[BPB] Boards.ie Photography Yearbook 2009 - Planning stage - [!! POLL ADDED !!]

Ponster

I may be submitting an image.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

I think mrmac was doing a serious bit of pricing at one stage so he may have options.

This is a pretty good round-up of the current photo-book publishers.

http://photo-book-review.toptenreviews.com/


Viovio seems to win out on price and quality.

A 9*7 Photobook =$14.99 + $.29 / page + $6 for delivery.

mrmac

I may be submitting an image.

I do apologise!
I was sure I posted my findings about a book price, ages ago, but having checked back through the thread, I see I did not!

Basically, I did manage to get a good production cost, based on the Hard Back format used for last years Blurb run. It was about 55% of the Blurb cost! However, the min. run was in batches of 500, paid in advance, and we'd have to have the contents finalised 6 months in advance! The books would then be delivered to one location, and we'd have to arrange distribution ourselves.

All things considered, the handiness of Blurb overcomes the extra expense. However, if this years book manages to sell close to 400 copies, I'd push for an independent publisher next year.

Again, my humble apologies for not posting this before now!

CabanSail

I may be submitting an image.

At Photovision today there was a company called Shakespere Photo Books which operate similar to Blurb. The sample books they had were of good quality, they said that for an order of our size they would gives us a good price. Best of all they are based in Ireland. Only been going for a year but I think they may be the best option. We can actually ring them & talk to the person who runs the show.

artyeva

I may be submitting an image.

i've heard of them - are they in waterford?

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

I think he'd need to improve drastically over his site prices. At a quick glance;

Assuming a submission rate of 100 photos;

6X8 Size
6x8" 20pages = €12.99
40 additional entries @ €1.24 each (1 entry = 2 pages) = 80 pages = 100 photo entries = €49.60
Postage €3

6"X8" Total = €65.59

A4 Size

8X12" 20pages = 24.99 (linen window cover)
40 additional entries @ €1.89 each (1 entry = 2 pages) = 80 pages = 100 photo entries = €75.60
Postage €4.95

8X12" Total = €105.54

Discounts of 10% on multiple copies quoted on site, so it would be interesting to see what volume discount he may be able to come up with.

Also I wonder has he any magic to impart to people as regards images which may look fine on their screen but too dark in print (i know its a calibration issue but he may have encountered it before).

Also would need to be able to handle our charitable aspect of the venture.

Maybe he can be contacted to see what his 'best offer' to us would be?

CabanSail

I may be submitting an image.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

I wonder has he any magic to impart to people as regards images which may look fine on their screen but too dark in print (i know its a calibration issue but he may have encountered it before).

Also would need to be able to handle our charitable aspect of the venture.

Maybe he can be contacted to see what his 'best offer' to us would be?

I did speak to him about the way that the images came out darker than calibrated images. He knows all about the issue & it's because of the style of printing they use. If we have someone who is co-ordinating the process he can provide the profiles required to get the exposure correct.

I also spoke about the charity aspect & that would not be a problem.

Sleepy

I initially clicked on maybe but can a mod move me into the 'definitely' camp?

Is there going to be a theme or just each of us choosing what we consider to be the best representative picture of our year in photography / best image...

rahtkennades

I may be submitting an image.

CabanSail wrote: »

At Photovision today there was a company called Shakespere Photo Books which operate similar to Blurb. The sample books they had were of good quality, they said that for an order of our size they would gives us a good price. Best of all they are based in Ireland. Only been going for a year but I think they may be the best option. We can actually ring them & talk to the person who runs the show.

Cool! One thing that might count against them for the purpose of this exercise is that they don't appear to have a bookstore in the same way that Blurb does. The bookstore is good for people not involved with the project to be able to contribute by buying a book. Also people could buy more than one if they want to.

I doubt they have the same formats, but if so, I suppose we could do a blurb and a Shakespeare version? Will have a look for personal use though!

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

Right, if we don't get this moving soon we might as well forget about it.

What's needed at the moment is;

Project Manager.
Have you a little extra time on your hands at the moment that you could dedicate some to this project. If so, no need to reply on thread drop me a PM

Book Designer
Have you used blurb book software or something similar and can you spend a some time on this project? If so, no need to reply on thread drop me a PM

I don't need any further chat for the moment - what I need is for people to come forward. As said above, I appreciate that people may be reluctant to volunteer on thread so feel free to drop me a PM. Don't worry if someone has bet you to it then i'll politely let you down.

