How Do You Start A Photo Book Business?

The 4 Parts To Your Photo Book Business

DREAM IT — what is your photo book idea? What story do you want to tell?
PREPARE IT — a body of work that fits that idea / dream concept
DESIGN & PRINT IT — add pictures, use sequencing, transitions, drama and story (& find services to print)
PROMOTE IT — promote the photo book to the best of your knowledge & abilities

The reason I went with Blurb is because they are specifically book makers. I like how their mission is to empower people to self-publish, how they have online tools that let you make instant books from Instagram, Facebook and Adobe InDesign. You’re in control, you get to keep 100% of the profits and you’re creating bookstore-quality print and ebooks.

I suggest you go have a look at Blurb and see how they nut out the whole book thing.

One particular reason why I chose Blurb is because they use a book-making tool called BookSmart which you upload to your ‘puter. It has all these professionally designed layouts that you can use, customize and/or create your own designs. You don’t need to be online to work on your book either. (You only need to be online when you download the software and when you upload your book).

The simple start screen you get when opening BookSmart

Using BookSmart, you can make photo books, text-only books, notebooks, portfolios, planners—almost any kind of book you can imagine. And you can turn any print book into a beautiful fixed-layout ebook (BookSmart even tells you which fonts are ebook friendly).

So let’s get started:

Vintage motorcycle poster – you can find ideas everywhere

1 – Dream It

What is your photo book idea? What story do you want to tell?

What I’m going to use for my ‘dream idea’ is the concept of ‘Long Lost Photos of Southern Thailand.’

Your idea could be anything – just sit down with your photos and look at what themes stand out. It could be people, travel, lifestyle, and so on. What’s your photo book going to be for? Do you want to sell it to the wider public? Will it just be to promote your work?

Because we want to start a business here, let’s go with selling to the general public, or at least, a certain ‘target’ group of people.

So, what type of photos do you like to shoot?

More ideas… History, love letters, design, architecture, jazz, animals, pets, people, art, eco housing, university life etc.

Try to define exactly who will be most interested in your book. Ask yourself: Who is most excited about your subject? Who would come hear you speak on your book? Who would be willing to buy it? The answers to these questions help you describe your audience. If you photograph children, for example, your book might appeal most to females, ages 25 to 45, with families. A common mistake is to believe that your book will appeal to everyone. — Choosing your audience.

Do This

Go spend some browsing time at your local bookstore, or look at:

— www.PhotoEye.com
— www.BarnesAndNoble.com
— www.Dymocks.com.au

What type of subjects sell? (Look at the best sellers lists at those sites) Could you do something similar with your photos?

Read more on the next page…

Pages: 1 2 3