| SELF-PUBLISHING... |
|
Self-Publish Your Own Coffee Table Book of Photographs Producing a fine book of one’s photographs is a milestone in one’s photographic career. In the past, such an achievement was limited to a relatively few people. Now a book of your own photographs is within your reach through the mechanism of self-publishing. “Self-publishing” just means that you pay the printing costs. In favor of self-publishing: 1. You don’t have to find a publisher. 2. You have a chance to make money. 3. You can start now. Against self-publishing: 1. You have to pay the full cost. (in the range of $8-$10,000) 2. You are responsible for the distribution of your books. 3. You have to climb the learning curve. How to self-publish: 1. You can learn the process by finding a printer yourself. Or… 2. You can find someone to take you through the process. Guiding you through is the work of Dudley Harris of 100 Books Publishing Company. 100 Books Publishing Company: 100 Books is located in San Antonio, Texas. It is owned and operated by Dudley Harris. (For more about Dudley Harris, visit www.dudleyharris.com, and www.saeye.com) The goal of 100 Books Company is to bring coffee table book publishing to the unrich and the unfamous. Harris has worked to streamline the book printing process so that fine books of photographs are now within the price range of many photographers. How it works: 1. Choose a page size, page count and number of copies. The most efficient size is 9X12 inch, but you can choose any size you wish. Price varies with page size and page count. Soft back instead of hardback reduces the price by about $1.00/copy. Duotone is about the same price as four color. Shrink-wrap adds about $0.15/copy. The page count should be divisible by 12. The minimum number of copies is 500. 2. Send an email to 100 Books Company at dudleyharris@mindspring.com. Describe your book project and provide page size, page count, number of copies and your zip code. You’ll receive: · An all-inclusive price that includes shipping · A dust jacket from a recently printed book · A high-resolution file on CD comparing inkjet proof with a wet proof and with a page from an actual book · An actual wet proof from the printing press of a test file that is on the CD 3. The proofing stage is next. Send a file of one of your book’s images to 100 Books. You’ll receive a “wet proof”. This is made on a printing press using printers’ ink. This will give you a very good idea of how your images will look in your book. You will also receive an inkjet proof for comparison. ( click here for warning on color proofing) And you will also get a “dummy” of your book. This is a book of the size and page count that you requested, but it is blank. This lets you get the “feel” of your book, and you can examine the binding and paper quality. The cost for the wet proof, the inkjet and the dummy is $400.00. 4. If you are not satisfied with the color of the proof, you can tweak your file until you get the print you want. Each additional wet proof will cost $300.00. (Note: you can probably switch to inkjet proofing at this stage. Inkjets cost much less than wet proofs, and they are almost identical.) 5. When you’re satisfied with the proof, we move to the book’s construction stage. You will receive a template for the page size you have chosen and a template for the dust jacket. And you will be provided an ISBN and bar code if you require it. There is a charge for the ISBN and bar code. 6. Copy your book onto DVD’s. You can use Photoshop CS2 or InDesign for this. Ship the disks to 100 Books. 7. Your full payment is due at this time. 8. If you would like a wet proof of your dust jacket, you may order it. There is a $350 charge for this proof. 9. In approximately 3 weeks, you will receive a “Blue Line” copy of your book for text and page order proofing. Approximately 4 weeks after you sign off on the Blue Line, two copies of your completed book will be shipped by air. And approximately 4-6 weeks after that you’ll receive your main shipment. 10. That’s all there is to it! 11. I wish you good luck in creating a fine book. - Dudley Harris |