I’m not saying I have something in the works. Who me? Most of what I do now is muddled, half-finished, testing samples of some sort or another. There is no time for a full-on project. However, I work with A LOT of other people who DO have projects in mind, and they have the time and resources to complete them. When I think about putting books into the world, I think about that darn first third of the equation. You know the part I’m talking about, all that stuff that happens LONG before your book is in production. What’s your goal? What’s the story? Who is the audience? What is the audience willing to pay? Do I need a designer? What about marketing and distribution? Ya, that stuff. Without it, book production falls flat. (Unless making a personal book, which I highly recommend.)
When I think about making a book for a mass audience, I think about subcultures.
For many photographers, this means making books for other photographers. That’s the subculture, fellow snappers. This is a semi commendable goal, but at the same time, I would never do this. Just too small and too limited. Not to mention, many photographers will ask you to buy their book, but refuse to return the favor. We are fickle that way. And it might seem like everyone is a photographer now, but that’s not true either. Throw in the fact that many modern photographers don’t know much about print. We have multiple generations of digital-only folks now, which means your photography market is most likely shrinking, not expanding.
Let’s get real and let me blow your mind. Over ninety million Americans identify as birders. Yes, bad hats and clothes, clogging up the sides of rural roads, and relentlessly keeping lists their children and grandchildren will ignore and discard. Another fifty million Americans identify as “bird watchers,” so not as hardcore as a full-on birder, but at least paying notice that birds actually do exist. (Birds aren’t real!) This, my friends, is what I mean when I say “subculture.” Oh, one more tiny fact, birding is a $279 BILLION-dollar-a-year industry. (USA, the only country that matters! Yeeeeeehaaaaw. Just kidding.)
Birding is a massive, multi-billion-dollar economic driver in the U.S., with recent 2022 data indicating that over 96 million birders contributed roughly $107 billion in direct trip and equipment expenditures. When accounting for total economic impact, including indirect spending, it supports 1.4 million jobs and adds roughly $279 billion in output annually. (F^%$ me!)
So, let’s bring this post back to the most poignant point: me. Say I wanted to put a book out. Say that the book may or may not have something to do with birds. Think I have a built-in audience? Think if I were attempting to sell 200-300 copies of a book, that I might stand a pretty good chance if I were to make something of value? Something good. Something different. Something out of right field that the birding community, in all their high-powered optics, never saw coming?
You might be a great bird photographer, but that other guy, he’s better. And ya, so is that woman from that other place. She’s better than you and me, too. That’s what I’ve learned about this subculture. The most driven, educated, focused group I’ve ever seen, and it’s not even close. So, this means you might not be able to half-ass it, but maybe you could. Crap, one hundred plus million people with similar interests. If you can’t sell a book to a crowd that size, well, you might need a new camera. (Stop, this was a trick.)
Historically, artist-driven books have not sold well. There are exceptions, as always, but as a general rule, this holds. Subject-driven books, however, have and do sell well, or at least when they are made well, and the artist has a plan. A subject-driven bird book might just have legs. I know, I’m a wordsmith. Next time you are pondering your fate and wondering why you aren’t famous yet, think about subcultures. Guitar players, hip-hop, dog people, cat people, fishing, or gear heads, just to name a few. Millions of people are lying in wait. No one really cares how good a photographer you are. They don’t. They might tell you they do, but they don’t. People want to be educated, entertained, or both. Tap those subcultures people.
PS: I didn’t know I had an eBird profile until today. This site and this community are absolutely insanely cool. Talk about more info than you could consume. But contributors are SO dedicated. I am completely sloppy, don’t log half the birds I see, and couldn’t even log into the app for over a year. Not that I tried that hard. I’m no lister, but the idea of birds haunts me like my shadow.