As a traditional media or new media artists, people love your work, but in tight economic times, they might not be willing to spend hundreds or thousand dollars to hang a single piece of artwork on their wall. Just don’t let them sit on the sideline during a recession, waiting for the opportunity to purchase art from someone else who is at their right place at your wrong time.

A fine-art coffee table book of your work provides you the opportunity to pitch and sell your entire art portfolio in one package and keep front of their mind as economic times improve... and all the while you generate cash flow from book sales.

In the last article, I began exploring the many different types by covering the basics of royalty publishing. In the next few entries I will examine the other types of publishers, the names they may go by, and the pro and cons of each type of publisher.

In reality, names mean very little. Services, copyright ownership, contracts, and added value are what really matter to an author. The costs for printing, binding, and additional services; like editing, marketing, warehousing, and distribution; may be paid in part by the publisher or in full by the author. I provide the following definitions as groundwork for future discussions, with understanding that all publishers vary in service, support, and quality regardless of what they may call themselves:

Model photography is all about packaging. Your look differentiates you from everything and everyone else. Everyone in the industry knows it’s what’s on the outside that matters.

Your portfolio’s packaging should say as much about you as the shots contained inside. If your portfolio looks just like every other portfolio out there, you’re potentially leaving work on the table. You’re letting someone else be more memorable than you.

What is a publisher? What should I expect from a publisher? How much will they pay me in royalties?

People are often surprised by the answers to these questions. Before answering in any detail we need to establish some definitions. There are many types of publishers offering a variety of service. I choose to use the following definition in order to further the conversation. However, you will find companies calling themselves one type of publisher while offering a variety of service typically associated with another. These basic definitions will give us a starting point from which to better understand the publishing industry:

I just completed a picture book for a couple who traveled to Europe last year and wanted a coffee-table book to record their trip. Every time I show this book to someone I get the same reaction, "WOW! Those were taken with just a one-touch digital camera?"

The answer is yes. Surprising to many people, photos taken with even an average one-touch camera can produce some very nice printed photo albums. A SLR camera may produce an overall higher quality image than an "one-touch."A SLR may also be needed to produce larger-sized books with the necessary resolution. However, most people only need, and are happy with, a less-expensive and lighter-weight camera. These camera can produce some very nice results, as I have seen with this book.

2½ Weeks tells a memorable story through pictures of one couples travels through Europe, ending with a wedding. The pictures were all taken with a Panasonic DMC-TZ4 point-and-click digital camera.