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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Ever Published a Photo Book????
Brian Nicholson, Photographer
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Ogden | UT | | Posted: 12:02 AM on 12.31.07 |
->> I'm not talking about photo books you can make yourself on Blurb.com or Apple.com. I am looking for someone who has made a bunch of great photos with the end goal of publishing a book. I am curious to know what is involved with finding a publisher, dollar figures, setbacks you didn't expect, funding methods, distribution methods, marketing strategies, etc. Anyone done this before? Do you know of someone who has and is willing to let me pick their brain?
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Mark Stallings, Photographer
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Greenwood | AR | USA | Posted: 8:48 AM on 12.31.07 |
| ->> We self published a book on duck hunting. The title of the book is "The Season, A Photographic Look at the Sport of Duck Hunting". So far it's done pretty well. Sometimes it's easier to self publish than it is to find a publisher. However, it is expensive. |
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Bert Entwistle, Photographer
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Colorado Springs | CO | USA | Posted: 1:25 PM on 12.31.07 |
->> I'm currently looking for a publisher myself.
Any feedback on good publishing companys?
I may try self publishing but would like to see what the book companys hve to say first.
bert |
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Patrick Fallon, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Columbia | MO | USA | Posted: 4:06 PM on 12.31.07 |
| ->> Not to go too off topic, but my dad published a book in the UK and is now interested in a distributor for the US. Anyone with any suggestions? |
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Harrison Shull, Photographer
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Fayetteville, WV | Asheville, NC | | Posted: 4:18 PM on 12.31.07 |
->> I produced a hardcover coffeetable photo book (2500 copies at 150 pages with 250+ photos) back in 2003 through Four Colour Imports. I did everything - from image capture to text to layout to prepress to everything after.
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. It is a long and complicated process that can be frustrating but ultimately it is very rewarding. |
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Mark Stallings, Photographer
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Greenwood | AR | USA | Posted: 5:58 PM on 12.31.07 |
| ->> I've heard good things about Four Colour. I had a good freind use them and he was really pleased. The down side to going overseas on printing is the time involved, but the savings can be huge on printing cost. We printed ours in the US because we had a short deadline and couldn't chance a delay. But, it cost us. We printed 10,000 hard back and 200 leather bound limited edition copies. There are lots of folks like Four Colour out there that can help and answers lots of questions. |
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Maryville | MO | USA | Posted: 7:36 PM on 12.31.07 |
| ->> The quality of printing can be incredible. We had a book printed in China through a KC-based company and they did a better job than you can get state side. |
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Mark Stallings, Photographer
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Greenwood | AR | USA | Posted: 8:24 PM on 12.31.07 |
| ->> I can't speak against the printing in China, but I know that the printing job done on our book (here is the US) was great. I own a lot of photo books and in comparing our book to others I can't complain. We were pleased. But, again the cost is a lot more here in the states, no question about that. We finished the lay-out of the book and within about 90 days we had the book in hand. That is one of the reasons we did it here. We didn't really have a choice. |
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Brian Nicholson, Photographer
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Ogden | UT | | Posted: 9:55 PM on 01.01.08 |
->> Thanks for all the feedback. I was wondering, when talking with a publisher, do you find that they are willing to assume some of the risk or am I going to come up with all the cash ahead of time?
Brian |
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Jonas Carlson, Photographer
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Stockholm | SE | Sweden | Posted: 6:35 AM on 01.02.08 |
->> I published a book a couple of years ago with 360 images from Stockholm, Capital of Sweden. 120pages all full colour.
http://www.tnf.se/produkt.php?prod_id=65
Found a small publisher who liked the idea. Printing where in Italy. |
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Kevin Johnston, Photographer
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Oden | MI | USA | Posted: 10:17 AM on 01.02.08 |
->> I know that there are several threads about self publishing but I don't remember ever seeing any about where one would go to learn the basics about the different print processes, binding types and general printing lingo.
Does anyone have any pointers on where to go to learn how to speak publishing and printing?
Kevin |
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Chris Peterson, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Columbia Falls | MT | USA | Posted: 10:39 AM on 01.02.08 |
->> I've published a couple of books and I publish a print magazine. There's three ways to do a book:
1) Shop it to a publisher, usually with a query letter first and an outline, or sample chapters (or photos).
2)Vanity press. They publish the book, and you pay them to do so.
3)Do it completely on your own, and just work with a printer. I used an overseas printer for both books. A hardcover book of about 100 pages will run anywhere from $12,000 to $25,000 for everything, including shipping. You, of course, have to do all the layout using Quark or InDesign. For the magazine, I use a printer out of Florida. Good outfit, with nice quality. If you just want to do a few books, check out Ausuka Books.
There's a lot of nuances in self publishing however. Lots of up-front costs, marketing challenges galore, and retailers generally get half of the cover price and distributors actually take even more, like 55 percent, and you pay the postage. Amazon is really bad. They deep discount, then turn around and allow other booksellers to sell your book used in the same listing. Also, don't forget to get an ISBN number and a bar code, or you will sell zero books at chain stores. |
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Jenn Jedynak, Photographer
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Northern Ontario | ON | | Posted: 5:22 PM on 01.02.08 |
->> The "Absolute Write Water Cooler" forums has everything you could possibly want to know about book publishing, self publishing vs traditional, literary agents, scams and a whole heap of other things probably not of use to anyone other than writers.
It takes some time sifting through the massive amounts of posts, but it is very informative.
The first post after following this link http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13
is "Learn the Non-fiction publishing process with..." It's long but well worth reading. |
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Anantachai Brown, Photographer
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Jacksonville | FL | | Posted: 6:34 PM on 01.02.08 |
->> great post.....some of my customers suggested I should publish a coffee table style book of two wheel racing. just never thought it would be feasible.
interesting read.
thanks. |
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Brian Nicholson, Photographer
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Ogden | UT | | Posted: 6:00 PM on 01.06.08 |
->> So Chris,
Is it worth it? Sounds pretty daunting with little reward. Have you found the process to be rewarding? or profitable? Which method of the three you listed would you suggest I take?
Brian |
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Chris Peterson, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Columbia Falls | MT | USA | Posted: 9:57 PM on 01.06.08 |
->> Brian,
It will be worth it when I make a dollar. Which isn't that far off. |
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