/shakes the forum - sees if the butterflies fall out

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

Yay, here we go.

Meet your taskmasters for the production of the 2009 Boards Yearbook;

Project Manager: melekalikimaka
Book design: oscarBravo

Thanks Guys. This is much appreciated.

I expect the guys to take over the direction of this thread once they get settled in the role so we'll all be taking our lead from them.

Way to go you two!

melekalikimaka

I may be submitting an image.

<gulp>

oscarBravo

I may be submitting an image.

melekalikimaka wrote: »

<gulp>

qft :eek:

rahtkennades

I may be submitting an image.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

Meet your taskmasters for the production of the 2009 Boards Yearbook;

Project Manager: melekalikimaka
Book design: oscarBravo

May I be the first to say that I for one welcome our new...etc etc

Well done guys. Don't be afraid to ask for help or input, and don't be afraid to just make the decisions if we're flooting around!

melekalikimaka

I may be submitting an image.

i think maybe breaking the whole thing down into stages, and banging up a thread on each one asap is the best move. maybe chuck them into photo expeditions for collection sake or a odd key word in the title so searches will pop them all up?

melekalikimaka

I may be submitting an image.

gonna start making threads for each stage from talking with thonda. we need to decide what company to use based on quality, price, size, discount and e-shop.
After that it is question of book design decision, submitting pictures and creating book preview before the first order.
If people are interested, somebody could organise "delivery group", at least for Dublin.

we need to set a image cap first. print run and type of book. to simplify things a keep threads relevent. i think a individual thread for each question with poll could be way forward? once a decision is made, the thread will be moved to a sub forum for reference.

anyone gots input on this? I warn you, im gonna be winging this a bit...

Ponster

I may be submitting an image.

Have we deicded how to pay for this? We either do the same as last year (person-by-person) but lose out on the bulk rate or we pool the cash (though may not be as easy to organise.

kjt

I may be submitting an image.

melekalikimaka wrote: »

gonna start making threads for each stage from talking with thonda. we need to decide what company to use based on quality, price, size, discount and e-shop.
After that it is question of book design decision, submitting pictures and creating book preview before the first order.
If people are interested, somebody could organise "delivery group", at least for Dublin.

we need to set a image cap first. print run and type of book. to simplify things a keep threads relevent. i think a individual thread for each question with poll could be way forward? once a decision is made, the thread will be moved to a sub forum for reference.

anyone gots input on this? I warn you, im gonna be winging this a bit...

I know a printer in Dublin, shall have a talk with him and see what sort of price he would charge based on last years book

Rb

I may be submitting an image.

I'll submit a pic or two and will definitely buy a copy of the album regardless. Unless it's €100 or something.

melekalikimaka

I may be submitting an image.

id be looking at more than half that

melekalikimaka

I may be submitting an image.

reading over this thread a few points i read.

how do folk feel bout maybe throwing in interesting quotes from posters, or decent topic debates... alot of empty space could be filled...

melekalikimaka

I may be submitting an image.

kjt wrote: »

I know a printer in Dublin, shall have a talk with him and see what sort of price he would charge based on last years book

would be great, back in college monday, will ask around to lectures likewise, might have contacts

Morrisseeee

I may be submitting an image.

alot of empty space could be filled...

.....eh ? !! what empty space, there's 95 definites & 39 maybe's, so there won't be alot of room for 'empty space' !! unless the book is gonna be BIG ! :eek:
Congrats on the 2 lads for volunteering (takes away gun from head !!)

Book design: oscarBravo

You can download the Booksmart software from Blurb to get an idea of possible layouts for the book, at the very least it'll let you play with suggestions that are made here !

oscarBravo

I may be submitting an image.

Yup, I've used Booksmart before, that's one reason why I volunteered.

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

melekalikimaka wrote: »

reading over this thread a few points i read.

how do folk feel bout maybe throwing in interesting quotes from posters, or decent topic debates... alot of empty space could be filled...

I thought it to be a good idea but humberklog had posted wrt the 100 tips and had fair points as to why it mightn't be the best idea.

Also, I think it would be hard to do and not look naff in 6 months time - the posts here generally being of a particular time, a sequence of posts having happened on forum, and localised to some extent. I'm not sure they would travel into a printed volume.

I think what we do know is that the images are timeless. I'd personally go for simple design elements. Last years was great but I'd expect and appreciate that yourself and oscarbravo will want to have your own stamp on it which is understandable and desirable.

