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[GWL]: Book Packagers



I worked with a book packager several years ago on some projects. I 
found the experience positive and negative. The actual packager doesn't' 
matter as they were acquired by a larger packager, but I enjoyed the 
projects when I was asked to write intro's, forward's, and basic 
information sections. I was even asked to write instructions for other 
designers floral designs -- that was a bit awkward because there are 
many ways of doing things and I wasn't exactly sure what this designer 
did -- but in the end it worked out fine. I felt I was adequately paid 
(at the time) by a per word fee (can't remember exactly what it was, but 
I was happy at the time)

Then I did some design work for them myself. This is where I was 
unhappy.  They gave me a suggested table of contents and asked me to 
prepare several floral designs and photograph them. I assumed from our 
discussions that I was being contracted to do ALL of the work they asked 
for. We agreed in advance on the fee per project, so I felt comfortable. 
What I didn't know was that they also asked others to do the same thing 
and had the same discussions with them. In the end, we sent all of our 
photos in and in a meeting a committee chose which projects they would 
use.  I was shocked when they called and had chosen only about 1/3 of my 
designs (they did the same with the other two) and I was then asked to 
send in the designs in step by step format for them to photograph. For 
example, if it was a wreath with flowers, I had to send one wreath and 
all the supplies unassembled for one photo, I had to send a second 
wreath with the first step of flowers attached for the second step, a 
third wreath with the first and second step attached for the third step 
etc, etc. I was shocked because a fee for supplies had never been 
discussed and they, at first, weren't willing to  cover those costs. Nor 
were they willing to cover the cost of shipping the massive amount of 
stuff and weren't going to return anything to me.  They wanted it broken 
into MANY steps so the book would be full of how-to photos -- that meant 
a lot of supplies.

After much confusion, I thought I would go ahead and do it, just to 
recoup some of my costs. In the end, they did reimburse some supply 
costs.  All in all, that probably cost me money, rather than making me 
money. Since then, I have seen the projects in about a dozen different 
formats of the book and that was the first time I really learned what 
'packaging' was all about. They produce the same book in a number of 
different sizes, shapes and page counts for various clients of theirs 
and a consumer would never know that two books were nearly the same by 
looking at them. They often are listed as different publishers as well.

So, I guess my advice is to be absolutely sure in advance what you are 
agreeing to and don't assume anything. If they do not offer supply 
costs, don't assume they are part of the deal, etc.

This may not affect as many on this list if your work is more garden 
related and doesn't include projects or designs. And also, let me say 
this was several years ago and with only one packager. Things may be 
different now and it may be different with different packagers.

Kathy

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