Let's say I wanna hear a brutally honest opinion on something, which is what your book offers according to the title, but when I open the book, I see a content that sounds very vanilla. A uni textbook. And I was expecting opinions that tell me how it is.

Here's my revised table of Contents:
Chapter 1 - Why you should move to Thailand
Chapter 2 - What's in my camera bag before the gypsies stole it?
Chapter 3 - Technicals - what's the point, they're going to reject you anyway
Chapter 4 - How not to get * sued
Chapter 5 - RM or RF, why doesn't it matter when you're still getting paid crap
Chapter 6 - Overview of Agencies (most of these won't be around in a year)
Chapter 7 - How much can you expect to earn (less than working at McDonald's)
Chapter 8 - Don't fking shoot flowers, pets and flags
Chapter 9 - Finding Nietzsche
Chapter 10 - Keywording or as some people call it "Copy-Pasting"
Chapter 11 - Hiring cheap labour in India for cheap
Chapter 12 - The Agencies are the devil and their customers don't care about you
Interview with Playboy bunny of the year 2017

simephoto with solo mango as little sister, they have base mostly of travel photography. personally i think harding is another agency with not a bright future, once i wanted to upload there but i prefer collaborate with more documentary agency. all this photo for me are good enough for rm in alamy, and am pretty sure you would sell more there that with rh, considering that rh also sell a lot in alamy, and if they sell there you got 25 %

I pitched to Simephoto but in the end settled for RH, on an image-exclusive basis. I want to avoid signing up to different exclusive agencies that specialise in the same niche as that's just asking for trouble (and picking favourites), not to mention the legal issues of potentially submitting the same/similar images to both.

I like RH since the editor there (Fraser Hall) is easily approachable and gives good feedback - there's also a community feel as it's a small agency. I hope they're successful. Alamy do get a fair share of my leftover RM images and some RF editorial, then SS get the rest as RF to license for peanuts which does add up. This is a long-term strategy I'm willing to be patient for positive results...I don't have all the answers but there's a method behind the madness which I devote many many pages to outlying in the book.

The only reason why I chose the 4th image was because a similar image from a better angle went viral 6 weeks ago at an English Defense League rally in Birmingham - credit Joe Gibbens / PA (attached). I do enjoy editorials and can see myself going full steam ahead with it and perhaps one of my images may go viral (I came close that time so it just means that I was in the wrong place at the right time). I've recently signed up to Rex Features.

You probably have the most critical audience you will find here not many of whom are likely to be your target market.

This is great! I don't waste my time (anymore) posting on 500px and flicker so I get a bunch of useless praise and likes - also don't want the risk of my images being stolen. The people posting/reading on here produce top quality work and I rather receive brutally honest feedback - it doesn't hurt my ego .

Sounds like a good concept, good title, I think many people would buy and read it if you can get the word out.

I believe so and hope it may help a lot of people who are just starting out. It may even "dissuade" some who may think it's an easy ride from even bothering to invest their money and time. I don't enjoy tooting my horn too much but it's all part of the marketing game to get the word out on what I think is a quality product but I'll let the readers be the real judges.

Brutally honest? Ok...

Your shutterstock portfolio is 95% walk-around, point-and-shoot, editorial shots. No working with models. No studio table top. (strobes?) No concepts. Pretty much vacation snaps of cities. And some architectural interiors with verticals off. (?)

Kinda a narrow (and easy) niche.

This makes me question your knowledge and experience that would qualify you to write a guide to Microstock photography.

But  anyone who helps dissuade more competition in this industry is fine with me.

I appreciate your brutally honest feedback. 

I stick to travel & news editorial as my main niches - I can't possibly cover all niches within Microstock or claim to be proficient at still life, for example.

�We were tired of living in a world that revolved around fixing our weaknesses. Society�s relentless focus on people�s shortcomings had turned into a global obsession. What�s more, we had discovered that people have several times more potential for growth when they invest energy in developing their strengths instead of correcting their deficiencies.� - Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath 

On a side note, I've stopped submitting my premium images to SS about a year ago, they now go to Midstock agencies as RM where they should be. So you're probably only seeing my leftover work there at SS earning me those 33cents here and there but I did get a $14 extended license download today. For a better idea of my premium work I recommend to check out my Robert Harding collection - https://www.robertharding.com/photographers/alexandrerotenberg/. 

