Those interested in on-demand book publishing might want to look at this page: Eighteen different companies rated (according to criteria not listed, so things are frustratingly vague if you want to get an idea what the scores really mean; link via). Also note the post seems to have been written from the perspective of a commercial photo editor, so fine-art people might want to take that into account when reading the text around the scores.
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Here’s a very interesting interview with an on-demand book publisher. Make no mistake, I’ve heard and read a lot of hype before, but unlike in many other cases, Edition One Studios seem to be very aware of some of the issues that make on-demand publishing such a mess for professionals: “Many of the online options make excellent consumer products, and we often send clients looking for one-off family photo books, or travel books etc. to Blurb, Apple or Lulu. We think all of these companies are perfect for that. The mistake made by these vendors is that they market to professionals whose demands are greater than the average consumer and in the end more than they can handle.” I especially like this bit: “We look at everything that comes off the press. If a job is 10% too magenta, we stop it and contact the client to sort things out.” Of course, someone needs to put this all to a test…
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“I have been a Webby Honoree, had images in Communication Arts, American Photography, Graphis, featured in PDN and was a Best of Barnstorm award winner at The Eddie Adams Workshop… But I have a new award I wish to share and it’s almost my proudest moment - I have had my account at Blurb terminated against my wishes for pointing out the inaccuracies and faults in the services they claim to provide. Yes, I have been banned from Blurb for simply requesting Blurb print me a book and follow up on services I paid for.” - Jonathan Saunders
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James Luckett on how to get the most out of Blurb
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It seems the photo book scene is changing rapidly, with both on-demand printing and truly self-published books cutting into a market previously dominated by actual book publishers. As someone who loves photo books (books in general actually) I am very excited about this development.
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In an earlier post, I looked into the kinds of problems one can get with “on-demand” book publishing - where you send off your book (actual the electronic version of it) to be printed somewhere else (only to then get it back with strong magenta casts on thin paper, for example). What appears to be somewhat forgotten is that before on-demand publishing existed, photographers published their own books simply (or maybe I should write “simply”) by printing photographs and then by binding the pages into a book (or getting this last bit done by someone with the necessary skill set).
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Given all the brouhaha over self-published books (or, more accurately, books on demand) I thought I’d give it a shot myself. I have been taking Polaroids for quite a few years now, and finding them sit in some box somewhere the other day I thought I might as well take the best ones (my personal favourites that is) and compile them into a little book, just for my own entertainment and maybe to give it away to close friends. (Updated on 23 25 26 Aug 2008 - scroll all the way to the bottom for the latest update)
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Just like me, my friend and “e”-co-conspirator Andrew H. looked through all the entries of the Blurb photo book contest (or more precisely, those that are for sale via the company’s website). Psychologists might have an idea or two what that says about us bloggers (or maybe just about Andrew and me). In any case, unlike me, he then compiled a summary post. The only thing thus left for me to say about this all is what I was thinking about the contest last night, when looking at the prices of those books: Wouldn’t it be nice if Blurb offered the books at a discount - so that people would be encouraged/enticed to buy them?
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It’s easier than ever to produce a photography book, and for those who want to try to turn their own photo book into $25,000 there’s Photography Book Now (with a 14 July 2008 deadline, and make sure to read the fine print).
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