#231 Book Selling Story and Photos Trying to Make It

 

The Authoring Business

Our first book on Scottish golf, Scotland’s Hidden Gems: Golf Courses and Pubs, took five years to research and write. That meant we took eight trips to Scotland (averaging four or more weeks each trip), playing as many as 28 straight days of golf on one of the trips, collecting B&Bs, restaurants, and tourist attractions with a commitment to writing about only what we had experienced. A fellow English teacher at Canby High had agreed to the unenviable job of editing my over use of commas. The completed book was taken to a local printer where a few photos and the front and back covers were added and a run of four hundred copies was printed, paid for, and picked up. The 10 or so boxes were stored in our basement where they lived while I figured out what to do with them—how to promote them, approach book shops, get a deal established with Amazon, etc. What was learned so far is that I loved researching and writing the book, but I didn’t enjoy the promoting part. We did sell books—a few though bookstores, a few more from personal contact (out of the car boot they would say in Scotland), and even more on Amazon. The Amazon deal was interesting. I sent two books to Amazon who would tell me when I got an order, then I would send them the number ordered, and they would send the book to the customer—always keeping in stock the original two. When we were traveling we had to have Anne’s sister Charleen supplied with books and mailing material to fulfill Amazon orders while we were away.

Selling our books this way—for about $2 a book over cost—wasn’t making much dent into our original investment. It wasn’t until we started working on our second Scotland book (Scotland and Wales) and a book on Ireland golf that we started seeing some fruits to our labors. When researching for the new books we would write ahead and say to a course, “Look at our website to get info about our books, and can you accommodate us on your course so we can write about it in our next book?” We were hardly ever refused that request. The trade of a book for a round of golf on a course we had already played or the promise of a write up on a new to us course was a good deal—it cost a course next to nothing to put us out and saved us sometimes as much as $200 each for a round on a special course (or at least $30 each on a local course). On one trip I added up more than $6000 worth of golf we didn’t pay. Some courses liked the business we brought them so much that golf there was always free and on others we got significant "friends of the course" discount as much as we wanted to play. 

Then came 2010 when our third book, Scotland and Wales, was ready to sell we decided we could update our first book in a new system called Print on Demand. We would produce the book in a special format and Amazon (Create Space) would send the book to the customer—we would have no part of the distribution process, not time nor money. Royalties would depend on the market of sale and the price of the book. We get as high $4 and as low as $.87 for a $13 book depending upon what country the order is from and what deal Amazon has with that buyer. [We also sell our books as Kindle edition for about $8.50 with about $2 net per book for us.] Since 2012, with the revision of our first book, all of our books and revisions have been Print on Demand. 

Today we check our sales daily with Amazon. During the Holiday season we will sell as many as 80 books in a month and as few as 10 on the slow months. Our Ireland golf book,

Golf Ireland: A Comprehensive Guide, is our best seller with the 3rd revision of the first Scotland golf book second best. The Scotland and Wales book and our travel stories book sell some, and even the picture book, Scotland in Black and White, sells one occasionally. We can’t live off our second career, Authoring, but we couldn’t have played as many great rounds of golf as we have, without a second career. So, it’s a writer’s life for me!   

AND NOW THE PHOTOS: Last post I showed my best sellers, but this time I’ll highlight  photos which may not have even been put up for sale which I think deserve more wall time than they’ve gotten. I’ll present them in categories and you tell me which you like best by category or for the whole group.

Flora and Fauna

Cactus, Sonoran Desert Park, AZ

Cholla Cactus, Red Rocks Park, Las Vegas, NV

Hie'lan Coos, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Abstracts

Shop Wall, Santa Fe, NM

Back of San Fransisco Mission, Rancho se Taos, NM

Reflection in a lochan, Highlands, Scotland

Landscapes

Blluebells in Forest, Perthshire, Scotland

Canyonlands National Park, Utah

Buachaille Etive Mor, Glencoe, Scotland

Loch Leathar and the Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye

Architecture 

Barn that's Seen Better Days, Lake Tahoe

Doune Castle, Stirlingshire

Leadhills, the 2nd Highest Village in Scotland

Melrose Abbey, the Borders, Scotland

The Roman Bridge, Glen Lyon

Stairs

Stairs, Ft Stevens, OR

Stairs, the Glasgow Apartment 

Next: I'll see what I can come up with.

