I wish to publish my art history book privately. I am looking for a company that can get this done.

[CTyankee]

I have sought out the help of one company that I found online and will seek other opinions. I was told that the art itself in in the public domain butsince I used close up pictures off tinypic.com I would have to get permission from tinypic to use those photographs but I can't find where on tinypic I can reach a person to do this and I have tried. The contact with one production company said that without that blanket permission from tinypic they will not go forward with my book.

Is there some way I can resolve this issue? This book is not for sale and will be distributed only to family and friends.

Basically I want a company which will bind my book and make a small number of copies (I don't care if there is a minimum of 50-100 copies as I can distribute it for free here at DU).

I had to do this several years ago with my Master's Thesis (required by the college) and there was no problem with one part involving photo of paintings which I found online. I distinctly recall the company doing this was here in my hometown, New Haven. I have googled this question to get a local company, but not much luck.

I am in a quandary. Does anyone have advice for me?

Thank you, DU...

[Generic Other]

1. I suppose the close-up is copyrightable?

because it is transformative? Are there sites where you can save very close-up images? Some museums allow viewers to do this. Sorry, I have no other advice.

[CTyankee]

4. My guess is yes, it is "transformative" (not sure what that means, tho)

My guess is that the art, being in the public domain, is treated differently than the close up which is done by photographers inside museums. I think the issue with museums is the flash. But close ups of famous works (such as those to allow the viewer to see brush stroke, for instance) might not be. Tinypic.com is where you can see those closeups and I used tinypic extensively, especially for very large paintings or ones with interesting close up views (i.e. The Night Watch by Rembrandt).

Hope this clarifies a bit...

[theophilus]

2. I used KDP publishing on Amazon for my book. I went to another company to prep the text for

publishing with KDP and I bought a barcode from Bowker online. I can order copies of my book for about 9 dollars. No one else wants one.....yet. Anyway, Word-2-Kindle.com did the formatting for me. They can do the cover, etc. as well. I was satisfied and it all came in for a couple hundo, for me. Good luck!

[CTyankee]

7. do you have a website I can visit to discuss this?

Last edited Wed Apr 10, 2019, 08:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Without the Tinypic images, my book wouldn't see light of day, since I relied so heavily on their closeup images in my discussion of great art masterpieces.

on edit: my daughter is doing the layout design as she is a professional in this field. She also designed the fabulous cover art and has already done a few of the essays themselves.

[theophilus]

24. Sorry, I got distracted. Anyway,

https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/

That is the site for Kindle Direct Publishing. They put things on Kindle for Ebooks but also do hardcopies for publish on demand, etc.

You would not, of course, need an ISBN unless you decided to offer your tome for sale. The cost is not bad but you would prolly have higher costs for lots of illustrations.

Sorry I could not be of more help.

[CTyankee]

9. Why do I need a barcode?

[BlueFlorida]

21. ISBN number nt

[greyl]

3. How about a place with no minimums?

Check out https://lulu.com .
Have experience printing about 10 different books there, none of which were commercial.

Start here http://www.lulu.com/create/books , fill in your specs and quantity, be shocked at price.

[CTyankee]

6. I will check with them. thanks.

[femmedem]

8. I just sent you a message with info about a small Connecticut publisher. n/t

[CTyankee]

26. Thanks. I got it!

[Hekate]

10. KnR for visibility, Yank!

My sister in law has created several books, I think through Costco's photo department. She made a wonderful story book featuring a doll that one of the grandkids left behind -- that doll got into all the best places in town before she was sent home with the book. She found out her hubby used to write poetry, and put some of it in a slim volume with photos.

The paper is slick and shiny, as befits photos from a big store, and the books are hardbound. I am sure others will come up with great ideas for you.

I am so excited for you that you have gotten this far! Cheers!

[CTyankee]

11. Thank you, Hekate!

I love the story about your sister in law. I have a friend whose poetry was put into a self published book by his then girlfriend. IIRC, it was on shiny surfaced paper, was in color, and had photos of him, happy at the time (this is a sad story because it all ended badly).

