Frailwords

Advertise here with BSA

Publish Your Photogrpahy Book

Is there a book in you? If you’re a photographer, the answer is probably a resounding “Yes!”

Whether you’re dreaming of producing one of those coffee table books with a hefty price tag or if your desires run to creating a client-wowing portfolio that doesn’t look like all those other portfolios, you’re in luck. Thanks to the proliferation of print-on-demand companies like Blurb, Fastback, Creative Books, and Shutterfly, getting your photo book into the hands of readers is easier than ever.

Note that I used the word “readers.” That was deliberate. The reality of the photography book publishing world is that it’s difficult to find buyers. Photography books are like poetry books in that the supply far exceeds the demand.

However, there are a few photographers whose books are collected like fine paintings. Expect to find their books on some very high-priced coffee tables. But these people are the exception, not the rule.

Promotional Your Photo Book

So, with the odds against it being a money-making venture, why would you want to publish a book of your photography? Because a photo book is like a giant business card. That’s how photographer Lisa Robinson uses her book Snowbound (Kehrer Verlag, 2007). Snowbound showcases images that she made while traveling on back roads in rural New York State.

I met Lisa Robinson at a Tucson, Arizona seminar presented by Mary Virginia Swanson, co-author of Publish Your Photography Book (Princeton Architectural Press, 2011). The book’s other author, Darius Himes, did not attend.

Lisa Robinson’s work is profiled in one of Publish Your Photography Book‘s seven case studies. It doesn’t take but a minute or two of hearing Robinson to understand that producing a photo book is not enough. You have to be very devoted to promoting it.

In Robinson’s world of fine art photography, “devotion to promotion” means that you’re constantly sending your book to people who organize exhibitions for galleries. That’s where the “book as a giant business card” concept enters the picture.

And it’s not enough to just put that giant business card out there. You have to follow up with the gallery people. Repeatedly. After all, there are a lot of other people who want to get their work on gallery walls.

You also need to become very good at getting up in front of an audience and talking about your work. I can say from firsthand experience that Robinson is a very polished public speaker. She very ably shared the stage with Mary Virginia Swanson, and that in itself is quite an accomplishment.

Challenges of Publishing

While this isn’t as much of a how-to book as Dan Poynter’s venerable Self-Publishing Manual, there’s a lot of useful information in Publish Your Photography Book. Starting with the all-important question: Why do you want to publish?

Tip: Think carefully before answering this question. Publishing is a lot of work.

Publish Your Photography Book goes on to cover the differences between having a book produced by a commercial publisher versus doing it yourself. It goes without saying that the competition to having a book published commercially is fierce. Always has been. Always will be.

If you should be so fortunate as to be offered a publishing contract, keep in mind that this is a book with Mary Virginia Swanson’s name on it. Hence, a very detailed section on publishing contracts. Swanson’s not an attorney – she’s a photography licensing and marketing consultant. And she’s very insistent on the point that artists shouldn’t sign anything they don’t understand.

If you’d rather shun the commercial publishing route and travel the do-it-yourself road, be prepared for quite the learning experience. Because you’re not just in charge of producing the book. You’re also in charge of promoting it. Publish Your Photography Book has you covered on both fronts.

View full post on FreelanceSwitch

Product Description
A volume “packed” with insight and ideasThe packaging industry is more competitive every day so creating a new package that is innovative, adds value, and makes a connection with the consumer is a challenge often met with limited success. Dynamic and unusual package designs can really make a statement in overcrowded markets.What makes a package successful? How do designers find the inspiration and execute the designs that really work? This compendium of packa… More >>

Little Book of Big Packaging Ideas

Advertise here with BSA

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a skeptical person when it comes to the value of most forms of social networking. While there always seems to be stories of a friend of a friend who is landing clients with Facebook, I’ve yet to see most social networks as little more than a way to connect with your peers or a way to waste a huge amount of time.

Part of my problem is that I have never really invested in creating a strong social presence or spent the time on learning how connection points like Facebook can be run to deliver value to potential clients. So before I write off Facebook completely I figured I should learn a little more about it. For this reason I was looking forward to Rockable Presses’ most recent book Successful Facebook Marketing.

Who is this book for?

If Facebook was ever going to come out with a user guide, this book would probably be it. Author Skellie goes through all the steps from creating and setting up your account to promotion and advertising. So if you are just looking at getting started with Facebook, or would like to take it beyond just a rambling collection of posts about what you had for breakfast, then Successful Facebook Marketing is a good place to start.

Facebook is being used more and more as the primary front for large-scale social media campaigns and promotions. But why is it so effective?

What’s inside?

As mentioned, Successful Facebook Marketing takes you from knowing almost next to nothing about Facebook to helping you drum up either some exposure or even some clients. With over 600 million Facebook accounts it’s pretty darn easy to get lost in the mix, or spend money on advertising campaigns that get a whole bunch of views but nothing in the way of conversions. Skellie details her experience from running several of Envato’s major Facebook accounts and shows how she manages to stand out from the crowd.

