Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Pro Business Discussion => Topic started by: Mike Sellers on August 03, 2014, 08:20:18 am
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Is self publishing alive and well? What would it cost to self publish a calendar? Where can I read about the process?
Mike
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Not to throw a wet rag on this topic, but publishing is the easy part and there are plenty of options for printers who will gladly take your money.
The key is distribution. If you have a hundred or a thousand calendars you need places to sell them (who also need their mark-up). And even if you make the most glorious photographs and calendar in the world, you are up against the "mall stalls" which sell beautiful calendars for $25 in the lead up to Christmas. At least that's the way it is here in North America. Those calendars are being printed right now in time for distribution in September.
If you have a group of sellers, perhaps people or places that already support/sell your work, then you might just have a market for a limited-run, private press calendar. But consider for a moment how much people will pay for a calendar, then cut it in half and that will be your portion. Hopefully the actual calendars cost ½ of that so that you can make at least a little.
I hope this works out for you. Do keep us up-to-date on how it goes.
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I think self-published calendars would be the highest-risk product of the self-publishing world. In 2016, a 2015 calendar has no residual value. Now imagine you have cases of them left over in your basement. Marketing and distribution is the hardest part of any publishing effort. Design and production are easy; all it takes is money and time. Marketing and distribution requires a commitment on the part of other people or organizations and their money and time. I am not against self-publishing. I just think something with a longer shelf life and opportunity to recover would be a better investment.
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How does a store like Barns&Noble choose calendars to display for sale?
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Why don't you ask them?
That venerable East Coast Zone System photographer Fred Picker once wrote a newsletter article about questions like this from his readers. This was back in the days of correspondence by paper, so Fred invested in a big rubber stamp to reply to their queries – it simply said, in large capital letters: "TRY IT!".
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A lot of sense in the replies Mike, all the world and his dog are trying to cash in calendars. Shops will buy cheap and stack 'em high while charities will obviously have their own distribution networks. Having said that I've often wondered about desk diaries in the past.
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Why bother if you don`t know the answer? Snide doesn`t work on me.
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Why bother if you don`t know the answer? Snide doesn`t work on me.
?
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publishing is the easy part and there are plenty of options for printers who will gladly take your money.
The key is distribution.
+1
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I hope this works out for you. Do keep us up-to-date on how it goes.
Calendar humor! I love it!
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Hey Mike - yes, there are still successful self-published nature photography calendars. I just finished my 15th yearly wall calendar and also the 2nd yearly engagement calendar, all regional and self published. We get 2,500 of the wall calendars printed at $4-$5 cost each (includes print broker fee, shipping, customs, etc.), and typically end up making $10-$12k net each year (no profit on the engagement calendars yet, but we're hoping to sell enough this year to break even - takes a while to build up a market sometimes). The wall calendars are premium-quality, 12" x 12" folded size, 28 pages, shrink wrapped with stiffener. Takes 3-5 months production time until delivery once we send the completed pdf files to the printer.
When I did my first wall calendar in 2000/2001, it was a shot in the dark and we were not expecting to make a profit - more of a promotional tool. We did sell enough to make a small profit that first year, a little more the next, and the next. But we've always had to take a load of unsold/returned calendars to the recycle yard, although we first distribute as many as we can to local nursing homes on Christmas day - those happy smiles are as good as any check.
Most of the big chain stores buy from a giant calendar distribution company who gets up to an 80% discount from the big publishing houses, and in January or February they return all unsold copies to the publisher for refund. Those calendars are already sitting in the chain store warehouses or in the back of the store now (since May or June), or in many cases are already on the retail shelf. The deals are usually with large publishers who have a lot of different calendars, and rarely with small-time operators like me (I've got 16 books in print that we sell and distribute, which is still very small in the publishing world - ma and pa, no employees). Sometimes individual Barnes & Noble stores are able to purchase direct from a small supplier with just one calendar or book - those deals are done at the local level through the book department manager, and you just have to knock on their door and ask (with product in hand of course). While doing your on-site research, you will find most wall calendars are in the $14.95 retail and under range, much less at discount stores like Wal Mart, where you can pick up a ton of great calendars for $5 each - but they buy hundreds of thousands at a time (from their own printing companies perhaps). So you have to begin with the retail price, then work backwards to figure out if you can afford to produce your own calendar or not, kind of like everything else.
It can be a lot of fun to have a calendar on the wall with your name on it, although most of the time it will cost you for that enjoyment since most self-published calendars never made a dime.
