The Portland Metro Photographic News

by Tom Hubbard

On my list of photographic topics to pursue for PMPN readers has been "self publishing" of photo books.  Granted, it's a popular Internet topic, but I was hoping to shed some new light on the topic.  So, I started with organizations like Blurb.  I even registered with some sites to get the full publishing experience.  All these companies are offering services to produce true photographic books in sizes from 7 inches by 7 inches up to 12 inches by 12 inches.

Some services are able to take a blog and convert it into a book while others provide templates for constructing your own book from scratch.  Blurb has even announced the ability to use an author's PDF file (using Blurb's formatting guidelines) to create a printed book.  Although I didn't ultimately publish a book using Blurb's service, I did follow the instructions and walked through the process with a test book.  I found that once you understood Blurb's system and closely followed the instructions, creating a book was relatively easy.  The price of the final publication is also compelling -- considering the traditional bookmaking alternatives.

But during my research, another publishing alternative surfaced that could be even more attractive to some photographers and authors who are just getting into the book side of photography and must be cost conscious.  The company is called MagCloud.  MagCloud is a Hewlett-Packard venture, and is the company's avenue into low-quantity, high-quality magazine publishing.  You heard me right -- LOW-quantity and HIGH-quality.

As long as the final publication will fit within the physical constraints of 8.5 inches by 11 inches using a heavy magazine paper stock, you probably should take the time to review the MagCloud site.  Now consider these additional features.

• Use your own page layout program. (total number of pages must be divisible by 4).
  
• No minimum order.
• MagCloud handles all the customer orders, processing and shipping.
  
• You set the price.  MagCloud takes its cut only when the publication is sold.
• Your publication is given its own page (with a link) on the MagCloud site for viewing and ordering.

It's almost too good to be true.  Oh, did I mention that your cost for the publication is $0.20 US per page?

I was a little skeptical, but knowing that the publication was going to be printed on HP's latest Indigo printers and with no money required to create and publish the magazine, I decided to give it a try.

The entire instruction sheet for designing a book in my page layout software, InDesign, was only one page in length -- including all the "output for press" instructions.  (Quark and Word instructions are also available, and just about as complex.)

I chose to create a catalog of photographs for sale.  Selecting 21 images and sizing the images to 300 ppi was the longest part of the job.  I used MagCloud's supplied template, added the required number of pages and flowed the text and pictures into the design.  My proof reader did her usual impeccable job of catching my text and English errors.  Then I created the PDF file as instructed by MagCloud and submitted the final file on-line.

A PROOF COPY IS FREE!  The shipping charge was $1.40.  Exactly the right price for me.  MagCloud told me to expect the proof copy in 5 to 7 days.  It came in three.  (Good thing too.  I was getting tired standing by the mailbox.)

So, it's a magazine.  I've spent a good deal of time working for a magazine publisher, Time Inc.  I believed my expectations were realistic.  Was I pleasantly surprised!

It was awesome.  The paper was heavier than I expected, the color match was dead on and the images/text were sharp as a tack.

I found a few corrections and additions that I wanted to incorporate into the proof copy (above), and sent a new PDF file to MagCloud.  Now my Photo Catalog -- complete with a preview image of all 24 pages -- is on-line and awaiting the tens of thousands of orders that will surely follow.  I do NOTHING else.  MagCloud takes care of everything from order taking to printing to shipping.  MagCloud deducts their well-deserved charge ($0.20 US per page), and sends me the rest.

I invested about 10 hours of layout and production time to complete the master document.

Again, this is NOT a fine art, table top, gold-gilded book.  It is, however, a finely printed magazine that admirably serves the function of a photo catalog. This is the method I will be using to publish a series of expanded educational magazines based on my Internet educational blogs, Hub's Camera and Hub's iDarkroom.

After seeing the results of this MagCloud test, I would say that "publishing for the rest of us" has arrived.