There are many different print publications you can sell your freelance photography too. Choosing the correct form of print publication is important for ensuring the likeliness of publishers choosing your images. Not only is the type of publication important, but the nature of the book that's going to be published as well.
Textbooks
Textbooks are a form of print publication that's always in high demand for great images. Textbooks and other educational publications, including encyclopedias, often choose images from stock files. However, textbook publishers often accept images from other sources. If your images are chosen for this special project, it's unlikely your images will be chosen for the entire book. Instead, it's more common for your images to only be published in a small portion of the textbook, such as an opening chapter. Often, textbook publishers pay photographers a flat fee for each image.
Trade Books
Trade books are always looking for book images. Trade books include print publications of fiction, nonfiction, children’s books and how-to books. These books are generally found in stores and are widely available to the public. Publishers look for images for the book covers if it's for a fiction or nonfiction book. If your images are chosen for how-to books or children’s books, publishers are likely to purchase more than one of your images.
Children’s books offer photographers unique opportunities. Images compose a large portion of children’s books because the words in the books are limited. These books generally stay on the market longer than adult books because they are published less often. If your images are chosen for a children’s book, you may be paid a flat fee or a portion of the royalties earned. Sometimes, both payment options are combined.
How-to books often require multiple images for step by step instructions. How-to books cover numerous topics, from cooking to gardening. Many photographers choose to sell their images to these book forms because of the profit generated. If you choose to sell your photography for these books, you're likely to work in collaboration with a writer or publisher.
Travel Books
Travel books look for specific images. However, publishers and writers will often hire a photographer to travel to take the unique and specific images they are seeking. Travel books have the capability of paying the photographer well. However, if only one or a two of your images are selected to be featured in a travel book, you're less likely to make a large profit off of the images.
There are many ways you can sell your photography to be included in books. Do your research prior to releasing your images to determine which course you would like to follow.
References:
The Photographer's Handbook By John Hedgecoe
Selling Photographs By Lou Jacobs Jr.
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