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I don't think "snide" was intended. He was just saying instead of asking people that don't know, just go ask ones who most likely do.
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If you print several thousand copies, you can get them for under a dollar per copy.
I get my calendars for free from my local supermarket. They usually offer 2 or 3 different kinds - some with food related pictures, and another one with scenic nature photos (presumably using stock photos). Most likely printed by some large print company that prints several thousands copies per store and just switches their name between the individual print runs.
The calendars are pretty and functional. It would be hard to compete with those prices.
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How do I know if anyone on this forum knows until I ask? Again,if you don`t know then why spout off and prove you don`t know?
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Again,if you don`t know then why spout off and prove you don`t know?
Isn't that what the Internet was invented for?
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Isn't that what the Internet was invented for?
For finding out anything much beyond techy stuff I find the internet a waste of time.
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Why not self-publish picture books featuring your images? You could design a 60 page print-on-demand soft cover book from Magcloud for around $12 (1 copy). I've found that Magcloud uses decent paper inside the book that some of the other print-on-demand printers don't. I sell my 60 page books for $19.95 and 96 page books for $29. It's another way to make an easy sale at an art show and doesn't tie up a lot of money for inventory.
Example: http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/664332
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Lou, how many books you typically sell at an art show?
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Now that is info I can use-thanks!
Mike
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Lou, how many books you typically sell at an art show?
I've only done one art show this year. A small one at a re-sale store that buys my excess scenic prints. They bought 48 of my local-scenes 96-page book I designed. They sold most of them before, during, and after the show. The first 60 page book I designed was for family and friends gift purposes and featured about ten years worth of my composite images. If I do another art show I will show that book as well.
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Now that is info I can use-thanks!
Mike
It's always a sound idea to try and distinguish between answers that are useful and answers that we want to hear. Can't say that I've always been the best at it myself but a little wisdom creeps in eventually.
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Actually I / we do "self publish" our own calendars, and we have for many years. So a few facts from somebody who actually does it.
First, just so you all know, we self publish calendars because we give them away free for advertising purposes. We have done so for years, and we find - for us and our business, likely because we have been doing it so long - that it works great for us as an advertising venue. However, I do not think as an exercise in making money I would ever do it. Too much competition.
So, in no particular order, here are a few pointers:
1) Artwork
One reason I "self publish" is I work with a local printer to get the artwork done right. It takes a lot of work to get everything co-ordinated, and make sure your prints come out right. For example, the type of paper, printing press, printing process, etc, etc, all make a huge difference in how your photograph looks. You might have your monitor perfectly calibrated for your own in house Epson or Canon printer, but for commerical purposes, you will likely need a whole different monitor calibration.
2) Quaility counts.
Yes, you can get calendars printed for around a dollar each once you get into near the 10,000 copy mark, but it looks like it is only worth a dollar too. Now, bearing in mind this forum is read world wide, and therefore your mileage can and will vary, my point is, even when you give away a calender for free, if you want people to actually keep and use them, they have to look and "feel" good. That puts the cost up to maybe two or three dollars per copy in my case.
3) Theme
You might have hundereds of wonderful and excellent photographs, but seriously, no offence meant to anyone, you will find that what works for a large print or for "fine art" and what people want in a wall calendar is sometimes two different things.
People want to look at what they know, what they like. So, if you are shooting antique cars for a calendar, you might have great sales at auto shows but maybe not much elsewhere.
Calendars are also very personal to most people. What a man and woman may like in a calendar vary considerably for example. Also, you have to be careful, you would be amazed at what "offends" people anymore.
Before you start any calendar, you have to decide what market you are targeting, and then you go out and shoot photographs for that specific market. In that sense, calendrs are like a restaurant. Are you fast food & take out, vegan, fine dining, Italian, Chinese, breakfast only, etc, etc, etc.
Choose and know your market ahead of time and aim your calendar at that market.
4) Distribution
Not just +1 to that comment, plus +10,000 to it. Even when you give them away for free, at the end of the day, it is still distribution, distribution and in case you are still not sure, distribution. Distribution is everything.
5) Critical Judgement.
We do a 13 month calendar. We may start with almost 100 photographs in the first "final cut" before we whittle it down to the last 14 photographs (13 months plus the front cover). You may think you have a lot of photographs, but when you get really cruel in those final cuts, you never seem to have as many as you thought.
6) Text
What kind of explainations/captions do you have with your photographs, what kind of extra dates and holiday and other features does your calendar have that others do not? This is almost as improtant as the photographs themselves. A lot of work goes into that.
