colonel vincent Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Dear fellow Classic Car Enthusiasts: I'm extremely excited and proud to announce the publication of my book, Detroit Steel Artists. Check out my book's website. detroitsteelartists.com Books will be available on Amazon on March 25! Matt 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
58L-Y8 Posted March 23, 2022 Share Posted March 23, 2022 Will autographed copies directly from you be available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel vincent Posted March 25, 2022 Author Share Posted March 25, 2022 Hi, Not at this time, unfortunately. I'm trying to figure out how to make that request work as I want to fulfill that request. I'm working on a plan to be at a couple of major car events, like Hershey, where I can sign books. Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark66A Posted March 27, 2022 Share Posted March 27, 2022 The leather is supposed to be fastened at either end by a brass wire holding it in a groove. I obtained goat leather from Tandy that was thee right thickness. That leather is normally used for gloves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
packard12man Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 Congratulations Matt on a great book. Received my copy last week. Excellent research and insight into some of the personalities of the classic car era. A wealth of information on Murray/Dietrich and LeBaron/Briggs. Highly recommended. Brian 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted April 24, 2022 Share Posted April 24, 2022 I got my copy a couple weeks ago. I have not had a chance to read it covered a cover but thumbed through it. Very well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel vincent Posted July 2, 2022 Author Share Posted July 2, 2022 Hi, if you are still on the fence about my book, I wanted to share some of the great reviews of my book. Here's Car & Driver magazine's review of my book: "Detroit Steel Artists" Is a Book About the Birth of Car Styling (caranddriver.com) speedreaders.info- Transportation Book Review website: » Detroit Steel Artists (speedreaders.info) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 I only finished 1/2 so far, I keep getting interrupted by life. The book is very biographical in nature and with many pieces of info that were new to me. Anyways, this is the review I published on Amazon: This is a car book unlike any I have read in the last 30 years. In an entertaining and expertly researched fashion it provides the backstory behind some of the most important men of the custom coachbuilding era in the US. Ray Dietrich, Ralph Roberts, Tom Hibbard, and some of the other greats are given a thorough biographical examination. There is fascinating information in this book that I have never seen anywhere else. An absolute requirement for any serious car buff and collector. Well done Mr. Kilkenny! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel vincent Posted September 19, 2022 Author Share Posted September 19, 2022 Hi, On October 22 I will have a book signing event at the famous Autobooks-Aerobooks in Burbank CA. You can preorder your signed copy on their website. See you there! Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted December 29, 2022 Share Posted December 29, 2022 I found some time to finish Matt's book to the very end. Exceptionally well done. Recommended for any prewar car enthusiast. Matt, I'm curious about the title. The book is very Ray Dietrich centric, biographical of him and then the characters that came and went in his life. Was a reason you did not use his name in the title and went with something more generic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 My copy is on order. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 @colonel vincentare you offering signed copies of this? Figured I would check before heading to Amazon. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kblake Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Received this book a few weekends ago and I love it. Great Job Matt! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted February 11, 2023 Share Posted February 11, 2023 Finally ordered mine from Amazon today. I will say an ebay guy (Eagle something) shows 10 remaining and Amazon showed same number available, both around $85. I noticed he is the actual Amazon seller also so, only a few left at that price if you are thinking on it. Some other vendors show it but they are in the $100 + range. Looking forward to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 It's here, but not all roses. Happy to get this book however, I would urge extreme caution when ordering this book. I ordered via Amazon, which is actually the Oregon dealer who has them direct as well. Shipped in a box 3x too large with no packing material at all. Either these guys need to fire someone or they have no business selling $85 books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I ordered mine from Autobooks-Aerobooks in Burbank: Home - Autobooks-Aerobooks because Amazon Canada did not carry it. Much to my suprise, it was autographed the author. It was VERY well packaged and arrived without a mark on it. I will recommend Autobooks-Aerobooks highly. Craig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Craig that is excellent. After cooling off a bit, I thumbed through it and cannot wait to dig in. This particular Amazon seller appears to be a subsidiary of a big book wholesaler so they really do not belong in tbe business of shipping singles if they cannot do it right. But that is that. The quality is outstanding, and I am looking forward to some recliner time with the long weekend coming up!! 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted February 17, 2023 Share Posted February 17, 2023 Ok one more post on this. Dug in a little last night. Graphics are great and Matt has a nice writing style, easy read despite all the info. I noticed an extensive list of citations including our own @Walt G !! Highly recommended!! 