I must say I was depressed after I talked with that one publisher. I felt I had come so close to my dream of publishing this book and this publisher's rep was just depressing. All that work!

So now I have renewed hope. I think it will work out...

[Hortensis]

23. Interested if this'll work. When I wanted to get an artist

friend's photograph of my husband copied and framed for our son, we had to contact the artist friend for written permission. This was at a copy shop we took it to have another run off! I'd like to have it copied again, but we've lost contact with him.

[DavidDvorkin]

12. I can do the print layout for you

I use Amazon's KDP for our client's print books. Getting copyright permission is up to you, though.

More info here: https://www.dldbooks.com

[CTyankee]

13. I just finished reading your information and found it thorough and appealing. However,

you say you only do softcover books. I have envisioned a hard cover book, glossy paper to better show these famous works of art and 8x10 sizing (again to better show the art). My aim in this book is to show the accessibility of this art for everyone to read about and relate to. I published these essays previously on DU. I emailed the admins about copyright issues and they said there was no problem.

Am I wrong to assume that the 8x10 size is required for this type of book? Ditto hard cover?

As to the copyright issue, I only want the book distributed to family and friends and it is not, nor ever will be, for sale. The copyright issue revolves around what I took off of tinypic.com. There, if you search for images related to, say, Veronese's "Wedding in Cana," you get lots of close-ups of parts of this painting, the largest one in the Louvre collection. There is a wealth of detail in this work, and worth examining in its parts in terms of the culture of the time. https://www.democraticunderground.com/10026713029

Take a look and tell me what you think about it, if you were to produce it. I look forward to hearing from you!

[DavidDvorkin]

17. Also check Wikimedia Commons

For example, this high-res image of The Wedding Feast at Cana is in the public domain:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File aolo_Veronese_008.jpg

We don't limit ourselves to paperback. That's been the best option for almost all of our customers, so far. I did a couple of exercise books in spiral-bound format using Lulu instead of KDP (which doesn't offer the spiral-bound option). Lulu also does hardcovers. Another good option is Ingram Spark. Lulu is probably the best of the three for a book that won't be published; KDP and Ingram Spark are oriented towards self-publishers who want their books to be distributed to Amazon, etc.

They all offer 8.5 x 11 as one of the options. That size isn't required, but it is good for art books. We did one at that size in softcover for a client, a while ago. You can see that book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Artful-Alchemy-Physically-Challenged-Creating/dp/0692835067/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

[CTyankee]

34. That first link you cite leads me to a page that says it doesn't exist.

Your second link about the physically challenged people does and I found it inspiring. Wonderful work David .

[DavidDvorkin]

35. DU messed up the link

Let's see if there's a way of doing it so that that doesn't happen.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File : Veronese,_The_Marriage_at_Cana_(1563).jpg

Take out the spaces around the : so that it's not converted to a smiley face.

[CTyankee]

36. what spaces? It looks to me like your link has no extra spaces.

[DavidDvorkin]

37. The whole string of text, ending with jpg, should have no spaces in it

I put spaces around the : to keep DU from interpreting the : and the following characters as something else and changing that part of the string of text.

If you want to follow the link, copy the entire line of text into your browser and then delete the spaces before and after the :

[harumph]

14. If you can locate high res picts of the art in question - you can do your own "close ups"

with image editing software such as photoshop or illustrator. That would bypass tinypic.

[CTyankee]

15. Oh, good. I'll tell my daughter...

[Hekate]

16. Some DUers have books out: NRaleighLiberal has one on heirloom tomatoes, I believe

Last edited Thu Apr 11, 2019, 02:13 PM - Edit history (1)

Kicking for visibility

On edit: I sent him a PM with the link to this thread and hope he will drop in if he has any ideas.

[CTyankee]

18. Thank you, Hekate. What a dear you are. I remember NRaleighLiberal posting about his

book. Thanks for reminding me. It would be a wonderful gift for my daughter, who consults with people with gardens growing vegetables. She has one of those in her home on Chappaquiddick Island. It can be a lot of work in the summer!