Creating your Facebook Page

Creating a Facebook page is super simple. Creating a useful Facebook page, however, takes a significantly greater amount of time.

Skellie helps you go beyond just the basic page creation by looking at things like your profile and the content you’re putting up there.

Areas like using your photo bar are discussed, as well as the importance of making sure your page is visually appealing.

Even if your business is non-visual (for example, maybe you’re a freelance writer), I would still strongly suggest filling out your photo bar with five good photos.

The entire process is made simple with step-by-step instructions on what to do, as well as why it’s important.

Promoting your page

Unless you’re the type of person that likes talking to themselves in an empty room, you’re probably going to want a few people to hang out on your Facebook page.

With over 600 million users, chances are you’ll find at least someone out there who likes what you’re doing. But our goal as freelancers is to promote ourselves on a larger scale and hopefully find some clients through the process, so a strategy of just sitting back and waiting for people to come just doesn’t cut it.

Skellie puts her experience into action on how to get the ‘likes’ flowing by promoting yourself both on your website and other social networks like Twitter. From adding Like buttons to Activities Feeds, you’ll get detailed instructions on how to make it all happen.

It’s no surprise Facebook recommends this as one of the first things you should do, since adding a Like Box to your website will hugely increase the amount of traffic your Facebook Page gets.

Publishing unique content

I don’t care how awesome you think you are, if you don’t post anything of value on your Facebook page, no one is going to waste their time with you. Being interesting and unique are both required qualities if you expect to have any type of return from your Facebook efforts.

Skellie recommends focusing on content that has a high chance of being either Liked or Shared amongst your fans. Of course, that’s easier said than done.

It requires more effort, but the rewards are worth it. By posting updates unique to Facebook you’ll help your fans to feel like they’re part of an exclusive group, bringing them closer to your brand, product or website.

After defining your goals in traffic and interaction, Skellie will take you through how to post content that dives traffic, encourages action and deepens relationships. All great stuff if you want to take your page beyond just what you had for breakfast.

Advertising on Facebook

I have some clients who love advertising on Facebook because it brings in tons of ad views. But when I ask those same clients how many of those views turned into buys, they often look at me with a blank expression. The truth of the matter is, a lot people are wasting their ad dollars on Facebook because they don’t know the first thing about running a successful Facebook ad campaign.

Fortunately, Skellie takes a close up look at the Facebook advertising platform. She address some of the pitfalls, as well as the range of options that are available.

With a captive audience of millions, it’s no surprise that Facebook runs a highly successful advertising platform.

Along with instruction on how to run your first ad, Successful Facebook Marketing will also help you configure your ads to target the right audience. That is, of course, if your target audience uses Facebook in the first place.

Conclusion

Whether you currently see the value of social networks like Facebook or not, the reality is that a whole bunch of people use it. Learning to draw the right type of people to you and connect with them are key ingredients to getting your name out there and picking up some new clients.

Successful Facebook Marketing is a great introduction to the world of Facebook. It’s well worth checking out if social networking is going to be a part of your freelance marketing efforts.

The book is available from Rockable Press for $24 for the eBook and $29.99 for the paperback.

View full post on FreelanceSwitch

Product Description
Striking collection of designs, rendered from textile and wallpaper motifs, vases, and other authentic sources, includes images of lovely florals once etched into glassware and pitchers, garlands of flowers in square and circular configurations, wildlife that adorned decorative bowls and platters, and much more. A convenient source of superb illustrations. 231 black-and-white illustrations.
… More >>

Arts and Crafts Designs CD-ROM and Book

Advertise here with BSA

I realize this may sound a bit absurd, but I don’t know Guy Kawasaki from Adam. In fact, I think I know Adam a whole lot better. So when the girl who was looking after our house mentioned that a book had arrived for me, and it was written by some “Apple dude”, my curiosity was piqued.

I’m happy to say that Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki is worth a read. Even if it was written by some Apple dude.

Upon looking at the cover and reading the tag line about “the art of changing hearts, minds, and actions”, I figured I was in for a book on personal empowerment that would end with me running naked through the forest. That hasn’t happened. Yet.

“Enchantment” is really about achieving likability, be that with the products or services we produce, or the relationships we have with our clients, or people we work with. And while the concept sounds simple at its core, it’s amazing how many people and businesses stink at being likable or trustworthy.

Enchanting people really takes a step away from selling to people and focuses your attention on making people happy. And lo and behold, happy people are easier to sell to.

When you enchant people, your goal is not to make money from them or get them to do what you want, but to fill them with great delight.

Enchantment takes you from the initial steps of why it’s important to get close to your clients to how to launch a service and enchant others with it. The book ends with some timely suggestions on when enchantment goes bad and how to avoid people who do not have your best intentions at heart.

