Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] Help: picture accepted for publication, but what to do...?!?

Subject: Re: [OM] Help: picture accepted for publication, but what to do...?!?
From: "Skip Williams" <skipwilliamsom@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 10:19:26 -0500
Cc: o.greve@xxxxxxx
Olaf,

I work for a large company that, until recently, had a large number of companies that sold vanity directories. So I understand this business model very well. Mind you, we were/are on the upper end of the market. There are a LOT of bottom-feeders out there squeezing mailing lists with titles like "Who's-who in American Underwater Basket Weaving".

(Caveat, If you can't tell, I'm a bit cynical about these businesses and offers, as they prey upon all of our needs for recognition and pride. I see this as pretty dasterdly personnaly.)

"International Library of Photography"??  What a bogus name.

Did you sign a picture release when you entered your shot or by entering, did you implicitly release your rights to later publication? If so, then you've lost all rights to the picture. Does it say that your publication rights are contingent upon your paying for the book or a description?

The basic business model for these companies is to to first collect as many pictures as possible. Then cull through them and send most of the authors of any marginally passible picture the pitch for the book, description, etc. If they have rights to the pictures, then they'll do whatever they want and publish both the pictures they like and the ones that they don't like, but got money for. If you bite, then you also go on another list for other solicitations, forever.

It's interesting that you're a "semi-finalist". Probably amongst several thousand of your closest friends. Does your buying the book guarantee your image's publication? If so, it's a bald-faced scam and I'd run away.

My humble advice is to ignore the book and don't buy. You can get much better material taken by others for $70. But if you can't resist, it isn't a total loss and will be interesting to see the overall image quality. The publication quality will probably be so-so, especially with 1500 photos they can't afford a lot of production and editing costs. It's also possible that they will fill in the book with stock images to bring up the quality level.

The biggest downside here is that your wonderful picture may now be floating around elsewhere or sold for profit without your knowledge or compensation.

I don't send materials to bulk contests like these, just because of the issues Olaf has brought up. Even Kodak "contests" force you to relinquish all your rights to the image. I guess that magazine contest submissions are OK, but I'd want restrictive rights to where the image can travel outside of the intended publication.

Skip




****** I M P O R T A N T   R E P L Y   I N F O ************
Please adddress ALL offlist messages to skipwilliams@xxxxxxxxx
This hotmail.com email address is ONLY used for this mailing list subscription and I will probably not notice any private messages addressed here.
***********************************************************



From: "Olaf Greve" <o.greve@xxxxxxx>
Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [OM] Help: picture accepted for publication, but what to do...?!?
Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 14:56:39 +0100

Hi,

Yes you're reading it correctly: last Saturday I received a letter from
www.picture.com saying that a picture I had sent in for their free
photography contest has now advanced to the semi-final and that it has been
chosen for publication in the book "Life's Gallery (by The International
Library of Photography)". :)))

The picture in question is: http://www.picture.com/display.asp?ID=927912

Now, of course I was very proud to read all this (and according to the
letter, "Of the thousand photographs we [i.e. they] see each year, only a
fraction can be published" [sic]), so this feels good in that respect. Other
positive things are that I retain the copyright of the picture and that
publication doesn't cost a thing.

Now, the book will have approximately 250 (8.5 X 11" (= 21.5 X 28 CM))
pages, is hardbound, and from a picture of a similar book, it seems each
page will have approximately 6 pictures, so that would mean that the book
would include some 1500 pictures, and that each picture is printed in a
relatively small size (that is, if each page indeed has 6 pictures).

So what's the catch? Well, included with the letter is an offer for
pre-ordering the book for $69.95 (or $59.95 per copy when ordering two
books), which according to them is a $20 discount over their normal price.
Yet, I just checked my entry, and over there the price mentioned for the
book is also $69.95, so this supposed discount seems to be a fake. Also, for
$25 one can send in a short description of the picture and of oneself, but
this will only be included if one actually buys a book. P&H is $8 in the US,
and $11 outside the US (per book!). Sooooo, the prices would be:
-1 book, p&h, no additional text: $80.95
-1 book, p&h, additional text: $105.95
-2 books, p&h, no additional text: $141.90
-2 books, p&h, additional text: $165.90
...and that is my main issue, as these prices seem mighty steep to me, and
the photographers don't get a single penny for their work (unless they win a
prize in the contest).

Now, what I'm looking for is general advice, and also, I'd particularly like
answers to the following questions:
-Does any of you have any experience with www.picture.com and/or with The
International Library of Photography?
-What is your general perception of this offer/opportunity?
-What would _you_ do? Personally, I think I will at least grant permission
for publication (free for me, and my picture appears in a pretty nicely
looking book, and I will retain the copyright of the picture), but how about
the other options? Do I order a book? Do I include additional text?

Oh yes, to make this message on topic: the picture in question was taken
with my OM-4Ti and the 35-70/4 (which I sold when I obtained the 35-80/2.8),
and it is probably my best picture so far.

Cheers!
Olafo


< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >



_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp


< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz