Self-Publishing & Eco-Friendly Printing

When I decided to self-publish the Pricing Workbook for Creatives instead of trying to go through traditional publishers, one of the things I also retained control over was how it would be printed, and who it would be printed by.  Of course, control also means added responsibility and workflow steps to make it all happen, but after so many years of running an entire creative business largely on my own,  I'm no stranger to managing a lot of things.

Luckily I didn't have any expectations of how long this process would take.  

I knew some things would just take time, and getting paper samples from a variety of printers has certainly taken a bit more time than I might have guessed.  In some cases, samples arrived in one week from contacting a printing house, in others, it was three weeks just for paper samples to arrive for testing as workbook paper to write and erase on.

I care about how it feels to actually do the work and write on the paper, and I want to make sure it's a good experience that feels good to keep working on, no matter how many times it needs to be erased.

There have also been about 50% dropped inquiries, where I've requested a quote and received half follow-up on a quote or total radio silence.  Obviously I'm going to give my business to the responsive printing companies that care about communication, rather than those that don't follow-thru.  I also learned that some paper samples looked really promising online, but once I had them in my hands, I realized they weren't going to work due to the actual texture and surface of the paper, which is exactly why I needed to make sure I received some samples and not just price quotes.  Apparently I'm super picky about paper!



(Paper sample from Rolling Press based in Brooklyn, NY.  Great for writing & erasing on!)

I would like to be conscious about my printing options by choosing recycled paper products and non-toxic soy-based earth friendly inks.  

Unfortunately, these options are still more expensive than traditional options with less recycled content and toxic inks.  Luckily, I think the material in the workbook is valuable enough to make it worth the cost of paying more to be earth conscious.  I would certainly sleep better at night knowing that people are writing out their future dreams for a passionate creative life on the recycled papers of old corporate reports full of wasteful ideas that require squashing people's dreams for corporate profits.  OK, that may be just a fantasy version of recycled paper use, but it still feels so much more satisfying than thinking about ripping a bunch of old trees out of Indonesia.


(Paper sample from Greener Printer based in Port Richmond, CA.  Better for magazine style photo printing with satin surfaces than for gritty workbook printing.)

The hardest part is the financial sustainability of printing on eco-conscious papers while also working with traditional publishing and distribution options.  

One printing quote I received from a shop in Los Angeles that had been recommended by a New York art book printer was so high that I literally think I lost my ability to breathe when I looked at the quote.  They were 3x more than any other quote- which meant they were 9x more than traditional book printing, and I wondered who they are actually working for at those rates?  Maybe they've cornered all the Oscar and Grammy printed program business?  I don't know... but I do know I can't choose a printer who will make the workbook unaffordable to access, just so it can be printed sustainably.

The best eco-friendly printers sent not just paper samples, but entire book samples of products that were similar in shape, size, and binding to the one I'm creating.  

Huge kudos to the book printing houses below for following up on my request for a quote and samples with not just paper samples, but full size workbook samples similar in size, paper type, and binding type to what I was requesting, based on other projects they've already printed in their shop.  I think they know that if we have a great relationship right out of the inquiry gate, I'm going to do all of my follow-up book printing with them- so it's smart move to go a little further up front.


(Book & Paper Sample from Bookmobile based in Minneapolis, MN.  Maximum 30% post-consumer waste paper options.)


(Book & Paper Sample from Thomson-Shore based in Dexter, MI.  Offers 100% post-consumer waste paper options as well as FSC certified mixed PCW options.)

The biggest financial sustainability challenge is combining the cost of eco-friendly printing with Amazon online distribution.

Once I finally got to a place of finding some good potential printing options and selected my ideal printer based on the printing samples, I started pricing out the costs for the printing and shipment, and how much it would leave remaining after Amazon takes their own cut of a book.

This is where Amazon starts to look like the big bad wolf blowing everyone's houses down.  Amazon is a double-edged sword.  On one hand, they cut through a lot of the hassle of working with traditional publishing houses and they give authors more control over updates and changes on their books as well as reaching international markets online.  On the other hand, Amazon is taking 65% of each e-book sale, and about the same percentage after all is said and done of each Print-on-Demand book as well.  Ouch.  This margin is still better than what a traditional publisher would take for a traditional book sale through hundreds of different retail stores, so to an Author, it might also appear to be a better deal than not self-publishing.

Cha-ching for Amazon!  Ouch for the Environment.  

There's also no option to request eco-friendly Print-on-Demand options.  If this was addressed, it could be a huge shift in publishing house practices to make the demand for eco-friendly papers, inks, and binding options more affordable if implemented at the enterprise level of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other print-on-demand providers.  What a massive social change that might create to also make it profitable to employ more people to do more waste-recycling efforts around the world.

If Amazon can't print eco-friendly, I thought, what if I skipped the traditional Print-on-Demand and sold the book as an Amazon FBA seller?  The Amazon cut would be less than the Print-on-Demand option, however, the added cost of using an eco-friendly printing option PLUS the Amazon commission and storage of a large print run of books actually makes it financially unsustainable to work with an eco-friendly option while distributing with Amazon.

FFFFFFFFFFFUCK.  
There goes the eco-friendly print plan for online distribution with Amazon.

If I were going to print a bunch of eco-friendly books, I'd have to find another way to sell them.  I'd have to find a way that didn't take such a large cut of the remaining profit margin after printing them with sustainable papers and inks.  Essentially, I'd only be able to sell environmentally friendly editions as part of workshops, conferences, classes, or learning experiences where I'd haul a bunch of them to provide in person.

I have no plans to become my own distribution center for one-off purchases of a book.  

This is how Amazon and Print-on-Demand options end up winning the online book game and the book profit game in the end, and how they force more books to be printed on papers that are not FSC Certified or post-consumer waste content, with inks that are not environmentally friendly.

Even at the price of a $35 book, it is financially unsustainable to print an environmentally friendly workbook and make it available for distribution through Amazon.  There needs to be enough profit margin to buy the next round of books to be printed as well as shipping, and with Amazon, that's simply not an option.

However, if doing an in-person workshop, where the book is just part of the workshop materials, it's sustainable to go with eco-friendly printing because the only other cost to consider is shipping and it can be folded into the cost of goods to produce the workshop or class, which would definitely be more than $35 in order to be sustainable to run as an in-person workshop.

The unhappy ending.

Since I will be traveling internationally the first year that the Pricing Workbook for Creatives is in production, I will not be able to manage storage of printed books, nor will I be offering workshops in person that will need bulk printed copies of the books.  I'll be giving in to Amazon's business engine, because it's what is going to help the most people while I travel, but not being able to print environmentally friendly is the part that makes me sad.

Hopefully, hearing stories from people around the world who use the workbook to launch their dream projects will make me hate Amazon less.  I hope so.  I need some light at the end of the Amazon distribution tunnel.

I promise to continue fighting and finding a way to make eco-friendly printing easier to access.  

This blog post is just the beginning of the journey to sharing resources around how we can overcome the financial issues involved with eco-friendly printing and focus on finding a better way toward greater financial sustainability with options that offer environmental sustainability.  For now, I have to do what I can to make sure the first year of this book is fiscally sustainable so that it can support the artists and creatives that it needs to serve.  My hope is that next year, I can focus more on workbook offerings that make use of eco-friendly printing sources, as a way to inspire others to do more of the same with the work they create.

The Pricing Workbook for Creatives is scheduled to be released in Kindle format on May 5, 2019.
Sign up if you would like to be on the early release notification: http://pricingworkbookforcreatives.com

Why a Pricing Workbook for Creatives?

The short answer?  

So that more creatives can have a successful business and rewarding life.

Want to be notified when the Pricing Workbook for Creatives is available?
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Scroll down for the much longer answer that made me create it in the first place.... 

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A post shared by Anne’s Adventures (@anneruthmann) on Dec 12, 2018 at 3:36am PST

I've been creative my entire life and never really had a sense of what I wanted to "be" when I grew up.  I only knew that being able to create, and finding ways to be creative made me happiest.  Figuring out how to share my creativity in productive ways and then how other people could value my creativity was ultimately the most important aspect of being able to do creative work for a living.

Here's a look at how that creative journey unfolded for me and what I learned along the way...

