I’ve had so many people who were a part of my 2nd annual Worldwide Photo Walk write in to tell me that we should do a book made up of the great photos taken that day, that I thought I should at least investigate the idea.
I love the idea of creating a beautiful coffee-table style and quality book, with a simple, clean no-nonsense layout, that lets the photos take center stage and do all the talking.
I see it including more than just some of the winning shots. I would love it if it included some group shots from walks around the world, and shots of people shooting during the walk, and some shots that weren’t even picked by the local winners—but are still great shots and deserve to be recognized, and I just want to share visually what an amazing day it was, and some of the amazing images that were created that day.
To do something like this would take a lot more work than you might imagine. For example, because we’d be selling the book, I’d have to get permission for every single image we want to use in the entire book, which I would envision would include hundreds of images. But that’s just one of the hurdles, which include creating the layout, printing, marketing the book, and on and on (books aren’t easy).
In the spirit of the World Wide Photo Walk, I don’t want to do all this just to make another book of interesting photos. I want to capture the spirit of the walk and use this opportunity for something bigger (you knew this coming, right?). I would want to have this book feed some hungry children half way around the world that really need our help.
By sending 100% of the profits from the book to the Springs of Hope Kenya orphanage (to house and feed the orphans that the readers of this blog have adopted with their hearts and with their pocketbooks), This would make the book extend way beyond what we did on July 18th to something much bigger. But before I get all carried away with the idea, I need to hear from you.
Here are some things I need to know:
- If you participated, how would you feel about donating the use of your image for the book?
- If you participated in the walk, does this sound like a book you’d buy, even if your image wasn’t included in the book? (After all, we had around 32,000 participants, who took literally millions of photos that day, so only a small percentage of walkers’ photos would wind up being included).
- Do you think other people, who didn’t participate in the walk would buy the book?
I love this idea on so many levels, but I have a fear that the logistics of putting it all together, (getting all the releases and permissions and then either finding a publisher who wants to donate their services, or publishing it ourselves, and then trying to market it, distribute it, fulfill orders, etc.), might be even more work than putting on the Photo Walk itself (which was a huge undertaking).
Anyway, before I even start researching what all would be involved, I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas on how we can make this work, and whether you feel the project would be a success in the first place.
I look forward to hearing what you think about this whole concept, and thanks in advance for helping me navigate these waters.
-Scott