Case studies for self publishing with Zoesbooks

CASE STUDY 1: BUDD BOOKS

Zoë met mosaic artist Oliver Budd in February 2006 at a workshop in his Bodiam studio. Within half an hour they were talking about doing a book together.

Oliver has an archive of wonderful slides tracing all the public and many private commissions on which he and his father have worked - dating back to 1951. For years he had been thinking that this material should be made available to the general public. He wanted to tell the unique story of two generations of mosaic artists and at last he had found someone who could help him do this. A few weeks later they put aside a whole day to work out an overall strategy for the book, drafting a contents list with brief chapter summaries. They also agreed a working timetable up to publication and Oliver now understood the complete book production cycle and what was needed when.

Zoë presented him with a clear picture of the financial aspect of the project, including how many copies of the book had to be sold in order to cover costs.

In Oliver's case it was around 400 copies and this was covered with advance orders before the book was even published. By putting the word around to his contacts, well in advance of publication, he produced excellent results, including an invitation to present a seminar and workshops in Chicago. The book is now available for sale through Oliver's own website (buddmosaics.co.uk) and on Amazon.

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