• Ballet, Tap, and Jazz Dance classes as a preschooler and elementary student taught me I didn't care so much about dancing unless it was just for fun or for my own personal expression.  I learned more about how to control my body, my movement, and the space around me at an early age, but also decided early on that dancing in someone else's footsteps wasn't my thing.
• Visual Art classes as a summer program and elementary student taught me about illustration, watercolor, painting, optical illusions, paper craft, and other cultures.  I loved those experiences but resisted the detail work that came with developing those practices.  I learned that visual art was a wonderful outlet for me when I needed to do something quiet, but still expressive. 
• Instrumental Music classes as an elementary, middle, and high school student gave me a sense of being part of a gestalt work toward something bigger than myself in which my part was important and valued while still requiring me to be sensitive to my balance within the whole structure of a piece.  I learned how to tune into what everyone else around me was doing.
• Vocal Music took me from singing in church as a kid to being a professional singer and soloist for choirs as an adult.  It allowed me to use my voice in a harmonizing way, connecting to an energy and body of sound much larger than myself.  Choral singing gave me a community of like-minded people who cared about creating harmonious and beautiful work together.  Auditioning for professional positions and top choirs taught me my voice was highly valued.
• Theatre Acting and Musical Theatre in elementary school, middle school, high school, and in the community taught me emotional control and personal development by playing character roles that were drastically unlike me or exactly like people I aspired to be.  It taught me how to speak and behave with intention; how to present a story in front of an audience full of people.  I learned how to be engaging when I needed to and how to hide in plain sight while in the middle of a stage.  I also learned the importance of picking myself back up after an audition rejection and learned how to better sell myself as the perfect fit.  These experiences later made me a top salesperson in regional cellular company.
• Tour Guiding and Youth Programming for an historic mansion allowed me to stretch my theatrical storytelling skills into engaging paid tours for adults and children, and reconnected me to my love of architecture, handmade craftsmanship, and local history.
• Music Teaching in the public schools as a long term substitute and teaching artist taught me I loved the process of engaging students in creating music for their own personal expression and as a way of dissolving cultural divides through a common creative goal, but I also learned I didn't love the overarching structure and constraints of public school systems, so working in the schools wasn't going to be a good fit for how I'd use and share my creativity.
• Photography self-study in high school never felt like it was going to turn into something beyond personal art creation and documentation, because I never saw entrepreneurial models of photography jobs that looked interesting until I started to meet wedding photographers who were self-employed.  I started sharing my own photography work with friends because it was an easy gift I could give them using my creativity.  It wasn't until people started offering to pay me for the photos I created that I even considered photography could be something more than a hobby.  I never could have guessed that it would become a full-time career for 13 years!  I had finally found the right combination of creative work I loved doing and the right people who valued it enough to pay me for it!
• Writing has always been easy for me, even if I'm not the greatest writer.  Despite my love of run-on sentences, there are other people who don't mind my run-on sentences so long as they aren't the ones writing them.  So when a surprise request came in recently asking me to be a ghost-writer, knowing how to price my creative time based on all the things I'd learned helped me easily come up with a financial arrangement that would allow me to accommodate a new creative request I never considered saying yes to before.

No one taught me how to be a freelancing creative, or a creative business owner, or how to make a living as a creative, I had to figure everything out along the way.  Now I can make it easier for others.

I was rarely supported or encouraged by well-meaning adults to go down any of these creative roads professionally.  Even though my parents made a point to say, "You can do anything you set your mind to, Anne" the school mentors and career counselors would say things like, "These creative passions are great hobbies to have in your life.  So, what are you going to do for money, Anne?"

At the time my passion was for theatre, however, my family didn't have the money for me to go to a performing arts school like Juilliard.  In addition, all of the career counseling advice I received along the way made it seem like even auditioning at a local college for performing arts would be a waste of money.  Career limitations were gradually culturally engrained while living in Lansing, Michigan.  I see why, because it was home to GM factory workers and state government employees.  In Lansing, the "real world" beyond high school or college was bereft of creative jobs or professional creatives making a living from pursuing their passions.  Most of the theatre happening there really was community theatre, except for the performance venues that hosted out of town touring acts.

The cultural ideas of "careers" in the environment I grew up in were very limited.  

They operated in the bubbles of what they believed would be safe and secure, rather than seeing me as someone capable of managing risk and operating in the realm of what would be possible when applying creative drive and ambition.  I wasn't mature enough to see the limitations of their perspectives.  I didn't have enough life experience or supportive mentoring to recognize all the opportunities and options that weren't being presented to me.  I had no entrepreneurial mentors or even just small business owners somewhere in my life to help me understand how I could apply my creative drive and talent into something that people would value and support!

I figured it out as I went.  

I did have the bulk of a business degree with some marketing, management, and accounting classes behind me to help me figure out the business end of things.  I figured out how to charge clients to help give me profit to buy more photography gear and insurance for my business.  I figured out how many clients I would need to serve and at what price to cover all of my business expenses and help me rent studio space and pay for independent contractors and support myself as a creative small business owner.  I figured out when my prices needed to go up because demand was exceeding my supply of time and energy.  I figured out what I needed to be accountable for in my revenue and expenses in order to keep doing work I loved.  I figured out how to recognize when I was falling behind and needed to market my work more to make up the difference.  I learned how to quickly restart my business over and over and over again to help support my husband's career transitions.

The business road maps that existed when I started were not designed for solo-preneur creative businesses- they were designed for commodity retail businesses, or standard service industry businesses.  The Small Business Development centers I went to in each town I moved to rarely ever had templates that fit my creative business.  Instead, they were full of models that involved more organizational overhead than what I would need to operate as a sole proprietor and independent contractor.