I'm not totally against the idea though I do think it would need to be sympathetic to the overall production values of the publication.

As some of the best (and worst) posts say - just my 98c short of a €

AnCatDubh

I may be submitting an image.

I've gathered together some of the more recent relevant posts with regard to printing some which are leads that can be followed up.

Again, time will be of the essence here and I think the blurb scenario of last year should be the default unless any of the more recent suggestions work out in a relatively short period of time.

CabanSail wrote: »

At Photovision today there was a company called Shakespere Photo Books which operate similar to Blurb. The sample books they had were of good quality, they said that for an order of our size they would gives us a good price. Best of all they are based in Ireland. Only been going for a year but I think they may be the best option. We can actually ring them & talk to the person who runs the show.

AnCatDubh wrote: »

I think he'd need to improve drastically over his site prices. At a quick glance;

Assuming a submission rate of 100 photos;

6X8 Size
6x8" 20pages = €12.99
40 additional entries @ €1.24 each (1 entry = 2 pages) = 80 pages = 100 photo entries = €49.60
Postage €3

6"X8" Total = €65.59

A4 Size

8X12" 20pages = 24.99 (linen window cover)
40 additional entries @ €1.89 each (1 entry = 2 pages) = 80 pages = 100 photo entries = €75.60
Postage €4.95

8X12" Total = €105.54

Discounts of 10% on multiple copies quoted on site, so it would be interesting to see what volume discount he may be able to come up with.

Also I wonder has he any magic to impart to people as regards images which may look fine on their screen but too dark in print (i know its a calibration issue but he may have encountered it before).

Also would need to be able to handle our charitable aspect of the venture.

Maybe he can be contacted to see what his 'best offer' to us would be?

CabanSail wrote: »

I did speak to him about the way that the images came out darker than calibrated images. He knows all about the issue & it's because of the style of printing they use. If we have someone who is co-ordinating the process he can provide the profiles required to get the exposure correct.

I also spoke about the charity aspect & that would not be a problem.

rahtkennades wrote: »

Cool! One thing that might count against them for the purpose of this exercise is that they don't appear to have a bookstore in the same way that Blurb does. The bookstore is good for people not involved with the project to be able to contribute by buying a book. Also people could buy more than one if they want to.

I doubt they have the same formats, but if so, I suppose we could do a blurb and a Shakespeare version? Will have a look for personal use though!

kjt wrote: »

I know a printer in Dublin, shall have a talk with him and see what sort of price he would charge based on last years book

mrmac wrote: »

I do apologise!
I was sure I posted my findings about a book price, ages ago, but having checked back through the thread, I see I did not!

Basically, I did manage to get a good production cost, based on the Hard Back format used for last years Blurb run. It was about 55% of the Blurb cost! However, the min. run was in batches of 500, paid in advance, and we'd have to have the contents finalised 6 months in advance! The books would then be delivered to one location, and we'd have to arrange distribution ourselves.

All things considered, the handiness of Blurb overcomes the extra expense. However, if this years book manages to sell close to 400 copies, I'd push for an independent publisher next year.

Again, my humble apologies for not posting this before now!

Ruu_Old

I may be submitting an image.

I'd be up for submitting a picture and buy a book (I did last year too), remember those living abroad when deciding on the printers! I had a free shipping code for Blurb last year that helped with shipping costs (not just for people in America) that I passed around early in the stages.

superflyninja

I may be submitting an image.

i cant remember what I voted but id like to submit a photo

kjt

I may be submitting an image.

melekalikimaka wrote: »

would be great, back in college monday, will ask around to lectures likewise, might have contacts

I was talking to him today, he mostly does promotional goods/printing and said he couldn't come close to blurb prices. Could be another year of the blurb me thinks

CabanSail

I may be submitting an image.

I spoke to Vincent at Shakespere Photobooks today. He said he will negotiate a much better price than is on their website as this will be a big order. Also asked about the "Store Front" like they have on Blurb. He said it would be a good idea but they have no plans to get one at the moment. They have just been going a year & there is a lot to do.

The pros are that he is a local business which we can pick up the phone & talk to. The quality of the sample books I saw was first rate.

The cons are that the list prices are more than Blurb (but they are willing to negotiate) and the lack of an online store.

I would still like to keep them in mind if the price is right.

smelltheglove

I met with one of Vincents agents today and was very impressed with the quality of the books, very similar to blurb but paper seems to be of much better quality. Looks good.