If someone presses you for a quick decision, remember the phrase “Dopeler effect.”…The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

What I liked about the book

Guy is a pretty enchanting person. His writing is relaxed and enjoyable, and he doesn’t get bogged down in deep discussions around philosophy or life changing realizations. While he fully believes that an enchanting person is a better person, he doesn’t gloss over the fact that it requires work. Being enchanting is not something you can fake, and it’s never about getting your way solely for your own benefit.

The book is filled with personal experiences and examples that show enchantment in action. Guy describes these personal stories like a scoop of ice cream on top of apple pie. And while I prefer whipped cream and pumpkin pie, I do agree that the personal examples add a lot of value to the book.

Along with that, I think the book has value to freelancers in that it can teach us how to understand what clients are thinking before a purchase, and then how to address those concerns. Learning to be a likable freelancer will certainly not hurt your career.

The first step to enchantment is to get people to like you. To accomplish this, you’ll need to accept others and find something to like in them.

For those who are bosses or working with others, the book also has some good suggestions on how bosses can enchant their employees and vice versa.

What I didn’t like about the book

Typically this is the section that most authors stop reading a review. Strangely enough, I think Guy appreciates constructive criticism almost as much as praise. In fact, Guy encourages you to look for devil’s advocates to tear down ideas before you move ahead with them. So here we go, Guy. Let’s make with the constructive criticism.

Maybe it’s no secret, but I think Guy has a pretty big man crush on Steve Jobs. It’s true that Steve Jobs is a very enchanting person, and Guy has spent a great deal of time working with Apple, but his Macintosh fixation got a little bit much. While it’s important to write what you know, it felt like Guy had a hidden agenda pushing you towards Apple products. For most freelancers it’s a moot point, but for more sensitive Windows users it may get a bit much.

The book actually ends with a discussion of how the book’s cover came about with Guy expressing some surprisingly strong opinions on crowdsourcing. And while Guy seems like a really understanding person, he doesn’t seem to grasp why a No-Spec design community was a bit miffed in how he went about getting his book’s cover designed. It’s rather interesting how he had no problem going to the crowd to get his concept and then going to a couple of experts to get the concept turned into a reality.

While I’m not overly rabid on the No-Spec debate, I felt like the extra chapter was more for Guy to rant than to be enchanting.

Enchantment is available from Amazon or several other retailers found on Guy Kawasaki’s website.

View full post on FreelanceSwitch

Product Description
Once referred to derisively as “vanity publishing,” self-published books are finally taking their place alongside more accepted indie categories such as music, film, and theater. Indie Publishing is a practical guide to creating and distributing printed books regardless of your background, skill set, or ambition. It will help you realize projects of every scale and budget, from the traditional bookmaking techniques used to create zines to the more ambitious industri… More >>

Indie Publishing: How to Design and Publish Your Own Book

Packt is pleased to announce Joomla! 1.6 First Look, a new book, which is a concise guide to everything that’s the latest in Joomla! 1.6. Written by Eric Tiggeler, this book contains ample screenshots and clear explanations of all the new features of Joomla! 1.6 and their usage, whilst covering changes in all aspects of Joomla! including interface, menus, templates, and extensions.

Joomla! is the world’s hottest open source, award-winning content management system written in PHP that uses the MySQL database system to store information. It enables developers to build professional websites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla! one of the most popular CMSes available.

Joomla! 1.6 First Look book will give readers an insight into the new features of Joomla! 1.6, showing them what has changed and how the changes will affect them, and how to upgrade to Joomla! 1.6 from the existing Joomla! versions. Furthermore, this book starts off by teaching readers the general changes in interface and basic articles, and then progresses to take them through the changes in menus, control levels, templates, extensions, and SEO features.

Using this book, developers will learn the various changes in Joomla! 1.6 that affect the day to day routine of organizing, adding and editing articles. Additionally, this book will assist developers to understand the new extensions overhauled in Joomla! 1.6 and the new SEO features to enhance their site's SEO, and to access Control Levels relevant to website administrators in need of fine grained user permissions control.

Packed with step-by-step instructions and illustrative screenshots, this book is ideal for existing Joomla! users, developers and designers, who wish to know about everything that's new in Joomla! 1.6. The book is out now and available from Packt.

View full post on BestofJoomla::Best of Resources

View full post on The Imgur Gallery

Product Description
This is a book that many have described as a must have for every designer’s bookshelf. Finally available in paperback, this invaluable compendium offers more than 900 examples of graphic design projects of all kinds — promotional materials, letterheads, editorial layouts, exhibits, packaging, posters, annual reports, T-shirts and more — culled from the work of leading professionals in every area of the graphic design field. … More >>

The Big Book of Design Ideas

• ISBN13: 9780321701787
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Product Description
Creative professionals seeking the fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe Illustrator CS5 choose Adobe Illustrator CS5 Classroom in a Book from the Adobe Creative Team at Adobe Press. The 15 project-based lessons in this book show readers step-by-step the key techniques for working in Illustrator CS5.

Readers learn how to create vector artwork for virtually any project and across multiple media: print, websites, interactive projects, and vid… More >>

Adobe Illustrator CS5 Classroom in a Book