PS. I'm just trying out the automatic Google links--got any comments about them?

#230 Three Stories and Lots of Photos

#230 Three stories and Lots of Photos

In recognition of National Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Month (September) let me begin with some of the current facts about PD:

1. Parkinson’s is an incurable progressive neurological disorder that affects movement and other bodily functions,
2. It is characterized by more than 40 motor and non-motor symptoms, including tremors, stiffness, and falling or balance issues.
3.  It is the fastest growing brain disorder in the world.
4.  Currently more than 1.2 million American suffer from Parkinson’s, a number which grew by 400% since 1990.
5. Now each day in America 250 new cases are diagnosed and 100 Americans die of PD.
6.  New research is showing that more than 80% of PD could possibly be prevented.

Thank you for the commercial interruption, now to this Blog to[pc.

Craigallachie Bridge, Highlands Scotland

Stairs to Royal Mile, Edinburgh. Sells as a back and white print, but not in color.

Path in the Birks of Aberfeldy, Scotland. Won Best Black and White in a show and sold there as well.

Cartridge Packhorse Bridge, Highlands. Always a good seller.

After we had several books about golf, travel stories, and a photo book of Scotland selling on Amazon we decided to take our goods to local highland games and festivals in the form of a vendor’s  booth. We had for sale copies of our books, mounted 8x10 and 11x14 prints, and some framed photos of various sizes. We set up our booth, a 10’ x 10’ tent frame with walls if we were outside, and displayed our wares, visited with people, and generally had an exhausting but glorious time. There were a few standout incidents that come to mind—these are the three stories for this blog. The photos in this post are our Best Sellers from our vending days.

Everybody loves a Hie'lan Coo.

If one highland cow is good, two might even sell better.

Crail Harbour, Kingdom of Fife, is quintessential Scotland.

People often don't believe Crovie Village is real. It is a real Clearance Village where displaced crofters and their families were moved to make more room for sheep--more profitable than crofts for the Lairds. Uniqueness sells.

Story 1 Damaged Goods

At a Fall Celtic Festival in Salem one year the vendors were fit tightly into an interior space for the show. There was no room for the usual tent or frame to wall off our goods. Our spots were marked off with masking tape on the floor. We are friendly folk and glad to not have to set up in the rain, so we made the best of it. It was a hassle for us to keep one of our art stands within our boundaries and out of traffics way. We had to put signs up to indicate that certain areas were not public space. The particular thing one patron wanted to see was in our private area and we told him the area was closed. He stood around until I got busy with a customer and then made a quick dash for the back of our booth. On the way he stumbled over a tripod leg and knock over our big display print—a printed on metal landscape of clouds and beach in Scotland. The print hit the floor with a clang and a corner of the print broke. I kept my cool but pointed out that it was a $120 print he had ruined. His only reply was that it shouldn’t have been in his way of where he wanted to go in the middle of our booth. Before I could say more he walked out to an exit of the building without even a “Sorry.” In more than ten years of vending this was our only loss and one of our few rude customers.

We still put the damaged photo up for display at our house, not for public consumption.

Drummond Castle Formal Gardens in Crieff, central Scotland.

Drive way into Drummond Castle from the highway, I've taken many different photos of the 2 mile long beech tree lined road, but this is the one that sells.

One of many varied views of Dunnattor Castle near Aberdeen on Scotland's east coast.

I like the moody look of the black and white image of Eileen Donan Castle in the Scottish highlands.

