Author Topic: I've made a book of photos from Japan. (Read 2040 times)

Flippy · « **on:** September 15, 2019, 02:11:21 AM »

The order has already been placed with the printer. I will be running a kickstarter to fund printing, but whether it is successful or not, the books are already being made so there's 0 risk to anybody but me (and the whole deal is just under $1,000 including shipping the books to me anyway).

It's been three years since I last self-published, and this is the first time I've done something other than comics. I'm really interested in seeing how these turn out.

Kai-san · « **Reply #1 on:** September 15, 2019, 09:56:56 AM »

Hey, I want one of those!

Love to see what you have done with your Pilot camera, especially since I have one myself. In fact it was you that inspired me to get one. Please keep us informed when your kickstarter opens.

cs1 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 15, 2019, 01:22:49 PM »

Great stuff! Looking forward to the Kickstarter!

irv_b · « **Reply #3 on:** September 15, 2019, 01:34:16 PM »

Well done can I ask why a book and not a zine as they seem so much more popular nowadays.
i have always fancied going to Japan so will back this book with enthusiasm

Flippy · « **Reply #4 on:** September 18, 2019, 05:08:42 AM »

Depends on what you think makes a zine a zine and not a book. Used to be that zines were invariably in B&W and printed at home. I wanted color, and I didn't want to do the printing and binding myself (been there done that). Of course now people call just about any self published book a zine, so it may well be one.

Thanks for the comment, I'll keep everybody updated on the kickstarter, I just don't want to put it up until I know the books are printed and on their way to me. I want this to be a 0 risk proposition for those who want to pitch in.

Flippy · « **Reply #5 on:** September 24, 2019, 11:01:57 PM »

Books are printed and on their way to me.

Looking forward to having them in my hands, and checking the quality. Hopefully everything looks as it should. The printer was recommended by a friend who used to work as a print consultant so I'm trusting they know what they're talking about.

Everything accounted for, ISBN, Printing, shipping to me, and postage of 1/4 (25) of the books out to buyers totals me to just about $1,200 - so that's going to be my kickstarter goal. I think that's an attainable and realistic goal.

nachtiris · « **Reply #6 on:** September 26, 2019, 12:12:55 PM »

Hey Flippy!
Sounds interresting, but I can't see any link to that kickstarter campaign in your first post. Can you provide us with some more information or previews of your book?
Cordialment, Christian

Flippy · « **Reply #7 on:** September 26, 2019, 09:11:23 PM »

I won't be launching the kickstarter page until the books are in my hands. I really do want this to be a 0 risk deal for backers, so I'm not making it live until I can check the quality of the books and make sure nothing is left to chance. I should recieve the books this weekend, so I'll post an update here when I do. Thanks!

Jeff Warden · « **Reply #8 on:** September 26, 2019, 11:19:35 PM »

Nice! Congratulations, and I'll stay tuned.

nachtiris · « **Reply #9 on:** September 27, 2019, 08:34:09 AM »

Hey Flippy!
Thx for the information, it was a fault on my side. Normally I'm using firefox to read this forum. And because of some reasons my FF doesn't show the cover image you added to your first post.

I received your anwser on my smartphone and e voila there was the cover image displayed. Gaves me a nice impression of your way of taking street shots.
As Jeff said: I'll stay tuned!
Cordialment, Christian

Flippy · « **Reply #10 on:** September 27, 2019, 08:50:07 PM »

Books arrived a little early! Everything looks good, though now that I have them I wish I had gone with a little thicker paper (although I'm already using the second heaviest paper this printer offers for short-run orders). The printing quality is excellent for a print on demand service. Some specs: size is 6x9", 68 pages. Most images are printed either 3" or 5.5" wide. I wanted to keep the images at an appropriate size for the camera (most people would've contact printed the 2.25" square negs, and enlargements if made in the 1930's would've rarely been larger than the 5.5" prints in this book).

