I'm writing an attribution guide - need some pointers from those who know
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I am writing an attribution guide, the details of which must for now remain top secret per the insistence of my partner.
I need some advice from those of you who have written guides before, or who may have an answer to my hangups. My 3 main concerns at this point are the following:
1) I already have all photos and research gathered and put together, but I will need to put it all together in a format that can be given to a printing company. I like the idea of a soft cover spiral bound, but am also considering some hard covers. Any advice on software to use and advice when looking for a printing company? I believe in keeping it simple and practical.
2) I will need permissions from PCGS, Heritage, and maybe 1 other to use their pictures. Are Trueviews available for commercial use anyway? I took a leap of faith on this, but am assuming I can get cooperation. There would be no other way to go forward. If anyone from PCGS or Heritage is reading, please reply.
3) Anything I want to know but forgot to ask?
Early American Copper, Bust and Seated.
Comments
Hopefully it is a popular series or you may not make up your cost. Nevertheless, attribution guides are great to have.
I'm sure I will be, it's fairly popular.
TTT anyone with any advice? Right now I'm just using MS Word and converting to .PDF files.
Early American Copper, Bust and Seated.
I am interested in possibly acquiring a guide when they become available.
Oooh, post 1,100
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You'll be one of the first to know!
Early American Copper, Bust and Seated.
I appreciate the question and will watch this thread. I think you're right not to disclose the subject yet.
I'm doing the same thing as a result of a recent thread, except I'm trying to buy all of the coins myself, and create my own classifications/attributions....unlikely to be the same subject.
I'm making an excel spreadsheet, to define the varieties, and would like to dedicate one page per variety, like an Overton book, but I want to do a key at the front to lead the reader to the right page. sort of like a dichotomous key for plant identification.
Is there a hotline at Krause to call and gauge the interest? I have a friend who wrote a local history book and self published, and I think ebooks are pretty popular now.
1) Microsoft Publisher is what I use. I know that InDesign is also popular. Both take at least some practice getting used to. I would strongly stay away from using Word as your formatting tool - it's just not as user friendly.
2) Contact representatives at PCGS, Heritage, etc. They will usually put you in contact with the person(s) who may/may not give you permission to use their images. Of course proper credit and citations would be required. I have never had an issue gaining permission to use images from either of these two companies in my publications.
3) There are MANY other factors to consider prior to publication. Formatting page size, margins, layouts, templates, etc. are the key factors that immediate come to mind. There are many other factors to consider when choosing a printer, but it sounds like you are still a ways off from that point.
Please feel free to contact me via PM if you want to know more. I'm usually busy, but will find the time to respond to your questions as I've got a bit of experience in the book publishing industry.
Best of luck - it's probably going to be more work than you think, but in the end it will be totally worthwhile. I'm finishing up a project now which I started 5 years ago, and by the time it goes to print it will be about 6 years - although this was a timeline which I fully expected.
You might check with author kevin Flynn... He has written so many books he may be able to share some ideas/ experiences
look into self-publishing and print on demand
find a printer that does this
see what they require/recommendations
For using photos from PCGS, Heritage, you absolutely need to get permission from both.
Doing without permission could be copyright infringement.....
I have written 53 books, I have an agreement with Heritage to use their photos, so long as I provide
a free book when it is printed and also
acknowledgement around the area of the the photo such as Photo courtesy of Heritage Auctions
if there is a Copyright Management Information on the digital image, DO NOT REMOVE, I believe Heritage put as the CMI
"Heritage Auctions" on each photo
I also provide a general acknowledgment in the acknowledgement section of the book
On contact info, write Bid@HA.com, which is there general contact
If that does not work, contact me at kevinjflynn88@yahoo.com and I will write the proper person
For PCGS, I normally contact Ron Guth who runs the PCGSCoinFacts site
I normally provide a free book to Ron, acknowledgment with the photographs, general acknowledgement in the front
For both, you need to do the work, they will not email the photos, you can retrieve them online.
If need be, contact me and I will contact Ron with you
Kevin
On writing books
I write my books in Adobe PageMaker 6.5 (which has not been supported since about 2000, but I love it)
I use Windows
All photos are incorporated into document.
I do almost all film photos, scan into digital image through a HPIICX scanner, which has a rounding curve that blows away
anything since 1992 when I bought this. I scan as a Tiff at 200 DPI, have done 20-30000 photos over 26 years.
I big concern is to degradation when converting from one medium to another, such as 200 DPI to 2450 DPI such as
those of a negative image writer most big printers use. I found when converting there is always more dots, which make
the image lighter, so I lighten the image when scanning, and also use specialized software that optimizes the image for
the medium change with little loss. Point is that in the beginning, get one page done with images, test full cycle through
the printers and checkout the results. Better to do one page than redoing entire book, been there, done that.....
Note, if using jpegs at 75 DPI, these can be a problem if/when converted to higher resolution, I normally will use
PhotoShop and convert to a TIFF at 200 DPI, it all depends what quality you want.
When book is complete, use Adobe Indesign 3.0, which can create a PDF, which goes directly to the printers.
The less the printers has to do, more money you save.
The cover usually the hardest part, such as having images overlaid over and background color
I can do everything but the spine on these books.
Two ways to print, big run, negative image writer, 2450 DPI, high quality, usually for over 500 books, more cost to setup
and print, but can save money if printing a lot of books, the more you print, the cheaper per book. Usually takes about
6 weeks to run including sending you a draft.
Note you can choose paper and cover quality, higher quality more costs, but better absorption of ink and better appearance of photos
I have used Sheridan books for almost all my books, all printed in U.S., they are great, great quality, communication
and such
I normally do B&W, but color is an option. but more expensive
I always do four color cover
I used to do softcover and hard bound, different prices, also can do hard cover with dust jacket, now just do softcover
Nice thing you get an estimate for each so you can get a picture of what you want and can afford
If you need more info or for Sheridan's contact info, write me at kevinjflynn88@yahoo.com
Lesson learned, if you print to many books, your garage will be decorated with them for a while, which is why I prefer
POD, kinda depends on the subject of the book.
Kevin
Just my personal preference as a consumer, I really don't like spiral bound books. I'd rather just have a soft cover with a regular binding. That way you can see the title on the binding and they stack better with other books.
Sorry I don't have more to contribute. Other than that I will definitely be looking forward to the book!
Great transactions with oih82w8, JasonGaming, Moose1913.
Now I prefer spiral bound for reference cause I'm gonna have the reference book open as I attribute. IMO. But what do l know. Peace Roy
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