Quetzals, Coatis and Sloths

[Ann]

I am thrilled that so many people have enjoyed my book.

I really was extremely fortunate that I was able to explore Costa Rica with such a  guide as Juan Carlos Vindas. He is a brilliant photographer in his own right but is also an extremely knowledgable naturalist who knows exactly where to take people who want to photograph wild life. Being a native Costa Rican, he also knows many of the major landowners and was able to get me access to shoot on private land.

I spent the first week with him and four other photographers then, after the others had gone home, Juan Carlos showed me the back unpaved roads in the hills of his country. We actually found a remote place in a rain forest, completely by chance, which he had always heard about but never knew where it was!
The rented Nikkor lens did the rest.

Unfortunately Printing-on-Demand makes each book very expensive so I really need to find a literary agent who works regularly with the likes of Thames & Hudson and Rizzoli.

I also have a book about the national treasures (both Historic and modern) of China. I shot the pictures all over China during a private trip there.

The China book is massive with 240 large-format pages and over 500 photographs plus text so printed privately via P.O.D. each copy costs nearly $300 which is exorbitant.
(I have printed just a few for private distribution but have not offered it publicly.
Printed in quantity by Offset, it would retail for about a tenth of the price.

So if anyone knows a literary agent who deals with one of the major publishers, do ask them to contact me.

[ColinM]

More fascinating insights Ann

Many years ago, my daughter produced a book on Indian Vegetarian Cookery.
We did a little research and the best options were unclear.
Some companies offered promotional add-ons which meant certain booksellers would give it prominent display for a while. For better or worse, we ended up with a print-on-demand company called Authorhouse.

We ended up paying (for us) a substantial amount up front and when it was finalised in 2009, they told us it would carry a cover price of around £27. We were already committed then, but this price was way above what most people would have chosen to pay for a cookery book (even though it was large format & well illustrated).

Barely a month or so later, a friend got married and got copies of his wedding photos bound and printed by a local company for a fraction of the cost and with far more flexibility of re-prints, print volumes etc

Meanwhile our sales were modest (and mainly achieved by us promoting it ourselves).
After a year or two so, we started seeing it being sold on Amazon at much higher prices (these were new copies so I guess speculators buy to re-sell at a profit).

I've just checked an Authorhouse will still sell a copy - now priced at just under £46.

[Ann]

Colin, that is quite a Cautionary Tale!
 

Ona advantage with Blurb is that they make no up-front charges: you simply upload your files.
I create my books in InDesign but Blurb also offer their own template-based free software. Once you have ordered a single copy, they keep the files for many years and simply generate copies by POD when people order a book.

I usually order one copy as a Proof. Then I go over the Proof carefully, make any edits that I find necessary and upload new files for final printing

I realise that I could have economised on my choice of paper and on the Cover — but I didn't!

[armando_m]

Ann,

 Congratulations, absolutely wonderful book, really enjoyed browsing through it.

And all the trouble to get to CR put you at an Indiana jones level of adventurer!

[Ann]

Armando, thank you so much for your very kind comments.

It was indeed qute an adventure: both the getting there and having the chance to photograph so many beautiful creatures.