Author Topic: Second Edition of Getting Started in Stock now published (Read 6388 times)

steheap · « **on:** March 07, 2012, 16:47 »

About 12 months ago, I published my first edition of the eBook - Getting Started in Stock Photography, available from my website and from Amazon. It has proved popular with people looking to get into Stock Photography, and I've formed some great relationships with some of my readers as a result. This last 12 months have been pretty good for me in the stock world, almost doubling my earnings from $600 a month to $1100. In that time, I've started uploading to a broader set of agencies, probably taken a wider range of images, moved into editorial shots, and, finally, learned a lot about how to get your images in front of buyers with accurate keywording and descriptions.

I finally had some time to commit this learning to words, and am very pleased to announce that Edition 2 of the book is now available for sale:http://www.backyardsilver.com/stock_photography_ebook/

There are obviously many successful stock photographers on this site and I don't expect it to be of much interest to them, but if you are a beginner, supplement the learning that you get from this forum with an easy to read "how to" guidebook to stock photography.

Steve

tab62 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2012, 18:54 »

Hi Steve,

I found your book useful in how you broke down the things that each company looks for and the keywords especially. I look forward to reading the 2nd edition soon...

T

steheap · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2012, 17:14 »

Thanks tab62 - edition 2 is in your inbox. I am making good on my promise to give buyers the future updates at no cost.

Steve

lisafx · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2012, 19:30 »

Congrats on the success of the first book, and finishing the second

Although I make it a policy to discourage anyone who asks me about becoming a stock photographer (

) there are some that persist, and I will be happy to direct them to your book.

steheap · « **Reply #4 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:50 »

Thanks lisafx!

In no way does my book glamorize this business (unlike a few of the glossy ones on Amazon!) I just explain how to do it, how to make yourself efficient, and cover things that people can find out if they read forums long enough (like faving on 123RF), but they are missing income if they don't do it. I learned a lot on this forum in particular, but it can be a slow and painful process.

Steve

leaf · « **Reply #5 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:55 »

Congrats on your determination to get your book written (and rewritten). I too (and I'm sure many others) have grandiose plans of some book or another, sometime in their lifetime. Few actually make it happen, well done.

steheap · « **Reply #6 on:** April 18, 2012, 10:06 »

Phew - I just passed another milestone - my book is now on the Apple iStock as an iBook. I've no idea how to give a link to it - but if anyone wants to try it out on an iPad, you can find it by searching for "Stock Photography" on the store. I found it by searching in iTunes.

The process of publishing on the Apple store is not for the faint hearted. Not only do you have to buy an ISBN number (just $100 for one number, of $250 for 10), you have to convert the book to the ePub standard and then you can only use a Mac to upload it to their site. Finally, after 6 weeks of Quality Assurance, it has finally got on four stores - France, Germany, US, UK. I now need to work out how to get it on all the others.

Steve

dreamstock · « **Reply #7 on:** April 18, 2012, 10:45 »

Quote from: steheap on March 09, 2012, 08:50

Thanks lisafx!

In no way does my book glamorize this business (unlike a few of the glossy ones on Amazon!) I just explain how to do it, how to make yourself efficient, and cover things that people can find out if they read forums long enough (like faving on 123RF), but they are missing income if they don't do it. I learned a lot on this forum in particular, but it can be a slow and painful process.

Steve

does anyone actually believe that stock photography is a way of getting rich quick? i hope that your book covers what it really takes to become a fairly successful stock photographer in today's market.

steheap · « **Reply #8 on:** April 18, 2012, 10:59 »

It is absolutely not a get rich quick book! I've bought those myself and they are full of glamorous images and how easy it is to take a few similar shots and make your fortune. What I decided to write was a simple "how to do it" manual, covering all the things I had learned (from this site and from hard experience) and the tips and tricks that made life a little easier and more efficient. In the introduction I stress that it is hard work and you need to keep at it for a long time to really make any money.

My thought process was that if someone is going to do this, they may as well spend a bit of money up front and do it properly, rather than spend their time and effort trying to piece together a plan by reading posts and forum discussions.