As I mull this over, I am changing my mind about the size of my book and the hard cover. I can have a smaller book and a soft cover and that might make it easier and cheaper so I can make it available to more folks who would enjoy it.

[Hekate]

19. I really want to see this book, Yank! If 8X10 is possible , hooray. With your essays...

... I use Zoom-in a whole lot to catch details. I've got a magnifying glass, though...

[NRaleighLiberal]

20. Hey folks, and thanks to Hekate for sending me a message about this

I just got to DC - speaking at the Botanic Garden on Sat AM!

My tomato, and follow up straw bale, books were actually via a contract with a publisher (Storey), so I was really fortunate - got an advance, publicist, editor and two photographers support. My third book will likely be self published, but I've not completed writing it and will be learning about self publishing from scratch...so I am not a whole lotta help. Good luck on your effort!

[CTyankee]

28. And best of luck to you. How can I buy your book on tomatoes?

[NRaleighLiberal]

29. From me (I will sign it of course) - DU mail me for details

or from big bad Amazon of course - link below

https://www.amazon.com/Epic-Tomatoes-Select-Grow-Varieties/dp/1612122086/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1555031684&sr=1-1

[BlueFlorida]

22. If you are only going to give it to friends and family

and are never going to sell it, "fair use" doctrine may apply and you won't need anyone's permission.

[Blue_true]

25. First you have to get permission to use your pictures.

Maybe doing a search string "contacting tinypics.com" may bring up useful information.

Some people mentioned Direct Publishing on Amazon Kindle. You may want to set up an account there (free) then go to the Community page and post questions that you have, there are some pretty knowledgeable people there. Amazon just boughtout it's biggest self publishing rival, so there are not that many other options for you. Amazon only publishes ebooks and paperbacks on demand, once you have your book set up (free to you), you, your relatives and friends can buy the book. You may want to set the minimum required price for the book since you just want to distribute to those you know. I have published two novels and three short stories on Amazon Kindle (KDP), the format is easy once you get the hang of it. If you have a specific issue, ask the community there.

You may also want to find independent bookstores in your area. Try to gauge the owner to see whether that person is profit hungry or just love literature. If the latter, you may ask the person about small batch publishers that do small hardcover jobs like yours. The world of publishing is full of gotchas, don't assume that because someone online is willing to work with you that they are legit, some of those people will take you for thousands if you are not careful.

I came across an editor in the KDP community that seemed interesting. Since I write as a hobby, I self edit, but am considering having her edit my work under concepts from me (I may want a run on sentence for emphasis, whereas she may see issues with it). I will send you her website in a PM. I have not used her yet or the graphic artist associate that ask people that need cover work to check out, but my sense of her is that she is legit and not out to rip people off. There are other editors in the KDP community on Anazon Kindle, so you may want to ask about inexpensive editing services there.

[CTyankee]

27. Good ideas. I am actually self editing to avoid the raising of another issue involving my

ex husband. He happened to read my preface to the book (visiting at Thanksgiving at our daughter's house) where I thanked everyone who helped me write this book. He said he was surprised I didn't mention HIM. I said "What did you have to do with my book?" and he said "Well, I was the one who helped you find your voice."

I let him have it. "YOU DID NO SUCH THING! I FOUND MY OWN VOICE!"

You would have been so proud of me!

[Blue_true]

30. Wouldn't the preface issue be there regardless of how you publish?

You were right on the voice issue. NO ONE helps a writer find his or her voice, the writer experiences, observes then write, it is all internal to that person, no one else.

[CTyankee]

31. He tried again with his "advice." He waid authors don't usually write the preface to their books

and "advised" me that I should get the professor I thanked to write the preface, telling me that author's don't write their own prefaces. What nonsense and unmitigated gall, telling me what to do! It boils down to his inability to somehow control what he must view as my success. Well, my simple answer to him on that was "No." It's funny how quickly the subject got changed!

[former9thward]

32. Just go to a printer not a publisher.

A printer will print your book and not care about who owns what pictures. For 50-100 copies no one else will care either.

