A Photo Prayer book?
Steps toward publication.
After many months of gentle pushing, on Sunday, February 21, 2010, I promised a fan of my work, Pat Hampton, that I would spend at least two hours every week working on getting my Photo Prayers published as a book. I have started! Below are my thoughts as I consider taking on such a large project.
2/25/2010: Gumption and Book Publishing
Gumption is author Robert Pirsig's word for enthusiasm. He likes the word gumption because it is so down to earth. I prefer the word enthusiasm for just the opposite reason, it is so heavenly. The word enthusiasm comes from the Greek enthousiasmos, meaning to be possessed by God, inspired.
Are my Photo Prayers inspired? What I will say is that I am enthusiastic about making them, that the source of them is often mysterious, and that the weekly experience is rewarding. If I am going to publish them as a book, I want the process to be just as mysterious and rewarding. I want to be enthusiastic about it.
While enthusiasm can be found in prayer, and while prayer will be an integral part of this process, I find that I am most enthusiastic about collaborations. From 1976 to 1994, I published the Book of Days photographic desk calendar. Except for the last edition, all the issues were collaborations, usually with at least one other person making it happen. That's what I am familiar with, hence this journal, hoping you and others will encourage me as I take steps to get my prayer pix published.
2/25/2010: The allure and limits of self-publishing
Having decades of experience in publishing, there are few more qualified to print their own books and market them. And now self-publishing is easier than ever with on-line Web tools like MyPublisher, Blurb, MixBook, and others. And who does not like to have total control of the finished product?
At the same time, having decades of experience, there are few who know better than me the limitations of self-publishing. It's hard to do much better than break even. It's hard to get your work seen outside of a small circle of friends.
Suppose I printed a 120-page 7x7-inch soft-cover photo book using premium paper on Blurb? The cost would be $13.45 each plus shipping if I order ten copies or more. The rule of thumb in publishing is to price books at five times what they cost to produce. I doubt that will work here. Who wants a small $75 photo book? Only my most ardent fans. Hardcover, with a dust jacket would have to sell for more, over a hundred dollars! Of course, if all I want to do is break even, then, yes, perhaps many people would want to buy a $15 book. I haven't been doing my Photo Prayers for money, so why start now?
Even if I only hope to break even with self-publishing, I cannot expect many to buy the book, simply because I am not that good at marketing. That's what so potentially good about getting a publisher to print and market the book. Thousands of copies will be printed, and the book will get it into hundreds of regular and religious bookstores, something I'd never do on my own. And they will be marketed on the Web, something I can only do in a tiny way. And, the book will be printed better, with a better binding.
Going with a publisher has its drawbacks, too, like trying to find one. Can that search be a delight? Well, I am hoping! Back to Robert Pirsig: he noted in an early interview that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was rejected 121 times before being accepted by William Morrow Publishers. Let's see how long it takes me.
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