> It's got to be easier than doing a calendar, right?
Ha! Ha Ha! Ha! Ha! *Snort* Good one, Jim!
I've had an idea to do a photo book for a couple of years, either with using pictures from the calendars or from other sources. Logistically, it's a small problem: if all I want to do is take a picture and write something about the picture, it's just formatting the page for the appropriate sizes. Takes time, but it's not incredibly difficult. The big problem is the selling.
I used Lulu.com for the calendar projects because it's an on-demand press: they don't make it until you order it (kinda like Burger King). However, that also means that there's a base price for everything. For a 9"x7" photobook that's 20 pages long, it's
$24.95. Then you have to ask yourself, "How many people want a 20 page book for $25?"
(Oh. Lulu.com really is the cheapest on-demand press for calendars and photo books. I've checked. Additionally, if I wanted them to promote my stuff more, I could give 'em some cash and they'd sell the calendars on amazon.com and in a real bookstore. That costs about $1000, IIRC.)
I could use a traditional (sometimes called "vanity") press and buy, say, 100 books to sell. While that would make the cost of the books lower, I have no assurance that I could sell all 100. Hey, the best selling calendar I had was about 150 units sold. That could leave me out of a lot of cash, easily $5000 or more. That's a bit too much of a load for me. Additionally, I'd have to handle the shipping, etc., unless I paid the publisher to do that.
I've been sidetracked in some of the above stuff, too: whenever I sit down to even do some thinking about writing a book, something seems to happen to take me away from doing it. Last year, it was my father's funeral and related stuff that really kinda killed the calendar project. Before that, I was working mega overtime because of a reorg where I work -- and because my wife wasn't working. This year, I have a grandson whose due date is ... today. (No news, yet.)
The best I could think of for a book project is either:
* I start some sort of paid-for electronic trial, like maybe a newsletter or magazine and see where that goes or
* I assist someone else with their book idea or
* I get some sort of grant or stipend from someone to do a book
In that first instance, I've had a free "mailing list" in the past for folks that wanted me to find interesting horns on eBay and such. I enjoyed that, but that was during the few years I was unmarried. In the second instance, I was published in a long forgotten magazine a long time ago. In the last instance, I did talk to a couple lawyers and accountants about 503(c) tax exempt status and getting "arts" grants. That went nowhere because ... I didn't have the cash for it. You either need the legal and accountant folks to take care of it or you have to have a lot of free time.
So. Holding pattern, I'd say, on the book project. I do have several ideas for books, though!
As far as the calendar is going, they've officially been promoted for about 8 days: SOTW's got my small banner up, as does the WF and my blog. I've sold 8 copies, total, including the two I bought as proofs. That's really not that bad, as sales are generally through January of the following year -- and sales pick up right before New Year's.