Anyway, it's all explained in the book, hope you will check it out soon

I agree with you in that success/failure is just a silhouette. If it looks like a duck, it could still be a pair of hands and a table lamp .

Perhaps it's a matter of presentation. Instead of getting-out-of-stock pessimistic conclusion, put it as a first chapter. Entitle it something like "If it were easy, everyone would do it". Well, English is not my first language, I am not good with catchy slogans, I am sure you can come up with something better.

Or use another angle. Say, first steps in industry, learning it while getting stuff sold.

Thanks for your suggestion. I wanted to be shocking, but you're right that it may also put people off.

English isn't my first language either, that's why I'm a Brasilnut

I should whip one up... "The Brutally Honest Guide to Space-Related Microstock Motion Graphics".

Let's collaborate 

Hey all,

As some of you may already be aware, since November last year, I've been painstakingly drafting a comprehensive guide to Microstock.

It's taken a hell of a lot of work and I've settled on close to a whopping 200 pages, with just as many example images, to reflect the complexity of the business.

Here's the table of contents:

Chapter 1 � Microstock Photography 101 
Chapter 2 - What's in my Camera Bag?
Chapter 3 � Achieving Technical Excellence 
Chapter 4 - The Legal Side of Stock Photography
Chapter 5 - Licensing Editorial & Commercial Images
Chapter 6 - Overview on Agencies to License Images
Chapter 7 - How Much Can You Expect to Earn (The Extra Mile Isn�t Crowded)?
Chapter 8 - Creating Interesting Images
Chapter 9 - Finding your Niche
Chapter 10 - Keywording 
Chapter 11 � Workflow Optimisation
Chapter 12 - Getting the H*ll Out of Microstock! 
Interview with Joas Souza, London-based Architectural photographer
 
But it's not about quantity, it's about quality.

I'm really sticking my neck out on this one and telling it how it is (the good, the bad and the ugly).

To get this ball going, once published soon, I'm going to GIVING AWAY THE GUIDE to 5 people. All you have to do is go to my word press blog (link is at my signature) and underneath its latest post (with the same title), put down your email address. Thereafter, all I ASK is that you give me your brutally honest opinion of the book, either here or on the blog! I won't feel offended if you hate it (which you won't).

Not to worry if you're too late, once published, it will be for sale for $5.00 for a limited time only, thereafter $10.00. 

Happy shooting!

Alex
https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.wordpress.com/2017/06/04/new-guide-for-beginners-brutally-honest-guide-to-microstock-photography/

Finally got paid for it and were two RM licenses for $20 and $7 respectively.

Thanks. I've got reservations about sending exclusive images (and no similars elsewhere) to an agency unless it is selling like hot-cakes.  I see their stuff on Alamy, I don't know where else they supply.  If it's just a back door to Alamy then you're just giving a cut of your commissions to a third party.

The industry's *removed coarse language* due to downward pressures on prices as a result of an oversupply of images, and disruption from Microstock. Midstock agencies are also struggling to keep their prices attractive.

There's no "perfect" agencies, just have to make friends with the devil sometimes and hope for the best. I haven't seen them put my stuff with Alamy but have seen at Getty which can be worrying. As long as these third parties report property, I don't mind... 

Sundays tend to be slow

I submit all my best images to Robert Harding, a specialist niche travel photography agency, but they reject like 80% of my images...
SS are a sure bet but it's tough getting over the 25cents, which is insulting, but as others have pointed out it's better than getting lost in Alamy for years hoping for a big sale.

it�s a no-go from the very beginning, image spamming from poor images all over, the best thing is to try favorite keywords and see the result, one trial and you will never try it again.

I used to work with online poker and it reminds me of sites who were way behind the curve try to compete with the big boys at the time (Party or Pokerstars) but they didn't have that many tables going and no incentives for new guys to join.

One way Lifeographies could potentially get more contributors is to start offering minimum 70% commissions to new contributors then I'd probably give it a try, even exclusively.

Too many * sub downloads

Thank you. I love your Fine Art photos. I can only dream of seeing those places. They are beautifully executed and I'm sure you have some on arcangel too

Thanks, I love travelling but I realise it's not the easiest of genres to make money! Arcangel isn't treating me well, unfortunately, I'm close to giving up on them as already have 500 images and no sales after 18 months...