Story 2 Shortbread Cookies

At our first big show, the Portland Highland Games, we were set up in a space on one side of the Mt Hood Community College gym and we noticed across the room was a shortbread seller and the booth was called Granny Fi’s Shortbread. During quiet times Anne or I would wander over and sample some fine shortbread cookies. We made a purchase at the end of the two day games and became hooked, especially with the vendor discount. As luck would have it, from that show on we would see Fiona, Granny Fi, next to or near our area at almost every show. We always kept our larder filled with shortbreads. 

Soon after we quit attending shows because of my advancing Parkinson’s Fiona opened Granny Fi’s Shortbread, 21336 Pacific Hwy E, Aurora, OR [www.grannyfis.com  971825-4500]. We don’t see her at the shows anymore (she still goes), but even better is the full shortbread store and tea shop just seven miles from our door. I’ve even set up a mini-booth at some of her events at the shop, where I will sell photos and donate the proceeds to a first responder relief fund.

The printed on metal version of this image of Balnakeil Beach by Durness in the northwest corner of Scotland is the one that got broken (first story). I took dozens of photos of this particular storm, with and without rainbow, but this is always my pick to print for sale. 

The after a rain fall colors in Glen Lyon, the longest glen in Scotland at about 25 miles, is a good seller.

This is a good image of the Glen of Weeping, Glencoe, in the highlands.

This photo of a peacock at Blair Castle at the edge of the highlands is the image I've sold more than any other.  

Story 3 Surprises from Customers

Every once in a while we get customers who are, in polite words, having a bad day. More often we got very positive comments from our customers whether they bought or not. Sometimes we really got good surprises from the people we met at shows. Two examples come to mind and both happened at the McMinnville Celtic Festival. One year a fellow and his lady came up and he said, “I know you. Your my fraternity brother, Bob!” Sure enough, Ron and I had been in the same fraternity at Linfield College, where the festival was being held. We had a nice chat catching up with each other and fellow Omega Delta Phi brothers. 

Surprise two was quite different. A lady came up to me at our booth and said, “You probably don’t remember me, do you?” She might have looked familiar, but I really had to say I didn’t remember her. [At least I knew she wasn’t in my fraternity.] She told me she had bought one of my photos the previous year and wanted to show me the photo on her wall. It was a real treat to see how she had framed and hung the photo.  A surprise treat I seldom get.

Kilchurn Castle

This is the most dramatic rainbow I've ever photographed--near Nairn on the northeast coast of Scotland.

This view of Stirling Castle rivals Eilean Donan Castle in sales.

The 8x10 version of The Red Phone Box is my second best seller. It's from Penzance, Cornwall, England.

The dramatic view of the Wallace (Braveheart) Monument with the Ochil Hills in the background was taken from Stirling Castle and is a top five in sales.

NEXT: The photos that didn’t sell as much as I thought they deserved. 

#229 Two Photo Subjects

#229  Two Photo Subjects

A Friend’s Garden

Cosmos and Bee, 157mm Macro @ f6.3, 1/640, ISO 1000

Purple Cosmos, 157mm Macro @ f4.5, 1/320, ISO 1000

Susi invited us over because she knew I was looking for photo opportunities. I took my Nikon Z50ii DX camera with two full-frame lenses, a Nikon 105mm f2.8 Macro lens (equivalent to a 157mm) and a Nikon 28-400mm f4.0-8 Zoom (equivalent to a 42-600mm). The combination gave me a good variety of features and a chance to see what works best with my continuing Parkinson’s tremors.

Sunflower with Bee, 157mm Macro @ f7.1, 1/800, ISO 1000 

Pink Cosmos, 157mm Macro @ f5, 1/400, ISO 1000

Yellow Cosmos with Bee,  300mm Zoom @ f8, 1/320, ISO 1100 

Orange Cosmos with Bee, 300mm Zoom @ f8, 1/320, ISO 1700

I had a couple of techniques I wanted to play with—shooting short bursts of photos to get images between tremor shakes and using higher ISO to allow faster shutter speeds. I’ll include technical detail on each photo for anyone who may be interested. I will also include my conclusions before I move on to the second photo subject. Now join me as I continue my visit to the garden.

