Seeking photo for a book cover

[jesse1dog]

The OP had a heading to the post - book cover.

I think this takes the pricing situation into a completely different situation. There can't be just 'any old' pictures selected but one that has to be considered in relation to the lettering to be superimposed. The cover is a major graphics exercise that involves much more than the photograph - it's possibly the most difficult part of the book production - it will be the cover that attracts and makes the potential reader and buyer 'go for it' rather than another on display. I suspect that this very specialised area is one in which most of us have virtually no experience.
I wish the OP and his contact the best of luck but .....

jesse

 

[Roger Hicks]

The OP had a heading to the post - book cover.

I think this takes the pricing situation into a completely different situation. There can't be just 'any old' pictures selected but one that has to be considered in relation to the lettering to be superimposed. The cover is a major graphics exercise that involves much more than the photograph - it's possibly the most difficult part of the book production - it will be the cover that attracts and makes the potential reader and buyer 'go for it' rather than another on display. I suspect that this very specialised area is one in which most of us have virtually no experience.
I wish the OP and his contact the best of luck but .....

jesse

Dear Jesse,

We'll, I've quite a lot. And I can assure you that you have an overly romantic view of the skill, intelligence, etc., of the average book cover designer.

Cheers,

R.

 

[skibeerr]

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IMGP0126 by wim_b, on Flickr[/IMG]

Well.....? 🙄

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Respectfully disagree, practically all of us make decisions based on price. My flat, cameras, clothes, alcohol, furniture, vacations, computers are all purchases influenced greatly by price. My purchases/sales as a businessperson are too. You try to price things by what you feel they are worth, but more often than not, you price by what people are willing to pay.

If you're selling your work as "art" then, you may find someone passionate enough about it to pay $1000 or whatever, but I think most photos are sold as magazine filler, home decor etc. and has to be priced accordingly.

Are you someone who makes his living selling photos, or a person whose job it is to buy them for publication? If not, you simply have no clue what you're talking about. Sorry to be so blunt, but it is what it is.

I have had very few inquiries about licensing my work that didn't pan out because I was too expensive. The fact is, most art directors have already decided they WANT the image before they even contact me, and once that decision is made, price loses most of its importance because most of them have difficulty imaging the project they're putting together with any other image. I have had a number of buyers tell me this. What I'm saying is based on my long experience doing this professionally.

 

[KevinS]

The photographer gets only a percentage of the fee from a sale through Getty, while they would get the entire fee from a sale direct to the customer. This is a huge factor. When I get an inquiry from a publisher I treat it as an opportunity and respond with my best work. If a license results and there is no agency involved, I'm real happy. If the fee offered is too low, we try and work it out. I've licensed photos for publication for 20+ years and a few have been book covers. Some have been direct sales and some were through an agency.

 

[jtm6]

Someone I know who has probably been a professional photographer for 30-40 years said he still gets the occasional headshot work but he had to shut down his leased studio space and move it into his house. His other current projects are personal fine art photography that he shows in galleries and sells a print every now and then. His regular, primary source of income is stock photography licensing of all his previous b&w MF and LF images that he scanned and uploaded to getty.

It isn't a lot of money, but it is enough. I mentioned I heard it was drying up. He said his sells primarily because they are somewhat unique (e.g. the only IR images at sunrise with fog of historical monuments with zero people/tourists in the scene vs. the 200th oversaturated image of a daisy from a D80).

 

[jsrockit]

John, aren't you glad you asked people on RFF? 😉

 

[SuperUJ]

John, aren't you glad you asked people on RFF? 😉

John, you know me well to ask me this question. I did get a few PM's and am starting to work through them. I am glad that I can connect folks on RFF with publishers directly, which has been a pleasant experience for me.

So, folks, please keep the PM's coming. My friend asked me random themes for their projects from time to time. The company is not a big spender but they know how to work with artists. It's fair or not, it's subjective.

I am also glad to see the original message sparks such an interest in this topics so far. I did not expect much and was only hoping for a PM or two. So long everyone stays professional, keeps negativity out and minimizes assumptions made, I think it is a good conversation. Had I posted this "ask" on other popular photography forums, the discussion would have gone out-of-control very fast.

John

 

[FrankS]

John, you know me well to ask me this question. I did get a few PM's and am starting to work through them. I am glad that I can connect folks on RFF with publishers directly, which has been a pleasant experience for me.

So, folks, please keep the PM's coming. My friend asked me random themes for their projects from time to time. The company is not a big spender but they know how to work with artists. It's fair or not, it's subjective.

I am also glad to see the original message sparks such an interest in this topics so far. I did not expect much and was only hoping for a PM or two. So long everyone stays professional, keeps negativity out and minimizes assumptions made, I think it is a good conversation. Had I posted this "ask" on other popular photography forums, the discussion would have gone out-of-control very fast.

John

Why do you think that is?

 

[SuperUJ]

Why do you think that is?

Not to digress ... that's for the very reasons that I stated. My personal impression of folks on RFF are more professional in very aspect.

 

[FrankS]

I wasn't asking about why RFF responses might be more tolerant than those elsewhere, but rather how you seem to know/expect that negative responses (to varying degrees) would be elicited by your request.

 

[SuperUJ]

No, I did not expect any negative responses. I was just reading through the responses in this thread and appreciated how professional and respectful everyone was.