ART AND CRAFT
Below: Ken Rosenthal utilized Kickstarter to raise
money for his book, Photographs 2001-2009. Above and
right: Sean Perry’s book combined offset printing with
hand-binding and a letterpress cover.
BO TH PHO TOS © SEAN PERRY
Graf of Cloverleaf Press designed and published pho-
tographer Sean Perry’s Fairgrounds as a hybrid—com-
bining an interior offset-printed signature, hand-sewn
with a letterpress cover printed by Bradley Hutchinson.
“I was able to ameliorate the cost to collectors by doing
all of the pre-production and scanning myself,” Perry
recalls. “The offset printing was financed against fu-
ture sales and Cloverleaf Studio funded the hand-fin-
ishing and binding. We were able to keep the price to
$25, limiting the run at 500 signed copies.”
Another option is a book arts residency. For ex-
ample, Columbia College Chicago offers two-week
summer residencies to “provide time, facilities and as-
sistance for specific projects.” This is a wonderful op-
portunity to gain access to equipment, time and even
an honorarium to complete a small edition of books.
PUBLICIZING
THE WORK AND
BUILDING AN
AUDIENCE
Producing handmade books gives photographers the
ability to quickly build and extend their audience beyond the photographic community—to university libraries and rare book and art collectors interested in
handmade objects.
It can also increase a photographer’s exhibition opportunities. For example, Le Garage exhibits winners
of a photo book competition during The Rencontres
d’Arles festival in France, and 23 Sandy Gallery in
Portland, Oregon, has had many exhibitions specifically
for handmade photo books. There are also opportunities within the book arts world, like the 2011 exhibition
“The Un[framed] Photograph” at The Center for Book
Arts in New York City. The Indie Photobook Library, an
archive showcasing many handmade photo books, has
shown Displaced in venues that would ordinarily be inaccessible to me.
One buyer who pre-ordered Displaced lives in
Sacramento. When I picked up final copies of Displaced
in San Francisco, I decided to stop on my way home
and personally deliver the book to this collector who
was generous enough to order before it was finished
and patient enough to wait months to receive it. We
met for coffee and spent an hour chatting about art
and books. He commented that he could never get the
kind of interaction with artists that he wanted at gallery openings and was grateful to have the time to talk
with me directly about the photographs. It is extremely rewarding to be able to communicate one-on-one
with those who appreciate your work enough to buy it.
There is a different methodology to marketing handmade books. You will not have access to the usual retailers. But, I have made many
sales by attending conferences
and events; sending mass mailings to university librarians;
gaining coverage on sites like
The Independent Photobook;
advertising in small, but targeted
publications like the Artist Book
Newsletter; and securing representation from specialty retailers
and galleries.
MOVING
FORWARD
Because of where I live, I am lucky
enough to be able to follow the
work of many incredible book art-
ists, including Raymond Meeks,
self-publisher of eight titles, who
offers this advice to beginning
book publishers: “Establish a
solid core of editors and trusted
critics, while being careful to
avoid a focus group. Identify a
book designer, a writer, and a few visual artists who can
offer constructive criticism and feedback before you put
your book out into the world. Strive for solid content and
masterful storytelling in lieu of overstated design and
the finest printing. Bear your soul. If you break even but
begin to establish an audience and a reputation, then
you’re on your way. If you truly want to ‘give’ something
that we, your audience, don’t already have in abundance,
then I think your chances are real good.”
Self-publishing is a big, costly and, at times, scary
endeavor that can have huge rewards, both artistically
and professionally. Producing a handmade book can
help sustain your ability to keep creating, connect you
with an audience that values your efforts and inspire
you to continue growing as an artist.
