Making an Arcadia Book a Reality

If you're into history and photography (as in looking through old photos, not so much taking them), Arcadia Publishing's books are a great way to become a non-fiction author. They publish several series of photo-collection books, with the Images of America series being the largest. My book, New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line, published in 2004 was my first with Arcadia, and I just wrapped up Brothers of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans and sent it off to my editor this week.

Here's a rough flowchart of how the books came into being.

• Idea
• Initial Research
• Proposal
• Development
• Layout
• Submission
• Production
• Marketing

Idea
Choose a subject that's interesting enough that several thousand (at a minimum) people will buy your book. I wrote about streetcars and a religious Institute. In metro Boston, there are IoA titles as diverse as subway lines and the "central artery" expressway that eventually became I-93.

Another interesting series published by Arcadia are the Images of Baseball books. It's ot something I'd go for, but they're fun to read.

Let's say you choose to write a book on a small town near you. This is a very typical subject, and they sell well.

Initial Research
There's one important issue here: Can you produce 250 to 300 photographs on your subject? A typical IoA book contains 180-220 photos. You're going to have some overlap in terms of subject matter, as well as some low-quality and uninteresting photos, so you need at least a 50-photo fudge factor. If you come up short, perhaps this isn't the right subject for a book. Be sure to ask about publication rights, and if your sources charge for copies of their photos or scans. Remember, even $2-$5 per photo is going to run up!

For a book on a small town, the best sources for initial research will be the public library and a local historic society. If you can find a solid number of photos right out the gate, then you're ready to go forward.

Proposal
Like all publishers, Arcadia has an author's proposal kit you'll need to fill out. They'll want a basic outline, and a list of your photo sources. Be careful here--make sure your photo sources are solid! You don't want to flake out on your editor after you've made the pitch.

Another important section of the proposal is all the marketing information they'll want. Remember, your idea has to be interesting enough to sell a few thousand books. You may not be a marketing professional, but you're going to have to become an experienced amateur fast to convince an acquisitions editor that you have a good book.

Development
Congratulations! The acquisitions editor likes your idea. Now you have to turn your idea into reality. You'll be heading back to your initial sources and getting to work. What's nice about having a book contract in hand is you're suddenly not just a freelancer working on spec. You confidently can walk into a business, school, or Masonic lodge and say "I'm writing a book on the history of your town, can you help me?"

You know you can produce enough photos to make the book a reality, so now you can push the envelope. Ask librarians, archivists, community leaders, etc., where you can go to dig deeper. The real gems are going to show up where you least expect them. You may even develop enough sources for a second book.

Write captions for all your photos. You may go back-and-forth on some of them as to whether or not to put them in the book, so write quality captions now, then it's all just cut-and-paste when crunch time comes.

Cover
Your first submission to your editor will be the cover photo. This is a critical moment. People do judge books by their covers, so you need a photo that grabs attention and looks good in with the sepia-tone filter all of the IoA books use.

Layout
You've got the photos assembled, now it's time to whittle down the number and decide which ones are going in the book. Consult your layout planning guide and style references. Brothers of the Sacred Heart In New Orleans has six chapters. The first chapter has twenty photos, and chapters two through six have thirty to forty each. This is where you're more of a yearbook editor than writer, but that's OK-it's fun!

Submission
Pack it up and send it to your editor! Follow the author's guide and send in what they want.

Production
You'll now be passed on to a production editor who may have further questions for you on various photos. Some of them may not scan well, others that you've submitted as image files might not be good enough quality. Be prepared to either re-submit the image or offer an alternative. Keep a copy of your layout planner in case you have to juggle pages. After a week or so of this back-and-forth with the production editor, they'll send you a PDF proof of the book. Review it carefully, double-check photo credits, etc., and then it's off to press.

Marketing
The book's being printed, so now the marketing department will contact you. They've got the obvious outlets covered, such as bookstores, amazon, B&N, etc. What they want from you are ideas about mom-and-pop shops and other stores that might sell your book. Give them any and all possibilities. The more places your book is placed, the better it will sell.

When the book is released, you'll do public appearances, book signings, etc., to promote the book. Enjoy!