Pink Dahlia, 157mm Macro @ f5, 1/400. ISO 1000

Orange Dahlia, 157mm Macro @ f5, 1/400, ISO 1000

Got a Name for This? 42mm Zoom @ f8, 1/250, ISO 1000

Hydrangea, 277mm Zoom @ f7.6, 1/3200, ISO 1900

Conclusions. First, thank you Susi for the invite to photograph your lovely garden and yard. As to what I learned about using a short burst of shots to counter my Parkinson’s shakes, results showed many examples of where my first shot of a burst of two or three less clear than the second or third photo in the burst. I attribute that to being  less steady as I push down the shutter release. I think I already knew this would be true, but my test showed me proof. Next, my use of higher ISO setting allowed me to use faster shutter speeds (less possibility of camera shake) and still have acceptably clear photos. Even at high ISO my images were sharp enough to make 8x10 or even 11x13 enlargements. 

Green Tomatoes, 105mm Zoom @ f8, 1/200, ISO 1000

Red Vein Sorrel, 105mm Zoom @ f8, 1/500, ISO 1000

Birch Trunk, 118mm Zoom @ f8, 1/200, ISO 1100 

Hummingbird 1, 600mm Zoom @f8, 1/640, ISO 2800

Hummingbird 2, 600mm Zoom @ f8, 1/200, ISO 28000

In the end I proved to myself that I can still take acceptable (computer use or printed copies) handheld images, at least in a garden setting, despite my progressing Parkinson’s condition. 

My Favorite Photo Subject (not counting Anne)

The Ranchos de Taos Church from the parking area at back of the church.

It is likely the most photographed church in America. It has been a favorite subject of great artists like Georgia O’Keeffe and photographers such as Ansel Adams, Paul Stroud, and Ned Scott. 

"Ansel Adams, Photographs of the Southwest," New York Photographic Society, Boston. Titled "Saint Francis Church, Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico." c. 1950

"Ranchos Church No. 1" Georgia O'Keeffe 1929

"Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams, Natural Affinities," Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, Little Brown and Company, New York 2008

I saw this winter image of the church in a Taos art galley. I didn't get any information about it, but I believe it was in the Taos Art Museum at Fechin House.

The San Fransisco de Asis Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos, NM, is a lovely late 18th century adobe church four miles south of the main town of Taos. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 and later a World Heritage site, the church was built between 1772 and 1816 and has been restored several times since. The adobe building with large supporting buttresses is annually re-plastered by the local community and parishioners. 

Buttress shows some sprouting of grass used in re-plastering.

The three colors (sky wall, and shadow) are the heart of the photo.

The church is centered in a formerly fortified plaza to protect against Comanche attacks. Although the defenses are no longer needed, the church is still active with a full schedule of masses and events. 

The church is great for abstract images or textural studies.

Do the light clouds add or detract from the image?

The church is also filled with tourists most of the day, but early morning and late afternoons are least crowded. The church is lovely any time and all condition—look particularly for bright blue skies, dramatic storm clouds, shadows on the walls, and reflections off puddles. 

Can you find at least six crosses?

This was just a portion of the cycles here this day. It was either a large riding club or a special mass for motorcycles.

A special project is to see how many “crosses” you can get in one image from the front of the building. Any time I spend in Taos also includes several visits the church and I’ve been known to visit three times in one day. There is also much to photograph in the surrounding plaza.  

Not in the plaza but only a few miles away is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Autumn cottonwood colors just outside Taos.

In the Plaza

When I booked a day tour with local professional photographer Geraint Smith he began the tour at Ranchos de Taos church and ended the tour there as well. Beautiful lesson in the way lighting changes a location. I never tire of this subject.

Did I save the best for last?

NEXT: I'll see what I can find.