Multiple outputs

Do make most of synergy between different types of guide, between short and long term benefit

Do think about producing a set of small set of local, cheap ‘short-term benefit’ colour guides based on your long-term-benefit one . The potential synergy is massive – having prepared all your illustrations, corrected all your names and so on, why not in effect publicise the bigger project by producing short term ones almost as advertisements. Make posters for schools; postcards, with the book title on the back; small attractive books for sale to tourists; mini-guides to difficult or important groups; all capitalising on the same set of information and materials

In other Words, DO try and diversify rather than compromise in your guide  production plans. Do both, separately, rather than one product which satisfies no one thoroughly. Here are some more examples:

Cross-subsidy function: Maybe one more commercial, short-term benefit  output could subsidise another more worthy, long-term benefit one.

Skill-Bridging: Short abbreviated, cheaper Training or school guides with fewer species, but showing the important principles of plant identification, or introducing users to the commoner plants, might be used to capture the interest enough to encourage some users to grow into, and ultimately buy or become a full user of your full technical field guide.

Scale-tailoring: Make trail or local park guides from a master guide.

Season-tailoring. In some highly seasonal vegetation, where there are many visitors all-year round, you may consider two sets of local guides – e.g. a dry season guide to trees based on bark and flowers; and a wet-season one based on leaves.

Parallel hard and electronic versions. If you have used a database to keep track of details of your species, or you have developed an digital picture library, consider using this database to make a web- or CD-based interactive key. In a few years time, by the time the book is out of print, the computer version may even be a common solution for forest use. Meanwhile, a web-site of your field guide can only increase your catchment of interested plant identifiers, and increase awareness of the plants or forest of your interest.