This is a follow-up to my write-up about my Photo San Francisco visit. After deciding on attending on Sunday, I noticed that there was a panel discussion about publishing your own photography book. There were four panelists…

• A representative from Stinehour Press. They are a small printer in Vermont specializing in fine art books.
• Deann (sp), a designer from Paper Chase Printing.
• A representative from http://www.artbook.com/.
• Tilman Crane, a photographer with two fine art books published.

Here are the points that I picked up…

First, it is a huge struggle to publish your own book unless you can afford to self-fund to the tune of $35,000 – $75,000. I had no idea! To succeed, you have to stand out from the crowd because our discussion was attended by 30-40 photographers all wanting to put out their own book. Multiply by that by the rest of the country and you get the ideas of the odds. To make it more difficult, the profits from fine art books are declining.

So, you still want to give it a go. Well here are some of the tips that I gleaned.

Put together your team. The designer, printer, and publisher are key partners in your success.

For the printer, you can look overseas but most printers really only want to deal with you if you have a run of 2500, preferably 5000, books. If you are self-marketing, that is a huge amount. If you want to go with a smaller run, then a press like Stinehour shines. They encourage collaboration and are highly experienced working with photographers. They encourage the photographer to be present when going to press so that the photographer to fine-tune the book to their exact vision.

The book designer is another key player. The designer helps with the layout, packaging, and a variety of other choices. This information can help you make informed choices of presentation versus cost. Plus, a good designer can greatly improve your book.

Obviously, the publisher is a key player. If you decide to self-publish, the costs are significant and you have to decide how to self-market. A recommendation is that you seriously review your target market. What is your hook? Think about finding funding. For example, one example was a book of portraits with people sitting in their environments. The funding was found from a hotel chain whose owner has a strong artistic interest. They placed the book into every room of the chain.

If you want to submit a book to a publisher, do your homework first! The editors receive hundreds of proposals a year. Really refine your concept. Make sure that it is crystal clear. Create a dummy book that is close to how you would envision it presents. Ruthlessly cull down your images to at MOST 20. Remember your proposal has to stand out from the crowds of hundreds. Plus, do your homework. Make sure that your publisher puts out books like your proposal. Otherwise, you are wasting everyone’s time.

Remember finding a publisher versus self-publishing is not mutually exclusive. Try both paths.

Tilman Crane has went through a both, the traditional publishing route and the self-publishing route. His first book was Structure. Touchstones was his second book, and it was self-published. From his description, his first experience was fairly negative. But, he seems to be enjoying self-publishing and controlling the quality so that the book is a work of art in its own right. He has an extensive mailing list of people who have previously purchased his work, previous workshop students, etc. His mailing list is crucial to his success. He also had an clever marketing strategy with tie-ins to prints, etc. Apparently, he discusses in detail his publishing experience in an older version of View Camera. Sorry, I could find a link to the article or Tilman Crane’s website.

Although not on the panel, Mary V Swanson is a guru consultant for helping artists get their work marketed. Visit her website for more info.

That is all for now. Remember some folks do succeed.