Self-Publishing a Photo Book

Print on demand makes it easy for anyone to publish a photo book.

In the past it could be difficult to get a book published. You had to work with a book agent and publisher, and then you had to hope your book would get distributed. Today, with the wide utilization of the Internet, it has become much more feasible for the average person to publish her own book, be it to print a few copies for family and friends or do a big print run, hoping for wide appeal and lots of sales. Many Internet sites offer what is called POD (print on demand) for the self-publisher.

Things You'll Need

• Digital images
• Computer
• Internet connection

Instructions

1. 

   High-resolution photos will give you the best final product.

   Gather all the images together that you wish to include in the photo book. For the best end-product, use the highest-resolution photos that you have available or the maximum resolution allowed by the service you select to use.

2. 

   Write out your text and notes before starting on the book's layout.

   Write whatever text descriptions and captions you will want published with your book. Having the images and desired text together before you begin the actual layout allows you to concentrate on the photo book layout and not writing captions for each photo. You can hand-write the text, but if you type it up ahead of time, you will be able to just cut and paste it from your word-processing program into the layout.

3. Decide on what the market is going to be for your photo book. If the photo book you are putting together is from a family vacation that would only appeal to a limited audience, you may select a different publishing service if you were self-publishing a photo book that is a visually appealing coffee table book. Possible POD services you might want to investigate include Blurb.com, Lulu.com, BookLocker.com or iUniverse.com.

4. Research the site(s) you wish to use to see whether they match your goals. Some sites may offer different distribution channels that may be more appealing to you. You may wish to make a small purchase from each of these POD publishers to see the quality of their products before selecting one.

References

• PC World: Internet Tips: Self-Publish Your Books, Songs and Movies Online
• PBS: Media Shift: 5 Great Services for Self-Publishing Your Book

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Make Your Own Photo Book with Blurb
• BookLocker
• Lulu
• iUniverse