👍😊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel vincent Posted March 4, 2023 Author Share Posted March 4, 2023 Hi Everyone, I have not checked back in a while and noticed the comments. Thanks to everyone that has purchased the book and for the nice comments. I couldn't be happier with the feedback on the book as well as the press reviews which are located on my website: detroitsteelartists.com. I have left the bookselling up to others because I didn't feel I had the bandwidth to handle this type of stuff. I may rethink this. If the printer or warehouse was closer to where I live I may have just gone there and signed every book but this wasn't possible. I would love to sign everyone's book. I'm sorry to hear about the damaged book from that particular reseller. This is something I don't have control over. Autobooks-Aerobooks probably has a few more autographed copies from me from my book signing event I had there. Great bookstore. Amelia Island wasn't in the cards this year to sell and sign books. Perhaps next year. I will be giving a talk on my book at the 2023 Packard Club National Meet in Northern California in early July this year. The plan is to sell and sign books. To Answer Al's question on why I didn't just name the book after Dietrich. If I had to summarize my book in a couple of sentences: Styling is a given today for selling cars. How did that come to be? Edsel Ford, Hibbard, Dietrich, and Roberts were major players in turning Detroit into a styling mecca. While I think my book is very comprehensive about Dietrich as well as the business side of Dietrich and the Le Baron companies, and I have a ton of first-person quotes from Dietrich himself, the bigger picture of the book is about how styling really began in the auto industry and the challenges to get it to take hold as a selling point. I think there is a lot of new insight into Tom Hibbard also. Dietrich was clearly a major part of this movement. This is really why I came up with the name I did, the bigger picture and larger story of the avant-garde artists who changed the industry. I talk about Amos Northup also. While many reviews have applauded me for the comprehensive history of Dietrich and Le Baron companies and for clarifying long-told myths, I'm just as proud of what I researched and wrote in chapter 2 as these other chapters. Matt 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted March 4, 2023 Share Posted March 4, 2023 Matt, again, great book. In no way can you control reseller shipping. While I know we don't call out vendors specifically on this site I will just say there based out of Roseburg, Oregon and are a subsidiary of a large book wholesaler out of TN. They have been unresponsive (surprise!) So we move on. Could have been worse. Re raising to save others the hassle. Wish I knew about the CA shop, sounds like the route to take. Thanks, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted March 6, 2023 Share Posted March 6, 2023 On 3/4/2023 at 5:43 AM, Steve_Mack_CT said: Wish I knew about the CA shop, sounds like the route to take. In my case, it was good fortune to find an excellent book seller who looks after online customers like they were face-to-face with you in the store. After Amazon and Amazon.ca being both dead ends for purchasing this great book, I went online, and the seller in CA impressed me as the 'best' in that they take their online transactions as a serious part of their business, and count on it for increased sales and revenue, regardless where you live. Getting a signed copy was an added, and unexpected bonus. Craig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel vincent Posted March 6, 2023 Author Share Posted March 6, 2023 (edited) Hi, It's disappointing when you are anticipating a shipment and it arrives damaged. If you aren't located close to a retailer for my book, and you want the least amount of middlemen handling it so it arrives in the best possible condition, please order my book directly from the distributor, Itasca Books. I have just arranged with the distributor for a 15% discount off the list price when you order directly from itascabooks.com. You will see this discount when you place your order. In addition, as you could probably guess, I get the most remuneration from the book when you order direct from the distributor. This will also help in my decision about publishing my next book. For those outside the United States, the book is now available in many countries around the world including Amazon and/or other resellers in Canada, UK, Japan, France, etc. Matt Edited March 6, 2023 by colonel vincent needed to add one more thing to post (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel vincent Posted April 5, 2023 Author Share Posted April 5, 2023 Hi, I wanted to share the great news that my book, Detroit Steel Artists, has won two awards from the Independent Book Publishers Association (IPBA), and is a finalist for the 2023 gold award in the "Coffee Table Book" and "Cover Design" categories! "Winning an IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award says to bookstores, reviewers, and readers, 'This is one of the best books published in this category and it deserves to be noticed'," said Patagonia Books publisher and previous IBPA Board Chair Karla Olson. This year there were over 1,800 entries. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bloom Posted April 5, 2023 Share Posted April 5, 2023 Congratulations Matt! Nice to see your hard work appreciated. This post is a good reminder for me to get off my butt and order it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colonel vincent Posted May 20, 2023 Author Share Posted May 20, 2023 A few Friday evenings ago in San Diego, I had the honor of receiving the 2023 Gold Award for the best coffee table book from the Independent Book Publishers Association! The goal of my book was to write something that the car community would really appreciate. This was on my bucket list. I had absolutely no expectations that my book would be viewed so favorably outside the car world. It now has been recognized for just plain being a great book. A great history book in the form of a coffee table book. Fantastic images are woven within a great story. To have my book recognized by the general book publishing community is truly humbling. Winners: Coffee Table Book | IBPA Book Award 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alsancle Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 Congrats Matt. It is a great book. I recommend it to anyone trying to understand the coachbuilt era in the US. Fun read too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TG57Roadmaster Posted June 14, 2023 Share Posted June 14, 2023 Congrats! I look forward to adding this to my library. In the meantime, here's a 1931 Packard 840 Individual Custom Convertible Sedan by Dietrich, seen at the 2023 Highlands Motoring Festival, Highlands, NC. Restored decades ago by J.B. Nethercutt, later owned by Bill Harrah. TG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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