Who are those others? The ones of which I am aware are: (Kodak),, ,, , iPhoto (/ilife/books/), (Sony), and, in my opinion and experience, the uncontested top of the heap, king of the hill, leader of the pack. And to be fair, something is always lost/changed in the conversion from a larger color space (RGB originals) to a smaller color space (CMYK for offset printing), However, as additional books from other sources demonstrated, some do it better than others. Most were not intimately familiar with my original photographs/prints and therefore did not notice any color difference between the originals and the printed piece. That said, everyone (except my most demanding critic - the wife) who viewed the book was impressed and amazed. The print quality was decent and the binding materials and quality were acceptable. To be honest, that first book was less than overwhelming (but way more than underwhelming) in quality and appearance. Miracle of miracles, it took about 2 hours of my time (at home), and, miracle of miracles, because I placed my order in the early AM and specified overnight delivery, I received my book the next day at the cost of $28.50 - yet another miracle of miracles.
So, I contrast that with my first experience a little over a month ago of producing my first online custom hardbound book. Just getting it right took about half a day of my time at the bindery. The last hardbound book production of my work that I supervised required binding about 10 books to get the binding set up “right” before they actually began to bind in earnest. In order to get that one perfect set of press sheets for one book, the printer would use about 1000 sheets of paper just for set up, proofing and waste.Īnd then there’s the bindery. There would be at least 2 press runs, one for each side of the sheet. Total cost would probably have been in the 8-10,000 dollar range (conservatively) and production would have required at least 2 - 3 weeks.Īfter delivering my photographs to the printer, I would have to return again, probably twice, to check proofs (2 rounds), and then again for the better part of a day (or night, depending on which shift it was printed) to press-proof the print run. Now maybe you have to be fogey like me to see the “miracle of miracles”, but suffice it to say, if I had asked an offset printer 30 years ago to print one 20 page, 4-color (CMYK), hardbound book, they would have laughed their asses off (probably all the way to the bank, if they actually produced the book after giving me a quote). And, by the way, would you like that delivered overnight? Or, miracle of miracles, in an edition of one. While Gutenberg certainly helped the vanity press drain the wallets of untold numbers of would-be authors, he would probably be surprised and much more delighted by what the bleeding edge evolution of his communication revolution has wrought for the modern-day photographer - online vanity presses (of sorts) that enables even the most rank amateur to “publish” their photographs in rather striking, sheet-feed, offset-printed, hard-bound books. Wannabe authors galore, driven by their vanity to be “published”, were like sitting ducks in the sights of unethical vanity presses. Most often the production was performed at very inflated prices and, to make matters worse, the author didn’t actually own the printed books. While appearing to be book publishers, they would deliver a book but with none the traditional publisher “extras” - like editing, marketing, sales, placement, etc.
For most this was a rather fanciful conceit, but hence the name of the industry that sprang up to meet the pent up need to be published - the vanity press.Īccording to the American Heritage Dictionary, “vanity press” is a noun and is defined as “a publisher that publishes a book at the expense of the author.” In fact, many vanity presses have been little more than scams.
I’m sure that each and every one of them felt that their talent was being thwarted and the public at large was being denied the pleasure of their literary genius. Probably at about the same time, pioneering wannabe authors were also getting their first rejection slips and, as time passed, they would not be alone - not by a long shot. But, with the advent of moveable type and the printing press together with whatever form of delivery they were using back then in the days before FedEx (unimaginable),The Word, the word, and the world of ideas spread throughout Europe and eventually across the planet. Arguably, without his invention, the Renaissance might have remained a decidedly Italian affair and a highly localized one at that. Text and Photography Copyright Mark Hobson. You Say You Want a Revolution, or, Vanity, Thy Name Is Indigo
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