Thinking Of Writing A Book.

[Deno]

I have been toying around with the idea of putting together a book on the floral style that my father (Gene Noland) developed. I want it to be more than just pics of his style, how to tool them, and tracing patterns. I would like to show step by step how to layout Flowers, Leaves, Scrolls, etc. and put together a full design but shaping them in different ways and how to make everything flow together. Soooo, my question at this point is do all of you feel that it would be worth my effort to put this together, and sell it at a reasonable price, if there would be enough interest. I have been wanting to start a Foundation in my fathers name, which would give out award's and maybe money to further the education of leather crafting. Proceeds from this book would go a long way in providing funds for this. Please give me your honest thoughts. My best to everyone.

[dirtclod]

I just now went and looked at some of his work. Mighty nice ! I would buy a book.

[Ferg]

I have been toying around with the idea of putting together a book on the floral style that my father (Gene Noland) developed. I want it to be more than just pics of his style, how to tool them, and tracing patterns. I would like to show step by step how to layout Flowers, Leaves, Scrolls, etc. and put together a full design but shaping them in different ways and how to make everything flow together. Soooo, my question at this point is do all of you feel that it would be worth my effort to put this together, and sell it at a reasonable price, if there would be enough interest. I have been wanting to start a Foundation in my fathers name, which would give out award's and maybe money to further the education of leather crafting. Proceeds from this book would go a long way in providing funds for this. Please give me your honest thoughts. My best to everyone.

This may not hit a note with you Deno. Printed work is not doing well these days with a few exceptions. That said, I would consider a Digital version. There are several websites with downloads as well as DVD's for sale. I would do a lot of soul searching as well as shaking a lot of doors real hard.

Printed books are expensive to publish even if you self publish. I think you have a noble idea for the book but I wouldn't count on a lot of money to disburse. That is a tough one.

ferg

[Deno]

This may not hit a note with you Deno. Printed work is not doing well these days with a few exceptions. That said, I would consider a Digital version. There are several websites with downloads as well as DVD's for sale. I would do a lot of soul searching as well as shaking a lot of doors real hard.

Printed books are expensive to publish even if you self publish. I think you have a noble idea for the book but I wouldn't count on a lot of money to disburse. That is a tough one.

ferg

Thank you, and I would not be apposed at all in making it digital, as I would make it that way anyway. It definitely would make it easyer to get out to the masses.

[King's X]

First, I would agree a digital book would be your best avenue. More outlets for you to hit up!

Second, you know I would buy one!

[Deno]

First, I would agree a digital book would be your best avenue. More outlets for you to hit up!

Second, you know I would buy one!

Thanks buddy, I knew I could count on you. Hope all is well with you and family my friend.

[Timd]

If you have a list going, put me on it, Den! I like print, though, my computer is in the living room, I'd be running back and forth too much, lol.

[Deno]

OK Tim, your first on the list for a printed copy my friend.

[KatieG]

I prefer print to digital, but I love books on art styles of other artists! I would definitely be in for a copy!!

[pete]

Let me know when you have a dvd ready. Put me down for one! LOVE your dad's work

pete

[UKRay]

Your idea sounds great though I'd be inclined to develop a book that could be sold as a download. This would mean you could automate all your sales and keep distribution costs down. Have a word with CitizenKate if you need some help deciding how you might achieve this. She has undertaken a couple of successful projects for me and I would definitely respect her advice.

Ray

[CitizenKate]

I thought my ears were burning... I usually feel a little uncomfortable tooting my own horn in the forum, but since this is highly relevant to the topic, and because I know there are numerous others out there who are considering this same sort of thing, I will mention this.

We do have a digital delivery "solution", that we've deployed on a couple of web sites so far, and more coming up, including my own (I'm planning to offer some original pattern collections for sale, hopefully starting later this year). It completely automates the purchasing and fulfillment of digital publications. Once it's set up, you don't have to lift a finger to process a payment or deliver the product. The program handles all that automatically, so that all you would have to do is promote the publication (which is actually the tough part), and periodically check your bank account to see how many payments have been deposited there (which is the fun part).

As to the question of printed vs. digital, I agree that publications are "going more digital", but you will have at least some customers who will prefer the print version. There are still people out there, mostly living in rural areas, who simply don't have the internet bandwidth or a reliable enough connection to be able to download an entire publication.

Fortunately, there's no reason you have to choose one or the other. You can sell mostly digital copies, and still offer the print version for those who prefer it. In fact, this is what Paul Burnett does on his site, from where he sells numerous of his publications. If the download version is cheaper (which it should be since it's way cheaper to produce and deliver), that will probably give the majority of your customers a greater incentive to buy the download version, not to mention the advantage of being able to have it now, instead of a week later. But you can also keep a few copies of the printed version on hand for those who are willing to pay the higher cost of producing and delivering it. For them, the site processes the payment, then sends you an email with all the information you need to fulfill the order. It's a happy medium that involves minimal printing and shipping costs, minimal labor, but still can accommodate everyone. This would probably be a good solution for most publications.

I'm going to want a copy of your book, too, by the way.

Kate

I thought my ears were burning... I usually feel a little uncomfortable tooting my own horn in the forum, but since this is highly relevant to the topic, and because I know there are numerous others out there who are considering this same sort of thing, I will mention this.

We do have a digital delivery "solution", that we've deployed on a couple of web sites so far, and more coming up, including my own (I'm planning to offer some original pattern collections for sale, hopefully starting later this year). It completely automates the purchasing and fulfillment of digital publications. Once it's set up, you don't have to lift a finger to process a payment or deliver the product. The program handles all that automatically, so that all you would have to do is promote the publication (which is actually the tough part), and periodically check your bank account to see how many payments have been deposited there (which is the fun part).

As to the question of printed vs. digital, I agree that publications are "going more digital", but you will have at least some customers who will prefer the print version. There are still people out there, mostly living in rural areas, who simply don't have the internet bandwidth or a reliable enough connection to be able to download an entire publication.

Fortunately, there's no reason you have to choose one or the other. You can sell mostly digital copies, and still offer the print version for those who prefer it and are willing to pay the extra cost associated with printing. In fact, this is what Paul Burnett does on his site, from where he sells numerous of his publications. If the download version is cheaper (which it should be since it's way cheaper to produce and deliver), that will probably give the majority of your customers a greater incentive to buy the download version, not to mention the advantage of being able to have it now, instead of a week later. But you can also keep a few copies of the printed version on hand for those who are willing to pay the higher cost of producing and delivering it. For them, the site processes the payment, then sends you an email with all the information you need to fulfill the order. It's a happy medium that involves minimal printing and shipping costs, minimal labor, but still can accommodate everyone. This would probably be a good solution for most publications.

I'm going to want a copy of your book, too, by the way.

Kate