Steve

PS - the above assumes I know how to do it properly!! I'm sure there are some that would disagree with that statement

Pixart · « **Reply #9 on:** April 18, 2012, 11:25 »

Since you've already formatted and have ISBN, why not try Smashwords as well, but aren't there restrictions from the Apple store? When they first came out there was a lot of outrage from people who actually read their terms - was it rights or exclusiviity or something?

steheap · « **Reply #10 on:** April 18, 2012, 11:37 »

Quote

Since you've already formatted and have ISBN, why not try Smashwords as well, but aren't there restrictions from the Apple store? When they first came out there was a lot of outrage from people who actually read their terms - was it rights or exclusiviity or something

I hadn't heard of that one. I just checked it out and there are a couple of stock photography ebooks there. I'll have to see what their restrictions are. I do also sell it on Amazon, which works OK, but marketing is the key skill that I still need to learn!!

Steve

Pixart · « **Reply #11 on:** April 18, 2012, 11:55 »

They send to Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony and stores in other countries.

steheap · « **Reply #12 on:** April 18, 2012, 12:00 »

Quote

but aren't there restrictions from the Apple store?

There is a restriction that it must not be sold for more on the Apple store than it is sold elsewhere (although I think Amazon had that restriction as well) and it must be less than the paper version (not an issue for me). Before I started, I thought that they wanted exclusivity, but when I read the T&C I saw no sign of that. I didn't use their fancy iBooks software which allows for a much more interactive book, so perhaps there are some restrictions there.

Smashwords act as a consolidator for Apple as well as the other sites - Apple had mentioned that if you didn't feel capable of converting your text to the proper ePub format, you could use companies that would do it for you in return for a share of the revenue. I decided I was capable of doing the conversion and so didn't investigate much further. But getting it on the other eBook sites looks like a worthly objective.

Steve

Stuart · « **Reply #13 on:** April 25, 2012, 09:03 »

Steve - I purchased your book just a few days ago and already finished it. I will certainly recommend it to others that are interested in stock. The stats alone, at least for me, were very helpful in deciding how to start out.

steheap · « **Reply #14 on:** April 25, 2012, 09:34 »

Thanks Stuart! It is always gratifying to hear of a satisfied reader. As always, if you have any questions as your progress in stock photography, please feel free to email me directly.

Steve

bunhill · « **Reply #15 on:** April 25, 2012, 13:30 »

Quote from: steheap on April 18, 2012, 10:06

Phew - I just passed another milestone - my book is now on the Apple iStock as an iBook. I've no idea how to give a link to it

These should work. Here you go:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/getting-started-in-stock/id509372459 - USA

http://itunes.apple.com/fr/book/getting-started-in-stock/id509372459 - France

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/getting-started-in-stock/id509372459 - GB

See how the only thing which changes each time is the country code - e.g. us,fr,gb. Actually you probably only need the US version of the link on your web page (or any other) since iTunes should redirect people to their national store if they click on the buy link.

Best of luck.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #16 on:** April 25, 2012, 14:18 »

you know that I consider a lot your work and the way you are running it but I feel this idea might hurt us all, we don´t need more competition, thats the real deal

I don´t think you will sell tons of books so I am not worried but the idea is kind of scary, telling other that they can get 15k $ per year by using well their camera.. it ain´t that easy we all know that but...

steheap · « **Reply #17 on:** April 25, 2012, 15:33 »

Firstly - thanks for the link. I had no idea how to find that! Not that I will publicize it much as it is better for me if people buy from my site.

On the question of telling people our "secrets".... I stress in the opening chapter that this is hard work (unlike some of the Stock books in print) and I doubt that many people really have the focus to go forward and make something of this business. If they do have that drive, then they are already going to become competition, and there is not a lot lost if I help them a little along the way.

I occasionally check the portfolio's of people who have signed with an agency with my links - not too many images there in many cases.

Steve

mantonino · « **Reply #18 on:** April 25, 2012, 22:10 »

I reviewed the first copy of the book and while I haven't seen the second, I can say this is definitely a good book for those who may be looking.

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Author Topic: Second Edition of Getting Started in Stock now published (Read 6388 times)

steheap

tab62

steheap

lisafx

steheap

leaf

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dreamstock

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Pixart

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Stuart

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bunhill

luissantos84

steheap

mantonino

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