had guidebooks had the new McMullan (Spanish only) and/or Hilty in flexibound, which is marvelous and completely unavailable. Meantime I toted around my hardbound Hilty and barely took it out it was so unfriendly to use. I have the Spanish 2021 McMullen and should have taken it instead (despite the tiny print). Lynx's decision to produce it both ways seems to presume a large audience for essentially a coffee-table guidebook; I assume the flexibound version sold out right away, as it should have. Why, oh why, even bother with a hardbound version? Surely an overstock of these is part of their financial problem?

A second and more concrete observation. Our guide was Dusan Brinkhuizen, author of the Galapagos guide, and he stated in no uncertain terms that the series was done as far as he knew, but that his information was about a year old.

On my tour not a single person except for me had the Hilty guide. Lynx, with all its profits from coffee table books, should do a print run of 2,000 FLEXIBOUND ONLY copies of Hilty and see how quickly they sell out.

I have the flexibound version. (I must have been lucky )

One version I loved, visiting only northern Colombia, was the Merlin app using the explore of the bird pack for Caribbean Colombia. I have used an English version (v1) of the McMullan and Navarete Field Book for Ecuador and loved it (I would have loved even more a later version as the printing became better).
Niels

 

[David Swain]

I recall Diego Calderon, in one of the episodes of The Birder's Show, opening a box of the new Hilty he intended to give away. They were all flexibound.

The latest McMullen Colombia (Guía de campo de las Aves de Colombia - McMullan Birding) echoes the Lynx format and incorporates the scan code to eBird/Merlin.

In any case, Lynx and Princeton should be in conversation.

 

[CaliSteve]

According to their August newsletter there is new editions of both Birds of Malaysia and Birds of New Guinea among their upcoming titles.

 

[Melanie]

There will be a new book on neotropical primates from September 2024

 

[twitcherf]

I see NHBS now giving a July 2025 date for the 2nd edition of Birds of Vietnam ...