Those are the basic points off the top of my head. But here is my main point.
If you have lots of photographs and you are wondering what to do with them, and you think to yourself "Hey, maybe a calendar", you likely will never make it a success. But if you like calendars, and you want to make one, and use your photography to help make a specific type or theme of calendar, then, just then, maybe you have a chance of making a success.
good luck
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Very interesting Joneil. Do you follow the seasons with your images? Snow scene for December,January then something that says "spring" in the springtime etc.
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Very interesting Joneil. Do you follow the seasons with your images? Snow scene for December,January then something that says "spring" in the springtime etc.
Recently and mostly not. Winters, especially the last one, seem to be long and hard here in Canada. I am finding, and again, your mileage can and will vary, is that coem February or even March many people are sick of looking at snow, and something that makes them think of spring works better.
Conversely, although this summer isn't that hot (at least around here), a nice, cool, refreshing looking winter scene might go voer well in August. Gets your mind off the heat and humidity.
But again, depends on your market. Know your market. Some people love it, other think - huh? Also, regardless if you are doing calendar, book (print or e-book), film, large prints, etc, you must beleive in the medium you are going into.
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Also keep in mind that many folks use calendar art and note card art as low cost frame-able pictures.
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Here's an idea that might work, based on a successful calendar sold in Missouri by the state Department of Conservation:
Calendar photographs of LOCAL nature scenery, wildlife, plants, etc, pictures are all ANNOTATED with the location, species, season/date shot, any other info of interest to LOCAL natural history buffs. All photos appropriate to the month.
Calendar dates have "Things to look for" eg, moon phases, likely peak migrations, mating seasons, hunting seasons (helpful for the non-hunter, who needs to keep up on when to wear blaze orange and be cautious), plants in flower, etc. Tomorrow's entry is "Hawthorn fruits ripen. Baby bats start flying." Sunday's entry is "Full moon". Monday is "Copperheads born this week". Tuesday is "Perseid meteor shower peaks" (to which I add - fat luck photographing any, moon is near full and there won't be very long full dark period - it's a visual-only year for Perseids)
The hook is, I see an entry and enjoy thinking about my hike on the weekend. LOCAL INTEREST.
Distribution: MDC sells these calendars at state parks and conservation areas. The calendar is really inexpensive, and they sell a zillion, and everyone comes back for the next year's calendar. Note that the photographs are taken by MDC staff photographer/naturalists, with a few contributions from the public. You would have to distribute the calendar yourself, by visiting possible sellers (outdoors suppliers like REI, local parks, stores attached to museums, etc.)
http://mdc.mo.gov/media/image/2014-natural-events-calendar-cover
http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/natural-events-calendar-available-oct-18
http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/buy-mdc-2014-natural-events-calendar-while-supplies-last
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The hook is, I see an entry and enjoy thinking about my hike on the weekend. LOCAL INTEREST.
I agree completely with that point. We concentrate on local history in our calendars, but it is still LOCAL as you say. Also, your and my definition of "local" will again vary - are we talking city limits, county limits, something you can see/do within an hour's drive or two, etc, etc. That goes back to knowing your market ahead of time. However, inside that parameter, your range is wide open. You have to give people a reason to keep that calendar on the wall.
So ask yourself this - why do I keep a certain calendar on a wall? What does it mean to me? What purpose does it serve? Look far and wide. For example, in our calendars, in addition to local interest, our boxes with the dates are large enough to write notes on ("Johnny's doctor appoint 2 pm" for example) and our numbers in those boxes are large and distinct enough that an old fart like me can see it accross the room without my glasses on. Silly little things like that can make all the difference in the world.
The other point about people using calendar photos as prints on the wall is very true too, but that brings it's own issues. What you or I think is good art and what people like are sometimes far apart. If it helps, people tend to like things they can understand in whole or part. People also tend to like something that means something to them. For example, a calendar full of photographs of sunsets over various beaches will sell better in a gift shop in the Florida Keys than it will in a gift shop is Aspen, Co., because people might want to bring home a bit of their vacation with them. On the other hand, how many "LOL Cats" calendars appear every year in the malls some the fall? Now if that's your thing, go for it, but I think one can go too far too in catering to the basic instincts of the public, you want some balance in there, eh?
:)
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Is self publishing alive and well? What would it cost to self publish a calendar? Where can I read about the process?
Mike
have you considered electronic publishing?