Hello Friends,
For those “newcomers” to the group, or for those that simply missed the posts on the subject, here is an update and or introduction, simplified.
I decided to design and publish a
collaborative book on our W113’s in the “coffee table” style. Many of our fellow members here chose to participate. Participation means agreeing to fund a share of the book, up to my estimate of USD $190, and agreeing to send in a set of photos to use in my design process. The book is not being done for profit; it is being done as a labor of love for us.
The book’s title is
Pagoda Style with the subheading
Our Cars – Our Photographs – Our Stories. Thanks to our Canadian friend
George Henne for the main title suggestion. Note, Pagoda Love was only a working title.
I have received photo sets from the following members and participants, not in any particular order:
Gary Miles, Bob Possel, John Mancini, John Lewenauer, Mike Hund, James Lester, John Bernardi, Bob Geco, Mike Hughes, David Brough, Bob Smith, Martijn Sjerps, Andrew Todd, Paul Raeside, Dirk Kemper, Ray Bragg, Peter VanEs, Peter Menger, Bob Goodman, Craig Devine, Walter Klatt, Garry Marks, William Childers, Jackson Schwartz, Frank Cozza, Gus Monahu, Kemal Shah, Mike Webster
I have received notes from the following people that their photo sets are forthcoming: Eryck Su, Bill Simaz, Fernando Castenheira, Vince Mulvey, Ken Gear, Heidi Stern, Mike Lara, Rob Hyatt, Rob Walker, George Henne, Denny DiNio, Cees Klumper (though Cees sent in many photos with Peter VanEs)
After initial contact, I have not heard from the following people:
Rodd Masteller, Jonathan Taylor, William Moore,
Baron Youngman, Mark Parkins,
Thor Haatveit, Ron Burg,
Kevin Caputo, Joe Alexander,
Waqas Akram. Forrest Jordan.
If I have left anyone out here, let me know immediately! I'm trying very hard to stay organized. Note that at present I have nearly 1,000 photographs occupying over 15GB on a dedicated hard drive.
To those of you newcomers or otherwise, who would
like to participate at this point,
you can do so. For those of you who would like to
buy the book (must be pre-sell only) but can’t participate, contact me by leaving a note here or contacting me off line. There is no "old boy's club" or any kind of exclusionary clique here. Everybody is welcome to participate or buy a book. I've only met but a small number of participants at "Pagoda University" in Blacklick over the years.
Particulars: if we have the number of participants originally slated—50+,
and we sell additional books, it is likely we can do the book in a short-run, offset method. This yields the highest quality. If we have less participation, we will print the book in digital format. In a nutshell, the typical book you have in your library, or on your coffee table, is
offset. Digital books use a different process similar to color Xerox and are best suited to very short runs. If we print the book in offset, the book will measure about 10” x 12” landscape format. If done in digital form, it will measure about 10” x 13”. One advantage to offset production is that the unit cost for each book is less; thus each participant would get TWO copies. There is a higher initial cost however, which is why I’m looking to bolster our participation rate as well as perhaps sell some in advance. Digital production does not share the same economies of scale as offset.
The design process, which not only includes the artistic layout and photographic manipulation required, also requires designing and producing digital pages specific to the format and production process. Thus, I can’t really begin page production until everything is in and I know the number of participants, can nail down the production method and begin to collect. It is going to be a lot of work and I don't want to do it twice. I appreciate all the encouragement and thanks that people are sending my way. I also in return appreciate the wonderful efforts that people have gone through to take great photos. I guess it's like taking a photo of a supermodel. There's really not any bad photos...
After a lot of trial and error and many phone calls and emails and samples going back and forth over the past few months, I have lined up printers for both methods. If we produce the book in offset, it is a well-known short run publisher out of Manitoba, Canada, that specializes in book production. If digital, it is a publisher out of Anaheim, California that specializes in very low run digital memory books. I think anyone and everyone who loves to look at these cars will be pleased with this book regardless of print method. I have seen samples from both methods and publishers and both are great. Both are hardcover, large format books printed on 100 pound, high quality paper.
The photos are looking quite spectacular. I have a mix of some new and old; restored and not; cars in process and finished in a variety of different settings. Everyone has a story to tell as well, and the stories complement the photos as well. What kind of photos can you expect? Well, here's just a random sample of 10:
