Why A Blurb Photo Book About Japan Almost Drove Me Crazy
That’s crazy in a weird good way.
Have you ever stood up and talked to a room full of people who’ve come to see your photo book workshop?
You pour your heart into educating them how to make books and, naturally, encourage everyone and their brother to create a Blurb photo book.
(Blurb didn’t sponsor me for those workshops. I just think they’re cool).
Anyways…
Not sure if anyone took me up on the offer.
Kind of felt a little let down by that…
Having said that, I’ve…
Shelled Out The Green
And made photo books with PhotoBox and Snapfish in a previous life.
So I can’t blame anyone for going for the quick-and-easy photo book route.
But man, did I try hard to win them over!
Create an amazing book totally offline in the comfort of your own home.
A rockin’ font selection compared to what you get with PhotoBox.
(That’s me hustling talking about Blurb’s BookWright tool right there).
I was beginning to think I was a clown in the room that overlooked something.
Sad.
But hey it gets better.
Picture me throwing my photo books on the table and explaining why I thought Blurb was cool.
After everyone stopped laughing I cranked up my Keynote and showed them the madness joys of creating my Japan photo book.
There’s nothing mysterious to it I said.
You just need to…
- Select the BEST images for the photo book.
- Formulate an eye-catching cover.
- Not get neurotic over the layout.
- Throw some guesswork into the mix!
Easy, right?
More shuffling of feet and polite laughter.
I guess I rubbed it in when I said there’s only 6 steps (or so) to it.
You just can’t hide when you’re up there trying to please everyone.
(By the way, never try to please everyone. It doesn’t work).
So Why Did It Drive Me Crazy?
I couldn’t quite work out what my Japan photo book was going to be all about.
OK so Japan, but Japan what? Planes, Trains and Automobiles? Bus Drivers?
And what do people want to look at?
What if you get the book all wrong and no one wants to buy it?
What if you’re just creating this book for your own ego?
Yeah dude it’s a nice book but I’m not spending $50 smackers on it.
But you know what?
The process of creating the photo book is the least important part.
I see it as failing forward. I don’t mind making mistakes with these books as long as I get them out there.
Sometimes you’ve just got to…
Put Your Money And Pride On The Line!
And jump into the deep end of the pool.
Have you ever done that?
It’s called creating your own photo book no matter what anyone else thinks about it.
So I grabbed some of my most interesting iPhone images from my Japan adventure and laid them haphazardly randomly into my book.
Used Canva to lay out my cover.
Furnished the book with image titles.
Punched in some page numbers.
Before you know it.
Voila!
You have a Blurb photo book. Ready to sell or promote.
Manhandle, sell, promote, put on Instagram and share with the world.
Of course it’s a test run but at least your images are out there for new viewers to see.
And at the end of the day (& the workshop) they went away feeling frustrated inspired.
At least I hope so!
You man Martin James pressed the print button on his 7th photo book. Soon to arrive.
And he didn’t blow it big time.
So that’s them steps to my Blurb photo book of Japan.
And by the way, it’s available right here.
It’d mean a lot to me if you could click the social buttons below to show your support and let more people read about my weird experiences so they can create their own photo books! It’ll only take a few seconds.
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Let’s keep in touch on Instagram.
Thank you for reading! Leave a comment down below to tell me how your photo book is coming along!