The more experience I had in the photography industry, the more I noticed massive business mistakes being made left and right by my colleagues.  Who could blame them?  What kind of leadership or training really existed for developing a creative business?  In 2004 - not much.

It's definitely getting better.  

Creative colleagues who went to university barely had one class on business training for their creative career- and I'm sure it's because professors were operating under the ideas that those students were seeking to be hired by larger agencies that would set their rates for them.  Colleges couldn't prepare curriculum fast enough for students who would need to work independently outside of the creative agency model.  We quickly entered into a new era of accessibility to independent freelancers through a variety of crowdsourcing platforms before anyone could create more training to make sure people knew how to price their independent creative work properly.

I asked my creative friends in other industries if this problem was unique to photographers, and every other creative told me it was just as challenging in their field as well.  There were very few creative business education options that spoke directly to how a creative operates and runs their business.  

To help fill the gap, I set out to share everything I had learned freely, on PhotoLovecat.com in an attempt to help raise the industry standards with accessible business information from actual working creatives.

The last 5 years have finally given rise to new educational platforms for creative business learning, but the resources are still somewhat limited, and often times behind larger pay-walls than what beginning creatives can really afford.  We can't rise the creative tides if the most valuable information isn't accessible enough, and that's why the Pricing Workbook for Creatives needed to be created.

Making a living as a creative has been the most amazing journey.  To be highly valued for your own unique vision of the world makes up for all those years of being the weird theatre and band kid who just wanted to be left alone to journal and paint.  If I can help make that road easier for other people, I truly believe it will help make the world a better place.  I believe that being valued for our unique talents, and finding ways for other people to value them in ways that fuel our lives is the highest purpose that each of us can ask to fulfill in our lifetime.  When we operate from a place of fulfillment and abundance, it becomes exponentially easier to help other people in the world as well.

So, that's the history behind my personal WHY for creating the Pricing Workbook for Creatives.

Now, here's how that history translates into WHY it's important to create this workbook for future creatives who seek to be valued for their work:

• To provide an easy and accessible framework for aspiring creatives that outlines the structures and supports unique to a creative business.  
• To provide a pricing framework that values a creative's mind, needs, time, tools, and energy- which gives creatives a solid foundation for pricing their work. 
• To provide a framework for individuals to shape their own personal version of what success and a professional creative life looks like.
• To provide a framework that allows individuals to be as unique and specialized as they need to be in order to support their creative work.
• To provide a structure for growing a creative business with meaningful formulas that allow room for each individual's vision of what growth looks like for them.

If I am successful, this Pricing Workbook for Creatives won't just be a workbook, but a movement.

A movement in which individuals will know exactly how valuable their creative work really is, and the workbook will support them in defending that value for themselves rather than allowing it to be defined by other people's assumptions.  A movement in which creatives feel empowered and confident to stand up for their worth rather than backing down and accepting less than what they need to be fully supported.  A movement in which the most unique and creative individuals can figure out what they need to make a living doing what only they can possibly do.

I believe in empowering more creatives to make a living doing what they love, and if you agree, I hope you'll help support the growth of this book too.

- Anne Ruthmann

Photography Tips from a Professional Photographer

The following links and blog posts have been written over years of working as a professional digital photographer with a background of practice in film photography.  These articles are written to a broad and general audience interested in a professional perspective on the various aspects and issues involved in digital photography.  Each topic links to a new post.

What You Should Know About Your Photos:

• Is Digital Really Archival?
• Why Do I Look Different in Photos? 3 Factors That Affect Your Portrait 
• Thoughtful Advice from a Wedding Photographer
• Divorced?  Don't Toss Your Wedding Photos
• What Headshot Background Should I Have?
• Why I Don't Photograph My Family's Weddings
• Amateur vs. Professional Photographers
• How to Remove Watermarks from Photos
• Making Your Own Wedding Album - Advice From A Bride
• Get The Best Profile Photo Ever
• MySocialBookReview: Facebook Feed Printed as a Book

Behind-the-Scenes Production of Photography:

• World Trade Inspired | Behind the Image
• Using Tilt-Shift Lens on Washington Square
• On-Location Branded Headshot Details
• Interior Architecture Photography Blending Example
• Funny Things That Happen During Location Portraits
• Interior Architecture Post-Production Before & After
• Faking It When Kids Don't All Look at the Camera
• An Experiment in Film
• Career Fair Headshot Production Details

The Business of Being a Professional Creative:

• Photo Lovecat Blog
• Smarter Business Workshop