Your book: does it matter who the publisher is ?

[Michael Graves]

...... the gap between their vision and what the publisher would pay for was just too great, .........

Paul,

For some types of books, getting paid isn't the only factor the artist is concerned with. I receive a decent amount of money for each of my computer books. That's nice. A guy's gotta eat. I was far more excited with the release of my first novel last month that I ever was over any of the computer books, and I didn't receive a nickel in advance money. I'll only get whatever royalties the book earns. (So everybody go buy a copy!) If, the gods be willing, I should ever get a book of my photos published I'd be in seventh heaven.

[QT Luong]

Michael, I think Paul meant the budget for the book, rather than the part of the author. For instance, for this book project, I am not concerned at all about the advance (that the publisher said would be small), but rather about whether they'd do a good production and distribution job.

I went to my local bookstore. On the plus side, they did carry one photography title of this press (apparently distributed through the "national book network"). On the minus side, the reproduction was not very high quality. However, this could be the fault of the photographer, rather than the publisher, as this photographer works "on the go" (he is a busy media executive), the book is titled "snaps", and I noticed some of the images appeared to from a DSLR with tons of dust spots, and judging from the size of the dust spots, big crops. Does that happen often that the production quality varies significantly from book to book within the same publisher ?

[paulr]

That's right, I was talking about budget for the book. I don't think my friends who had books published got a dime ... in fact a couple of them came up with some of the money themselves.

The publishers I've spoken with all gave similar advice about thinking small ... small book size, small number of reproductions. This is especially true if it's a book primarily about your photographs.

That's a distinction worth elaborating on. You can think of photo books (at least art photo books) as belonging to one of two categories. The first is books that are about a subject that has a broader interest than just photography ... like the national parks, the twin towers, the aftermath of a hurricane, portraits of famous black women, joyce's dublin, harley davidson tattoos, endangered wetlands, etc.. The second is books primarily about a photographer's vision. If the photographer's name is bigger than the title, that's a pretty good tip off.

If you're not famous, the first kind of book is your best shot. For the simple reason that the publisher can reach for a market that's bigger than the five or six guys who collect photography books. you already have to be a bit of a brand before anyone will consider a book that's all about your vision, with your name across the front in giant block type.

but anyway, an example of budget constraints ... my friend anne found out that acid free paper would literally double the cost of production. she couldn't find any way to afford it, and there was no way to cut other corners without compromising her vision, so she gave up on that. her book (like most) is going to yellow eventually. that's the kind of decision that you'll probably face many times.

[Kirk Gittings]

Some well reasoned thoughts paul that relect my experience exactly.

[QT Luong]

It is not so much a matter of fame, as something else, like the positionning of the photographer. I think Galen Rowell is more famous than Massimo Vitali, yet it was not until after this death that a book about his photographs was published - I mean the recent retrospective. On the other hand, the type of Massimo Vitali is larger than "landscape and figures".

By the way, I asked whether your comment was directed at me, because I think nobody is going to publish a book about the National Parks with just 30 photos, no matter little known the photographer. Besides a book wouldn't reach the millions that I do through the web.