APUG book of photos

[jnanian]

why should it matter what format it is ... before images are submitted ?
shouldn't we put our best work forward no matter if it is offset or POD ?

not trying to be difficult, but why can't we harvest the images ( food ) before we make the book ( dinner ).

[Shawn Dougherty]

I would only be willing to submit work to a book which I felt would meet a certain standard of quality. I have seen two of the same POD books, one which looked fine and the other (ordered shortly afterward) which did not.....

Surely, on a forum such as APUG, I cannot be the only one who feels that way.

( this is assuming my work would be included of course! =)

[billschwab]

Unless you have many, many people interested, the thought that you can do a high-quality, offset book for $25.00 per contributor is way off base. I don't care what anyone says, it's that simple. Don't take my word for it. Please.... do some research. Call a few printers, "quality" ones and give them your proposed specs in a mixture of duotone and four color. Tell them that you want it case bound with cloth cover... and even add a slipcover. Then factor in pre-press. Are you going to scan these yourselves? Not a good idea unless you have someone very experienced designing and putting this thing together. I think you will all be very surprised at your quote. Let me tell you now that you're not talking something as inexpensive as $10,000.00.

And even at 10,000.00 for 1000 books, how many times does $25 bucks go into $10,000.00? You think you can get 400 people to contribute when you can't even get 60 people to respond to a survey?

Consider you do get 400 people to contribute 25 bucks and you do in fact get the pipe dream of a book containing 400 photographers... (800 pages with bios as currently talked about) for 10,000 dollars. What are you going to do with the other 600 books? Whose garage do they go into? Of course, you could sell those extra 600 books, but do you know how hard it is even for someone well-known to sell 600 books?

All I am suggesting is to stop tossing in all your vanity fueled dreams and actually do some footwork. Do the numbers....then plan the book around something feasible and not a dream.

[bill spears]

Surely, on a forum such as APUG, I cannot be the only one who feels that way.

This is exactly why we need more people commenting on this thread

[ishutteratthethought]

[QUOTE=bill spears;1215396]

Exactly...
5000 views but only a few contributors. ...........I'm not impatient to see a book get published (quite the opposite actually) but I wish there were more people putting their views forward and a least contributing a sentence or two into this thread.

I just want to start by saying thanks to the folks stepping up and offering keen and thoughtful insight on this project. Your experience is essential and I appreciate it.

Also, keep in mind that not everyone feels comfortable posting on threads for fear of argument, confrontation or whatever, it happens on most threads and believe it or not, some people do not like to argue! So with that said, I tend to believe there are quite a few folks that are interested and would be willing to support this project with images, financially etc. As mentioned earlier, using alternate methods such as email, facebook etc,may be a route to consider for contacting these members.

For me, I think it’s a great idea in need of a good plan to successfully complete…dah? I would suggest having a time line of events that need to happen for this to work. Looking at the whole project is essential however it can appear to be an overwhelming project for some of the APUGR’s. I use timelines all the time, sure helps me complete big projects in my life.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks!!
Steve

[Ian Grant]

I would only be willing to submit work to a book which I felt would meet a certain standard of quality. I have seen two of the same POD books, one which looked fine and the other (ordered shortly afterward) which did not.....

Surely, on a forum such as APUG, I cannot be the only one who feels that way.

( this is assuming my work would be included of course! =)

You have to put the type of printing as well as the function of the publication into perspectiver and ask does it need to be litho or would POD sufice.

Sure we'd probably all prefer Litho and if that's economicallyvfeasible it's a possibility but someone has to put up front the costs of production and cover the cost of unsold copies.

Most people are going to be more than happy with reproduction that's on a par with reasonable good magazines and will accept that the type of printing will bew determined by many factors beyond their control, unless they want to pay extortionate prices.

Personally I think it would be churlish to say I'd be happy to have my work in a Litho version but not a POD, the printing quality is a level playing field for all.

Ian

[guitstik]

Bill, could you PM me with your email address?

[billschwab]

I disabled PM's long ago, but anyone can get ahold of me via contact page at my site.

Sorry about this!

[bill spears]

[QUOTE=ishutteratthethought;1215577]

Also, keep in mind that not everyone feels comfortable posting on threads for fear of argument, confrontation or whatever, it happens on most threads and believe it or not, some people do not like to argue!

Steve, I agree totally. It is a shame though.
I've been away from Apug for a while so thought I'd come back and dip my toe in the water...... and it's f-ing boiling ! Not only this thread but 2 others I visited also !

[Shawn Dougherty]

Personally I think it would be churlish to say I'd be happy to have my work in a Litho version but not a POD, the printing quality is a level playing field for all.

Ian

Well then I guess I'm churlish to you, Ian.

I am considering making a POD book of my own, but, I would buy the books and have them shipped to me so that I could check their quality before passing them along - assuming anyone would want one. I'm particular about the presentation of my photography. I believe that is reasonable.

I would love to have my work in a high quality book along with other apug members, and would be honored if it were chosen. Unfortunately, based upon the way this thread has gone I would say that is indeed a dream. Is it a dream based on vanity? To some degree, as any such endeavor must be. I believe, however, that it is based primarily in a love for photography and deep respect for the talent of other APUG members.

I just want to start by saying thanks to the folks stepping up and offering keen and thoughtful insight on this project. Your experience is essential and I appreciate it.

Also, keep in mind that not everyone feels comfortable posting on threads for fear of argument, confrontation or whatever, it happens on most threads and believe it or not, some people do not like to argue!
Steve

I agree completely with Steve and appreciate those insights.

I was also hesitant to post.... probably shouldn't have.