Photojournalism into a book

[ikiri]

Hi all,

Has any amateur done a photojournalism, made it into a book and sold it?
Or if you have any experience of writing a photojournalism book... could you share?

My 3 friends and i are going on a mission trip, and we were thinking of some way to support our funds... this idea came up... i just want to know if the idea is feasible on a small scale...?

Thanks!

[Zohan]

Originally Posted by ikiri Hi all, Has any amateur done a photojournalism, made it into a book and sold it? Or if you have any experience of writing a photojournalism book... could you share? My 3 friends and i are going on a mission trip, and we were thinking of some way to support our funds... this idea came up... i just want to know if the idea is feasible on a small scale...? Thanks!

It's a good idea. A few points:

1. If you want to do this properly, get your grammar right. What you have written doesn't make sense. I think I speak for most of us when I state I don't understand what you are trying to say. What kind of photojournalism are you talking about? Do you know what is photojournalism? If you don't know, use simple words like 'photo story', or 'photo essay'.

2. Also, getting funding is super hard work and takes a lot of time and effort, it's a not an easy thing to do but having a good write up/proposal will help.

The Zohan.

[pianodancer]

Originally Posted by ikiri Hi all, Has any amateur done a photojournalism, made it into a book and sold it? Or if you have any experience of writing a photojournalism book... could you share? My 3 friends and i are going on a mission trip, and we were thinking of some way to support our funds... this idea came up... i just want to know if the idea is feasible on a small scale...? Thanks!

You can do on-demand publishing via BLURB, an overseas website. Once you upload your photobook online, anyone can order it and BLURB will ship to the customer. Zero-cost from you. But of course, the price per book will be higher than what you pay for mass-printed books.

[marios_pittas]

Hi Chester

Wondering whether you have used blurb and what are your experiences with their quality (comparatively - especially when compared to local services) or in just absolute terms?

-- Marios

Originally Posted by pianodancer You can do on-demand publishing via BLURB, an overseas website. Once you upload your photobook online, anyone can order it and BLURB will ship to the customer. Zero-cost from you. But of course, the price per book will be higher than what you pay for mass-printed books.

[pianodancer]

Originally Posted by marios_pittas Hi Chester Wondering whether you have used blurb and what are your experiences with their quality (comparatively - especially when compared to local services) or in just absolute terms? -- Marios

Hi Marios,

Yes I've printed a hardcover photobook before and sad to say the cover printing quality is totally bad. I complained once to them and they offered me to re-design the cover because my first cover design is too 'soft'. If you know my style, my photos are rather high-key. So I chose a more contrasty photo for cover and although the contrast is fixed for the second book, the colour is totally off. Apparently, the cover does not use a pure-white paper. In fact, it gives a rather 'dirty' feel.

Having said that, the interior is excellent with good colour reproduction and contrast and dynamic range. The binding however is thread-sewing and uses a thick thread to bind the books together. While it looks rather sturdy, it's probably not as durable as what the more expensive photobook vendors are offering.

What impresses me is the price: the incremental cost of printing more pages is lower than most photobook vendors. Go check it out and see for yourself. It takes 2 weeks to receive your order.

In conclusion, Blurb is excellent choice for the following:
- contrasty cover, maybe design on a black background. Don't make the cover white-based.
- print lots of pages, like 80 pages.

[marios_pittas]

Hi Chester

Wonderful feedback, personally I like contrasty B&W stuff, so it would appear they might be a good choice (the cover being black is not an issue here). Do they follow a workflow that includes a test print for multiple copy runs? My fear is that in the past I stopped a print job as the test run did not match my expectations.. the best way to evaluate the output is to do a print run.. else you might end up with xyz number of not happy looking books

> While it looks rather sturdy, it's probably not as durable as what the more expensive
> photobook vendors are offering.

For knowledge's sake any directions before venturing into the google world?

-- Marios

Originally Posted by pianodancer Hi Marios, Yes I've printed a hardcover photobook before and sad to say the cover printing quality is totally bad. I complained once to them and they offered me to re-design the cover because my first cover design is too 'soft'. If you know my style, my photos are rather high-key. So I chose a more contrasty photo for cover and although the contrast is fixed for the second book, the colour is totally off. Apparently, the cover does not use a pure-white paper. In fact, it gives a rather 'dirty' feel. Having said that, the interior is excellent with good colour reproduction and contrast and dynamic range. The binding however is thread-sewing and uses a thick thread to bind the books together. While it looks rather sturdy, it's probably not as durable as what the more expensive photobook vendors are offering. What impresses me is the price: the incremental cost of printing more pages is lower than most photobook vendors. Go check it out and see for yourself. It takes 2 weeks to receive your order. In conclusion, Blurb is excellent choice for the following: - contrasty cover, maybe design on a black background. Don't make the cover white-based. - print lots of pages, like 80 pages.

[pianodancer]

Originally Posted by marios_pittas Hi Chester Wonderful feedback, personally I like contrasty B&W stuff, so it would appear they might be a good choice (the cover being black is not an issue here). Do they follow a workflow that includes a test print for multiple copy runs? My fear is that in the past I stopped a print job as the test run did not match my expectations.. the best way to evaluate the output is to do a print run.. else you might end up with xyz number of not happy looking books > While it looks rather sturdy, it's probably not as durable as what the more expensive > photobook vendors are offering. For knowledge's sake any directions before venturing into the google world? -- Marios

Yes a test print is recommended by Blurb but at your own expense. They do not check your copy no matter how much you decide to print from them. If you really want personalised service with volume prints, you should engage a local print vendor.

[ahquan]

how does Blurb quality compares to Apple's ? Have you tried it before? one thing's for sure, Apple costs alot more

[Wzierbovsky]

I've printed a 160 page Blurb book recently with the imagewrap option. The cover isn't so great (other users of the service have had better luck with different book options) with washed out color. The paper inside is of appropriate thickness, colors come out nicely enough with range. However, the paper also finger creases somewhat easily, and this may be an issue if you have a lot of dark pictures.

All that said though, it's hard to complain considering their very low asking price. Moreover, customer service is pretty good and they'll readily send out replacement books if there're errors even small ones in the printing.