I've got to nail down my rewards tiers for the kickstarter (I may be overthinking it, but it requires a fair bit of strategy for success), and make a short video of the books before I launch it.

Flippy · « **Reply #11 on:** October 09, 2019, 10:45:54 PM »

Pre-launch page:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arcanephotographer/a-pilot-in-japan-a-book-of-photographs

Actual page will go live later tonight. It's already been a learning experience with kickstarter, and I'm hoping I've gotten close enough to right that I can get it funded.

Flippy · « **Reply #12 on:** October 10, 2019, 02:01:57 AM »

And the page is now live. Go take a look: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/arcanephotographer/a-pilot-in-japan-a-book-of-photographs

Didn't really want to make a video, but it seems crucial to getting people interested so I did my best to make something short and sweet that shows off the book.

Kai-san · « **Reply #13 on:** October 10, 2019, 09:02:00 PM »

Just put in my pledge, hope you succeed with this kickstarter.

Flippy · « **Reply #14 on:** October 11, 2019, 01:01:27 AM »

Thanks!

I'm surprised to have gotten over 30% funded in the first 24 hours. Although I expect I'll have few backers between now and the last day - the first and last days usually bring the most attention.

When it's over I'll probably write out my thoughts about the whole process of print and kickstarting.

Flippy · « **Reply #15 on:** October 14, 2019, 08:11:08 PM »

Passed 50% today, with 25 days to go. Obviously I underestimated this kickstarter thing. I limited the rewards numbers so that they run out at about the goal price, so I don't think I'll exceed the goal by much. I'm not sure what I could offer as a stretch goal. If the target were exceeded by $500 I could print another 40 books or so, but I think it'd be very unlikely that the goal would be exceeded by this much. If it is I may have to open another rewards tier (or increase the limit on rewards if that's possible?).

irv_b · « **Reply #16 on:** October 17, 2019, 06:57:45 PM »

I put in for a book a couple of days back, so I'm really hoping you make it and looking forward to getting a copy

Flippy · « **Reply #17 on:** October 22, 2019, 04:30:59 AM »

Well, we're past 75% now, and just over two weeks left, so it looks like we'll probably make it. Thanks for contributing.

Flippy · « **Reply #18 on:** October 26, 2019, 07:29:39 PM »

Now at 100% with two weeks to go. There are still a few $25 slots left with the book as a reward. Really happy to have hit the goal, as that means I'm out of the red on this adventure, and whatever else gets sold is a profit now. I'll do a write up about the whole experience after the fundraiser ends and I've sent out the books.

I want to thank everybody who contributed or shared this project. Quick note: that most people came from twitter, or from Kickstarter internally (those numbers are tied) but the second largest group were people who came through direct links to the project - so sharing the link around definitely helps.

Kai-san · « **Reply #19 on:** October 26, 2019, 09:21:39 PM »

Congrats, glad you made it!

Looking forward to receiving your book.

Kai-san · « **Reply #20 on:** January 23, 2020, 08:43:49 PM »

I've had this book for some days now, and I keep coming back to it. There so much detail and things going on in these shots, I discover new things each time I look at them. I love the Pilot shots especially, considering the age of this camera I think it's fabulous. These scenes looks so natural through the Pilot lens, almost like being there. Well done!

Flippy · « **Reply #21 on:** January 29, 2020, 06:53:02 AM »

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoy it. Getting these done, funded, and mailed was quite an experience, but worth it all (it has however left me kind of burned out creatively). When I had the book for sale at the local book fair I talked to a photographer who showed me the different places he's been, and he seemed a bit surprised by the subject matter in the book (in a good way). It wasn't what he was expecting out of book about Japan (he bought it of course). I like that there's more stuff to pick out every time you revisit the book. There's quite a lot of interesting details in some of the shots which look quite banal at first glance.

I'd like to go back next year and make another book... I have a couple different ideas.