[CTyankee]

33. The art is in the public domain, so there's that.

I guess their issue is the pictures of the details from each work which I got off of tinypic.com.

[Ms. Toad]

38. Use of the images

The basic scheme is that tinypic is a hosting site. They do not own the copyrights to material posted there. Instead the individuals who uploaded the images (the uploaders) own the copyrights to the images. Or at least in the process of uploading they are asserting they own the copyright to the images. The uploaders also grant a license (above) to any user of the site for all non-commercial uses of the images.

So you should be good to go. There is a risk, owever, because the uploader may not actually own the copyright (generally speaking, if they didn't take the photograph, or get an assignment from the photographer, they don't own the copyright). In that case, even though the uploader granted you a license (by virtue of uploading), you don't actually have a license because they did not have the legal right to grant you a license - because the copyright is not theirs.

With images of photos in the public domain, published only for family and friends, the risk is very small. A photographic image of artwork that is a realistic reproduction of artwork that is in the public domain involves very little creativity on the part of the photographer - so the copyright the photographer owns is weak (the more creativity, the stronger the copyright - at least in terms of succeeding in a copyright infringement case). Your use is not commercial so there is minimal harm - even if the photographer did discover and complain about the use of their images. (And, to the extent that the images do realistically reproduce the art, it would be very difficult for them to prove you were using their images - as opposed to someone else's realistic reproduction of the art.)

"You" in the excerpt of the tinypic terms below refers to the uploader.

Content & Privacy

You retain all your rights to any Content you submit, upload or display on or while using Tinypic. This means that you own all the Content you post.

Notwithstanding, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, non-revocable, right and license to copy, sell, convey, distribute, stream, post, publicly display (e.g. post it elsewhere), reproduce and create derivative works from it (meaning things based on it), whether in print or any kind of electronic version that exists now or is later developed, for any purpose, including a commercial purpose with the right to sublicense such rights to others.

By uploading your Content, you are also giving all other Site users the right to copy, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and create derivative works from it via the Site, third party websites or applications, provided such use is not for a commercial purpose.

[CTyankee]

39. does this mean I can't copyright my book?

IOW, the image accompanies a paragraph showing, say, the artist's brushstroke. I found this on tinypic. Does that mean someone can take my entire essay? What if I copyright my book?

[Ms. Toad]

41. The creative component you add is yours.

That work is protected by copyright the moment you reduce it to a reproducible format.

It is not a perfect example, but you individual recipies are not material that can be protected by copyright because they are functional, but abook of recipes that includes creative framing can be protected by copyright.

Anyone is free to copy the recipe onto a notecard - probably even to take a phone picture of the recipe in the book - as long as it did not capture your creative elements. They are not free to copy the page on which the recipe resides (which might including copying images of the food, decoration of the page, etc.)

The brushstoke is a slightly different question. Assuming the uploader took the picture, there might be enough creativity in taking that image to create a copyright. They have granted you the right to use it in non-commercial ways by uploading it to tinypic. You can include it in your book, but you cannot prevent someone from copying that image becuase you don't own the copyright to the image; you merely have a license. But paragraphs you use to describe the image are your own, and they are protected by copyright the moment you type them, record them, or put them in any other form capable of reproduction. You can prevent others from using the creative portion you added, or the creative arrangement in which the image sits.

(If the uploader did not take the picture, there is some very small risk. The person who took the image owns the copyright and may, or may not, have granted a license to the uploader to further distribute it. The chances of something coming of it for a book distributed to friends and family are minimal.)

[CTyankee]

42. Some of your last sentence got dropped but I get what you are driving at.

I have very small distribution of my book and am giving it away, so that seems to reduce my liability. I won't worry.

[Ms. Toad]

44. You got the gist of it.

I've edited the sentence.

[Niagara]

40. Kicking for visibility

Wishing you luck with getting your art book together.

I'm being patient but I can't wait to see it!

[CTyankee]

43. PM me your name and address.

I will send you one.

And thank you for your kind words.