How Photographers Can Use Self-Publishing to Market Their Business

By Julia Boggio

Could publishing your own book help you attract photography clients and establish yourself as an expert? Julia Boggio explains how self-publishing can become another powerful marketing tool.

Marketing a photography business can sometimes feel like a never-ending job.

You need to find clients, promote your work, maintain your website, post on social media, build relationships and keep looking for new opportunities. When you have a full diary, marketing can be the last thing you want to think about. When the diary is quiet, however, it suddenly becomes your biggest priority.

I know this feeling well.

At the peak of my photography business, my studio had 15 employees and was completing more than 40 shoots a month. Keeping all those shoots booked was a constant challenge. The studio was a hungry beast, and we had to keep feeding it.

Over the years, I’ve experimented with plenty of different ways to promote a photography business.

One of the most interesting things I’ve discovered since leaving photography and moving into publishing is that self-publishing can itself be a form of marketing.

For photographers, a book can do much more than generate sales.

It can demonstrate expertise, showcase your work, strengthen your personal brand and give potential clients another reason to remember you.

Why should a photographer publish a book?

Imagine being able to introduce yourself to a potential client not simply as a photographer, but as the photographer who wrote the book on a particular subject.

That’s a very different proposition.

A well-produced book can help establish you as an authority in your specialist area. It gives you something tangible to show clients, businesses, venues and potential collaborators.

Your book could focus on almost anything connected to your expertise.

For example:

• Wedding photography
• Newborn photography
• Portrait photography
• Pet photography
• Commercial photography
• Lighting techniques
• Photographing a particular location
• A specialist genre or technique
• The business of photography
• A particular type of client or subject
• A collection of your own photography accompanied by commentary

The important thing is that the book should have a clear purpose and audience.

Don’t publish a book simply because you think having your name on a cover would be impressive.

Think about what knowledge you can offer that would genuinely be useful to somebody else.

Start with your expertise

Before worrying about printers, page sizes or distribution, decide what your book is actually going to say.

If you’re creating a non-fiction book with photographs, start by writing the content.

Think about the questions you regularly get asked by clients, students or other photographers.

What do people come to you for advice about?

What have you spent years learning?

What mistakes have you made that other photographers could avoid?

What techniques have you developed?

Those questions can provide the foundation for a very useful book.

And remember that your photographs are part of the content.

For a photographer, a book gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your visual expertise as well as your written knowledge.

Think about the book before designing it

Once you’ve decided what you’re going to publish, it’s tempting to jump straight into designing the pages.

Don’t.

Before you start creating your layout, investigate the specifications of the printer or publishing service you intend to use.

Different services offer different book sizes, paper options, binding methods and file requirements. Some provide downloadable templates to help you create your files correctly.

Knowing those requirements at the beginning can save you a huge amount of work later.

There’s little point spending weeks designing a beautiful book only to discover that you need to rebuild the entire document because you’ve used the wrong page dimensions.

Print-on-demand makes things easier

One of the biggest advantages for today’s self-published photographer is that you don’t necessarily need to order hundreds or thousands of copies of your book in advance.

Print-on-demand services can produce individual copies when customers order them.

This can dramatically reduce the financial risk.

Instead of spending a large amount of money printing a huge quantity of books and then finding somewhere to store them, you can use a service that handles printing and fulfilment as orders arrive.

There are numerous publishing and print-on-demand companies available, so it’s worth comparing them carefully before deciding which approach is right for your book.

Look at:

• Printing quality
• Paper choices
• Colour reproduction
• Binding options
• Production costs
• Your profit margin
• Distribution
• Delivery times
• International availability
• Whether you can sell directly through your own website

For a photography book, print quality deserves particular attention.

A book that looks fantastic on your monitor can look very different when it comes off a printing press.

Always order a physical proof or sample copy before committing to a full release.

Don’t underestimate colour

This is particularly important for photographers.

Your images are probably the most important part of the book, so colour reproduction needs to be checked carefully.

Different printing processes, papers and profiles can affect how your photographs appear.

Dark areas can lose detail, colours can shift and contrast can change.

Don’t assume that the file you send to the printer will look exactly the same when it arrives on your doorstep.

A physical proof gives you an opportunity to identify problems before customers see them.

Consider selling through your own website

One of the most interesting aspects of self-publishing is that you don’t have to rely entirely on a large marketplace.

Selling through a major retailer can give you access to a huge audience and simplify fulfilment, but there is another important consideration for a photographer:

the relationship with the customer.

When someone buys a book directly from your own website, you have the opportunity to turn that purchase into the beginning of a relationship.

Subject to the appropriate consent and data-protection requirements, you may be able to invite customers to join your mailing list, tell them about future books, promote workshops or photography services, or introduce them to other aspects of your business.

That makes the book more than a product.

It becomes part of your marketing funnel.

Your book doesn’t have to make a fortune

This is an important distinction.

If your primary objective is marketing, you don’t necessarily need to make a huge profit from every copy of the book.

Think about the bigger picture.

A book might:

• Introduce you to a new client.
• Give you credibility when approaching a business.
• Help you secure a speaking engagement.
• Provide content for your social media.
• Give you something to sell at exhibitions or events.
• Help establish your specialist reputation.
• Generate media coverage.
• Provide another reason for people to visit your website.
• Create opportunities for collaborations.

The book can therefore be viewed as a marketing asset, rather than simply another product.

What about e-books?

You can also make your book available digitally.

E-books generally require a different format from a printed book, so don’t assume that your print-ready PDF can simply be uploaded as an e-book.

Depending on the complexity of your publication, particularly if it contains lots of photographs, you may need to create a properly formatted e-book file or have somebody do this for you.

There are specialist tools and services that can help with e-book formatting and distribution.

The advantage is that an e-book can potentially be sold internationally without the physical printing and shipping costs associated with a hard copy.

However, for a photography-led book, I wouldn’t automatically assume that digital is better.

There is something particularly powerful about being able to hand a beautifully printed book to a potential client.

Use the book to promote yourself

This is where self-publishing becomes particularly interesting for photographers.

Once you’ve published your book, don’t simply put it on your website and wait for people to find it.

Use it.

Photograph the book.

Create behind-the-scenes content showing how you made it.

Talk about the research and photography that went into it.

Take copies to networking events.

Use it when approaching potential commercial clients.

Give copies to relevant businesses or publications.

Mention it when applying to speak at events.

Use extracts from it as content for your website and social media.

If the book contains genuinely useful information, individual sections can also inspire articles, videos, webinars and social posts.

One piece of work can therefore become the foundation for a whole range of marketing content.

Don’t forget search engines

A book can also contribute to your online visibility.

Your website can have a dedicated page about the book, explaining what it covers, who it is for and why you wrote it.

You can then create supporting articles around the subjects covered in the book.

For example, if you’ve written a book about wedding photography, your website might contain articles covering lighting, posing, locations, preparation and working with couples.

The book becomes the central piece of your expertise, while your website provides useful information that introduces new people to your work.

This is much more powerful than simply saying:

“Buy my book.”

Instead, demonstrate your knowledge first.

Then give people the opportunity to go deeper.

Think beyond photography clients

One of the biggest mistakes photographers can make is thinking that their only potential audience is somebody who wants to book a photo shoot.

Your expertise may have value to many other people.

A book could help you connect with:

• Photography brands
• Venues
• Businesses
• Other photographers
• Event organisers
• Magazines
• Publishers
• Educators
• Galleries
• Tourism organisations
• Media outlets

If your book establishes you as an expert in a particular field, it can open doors that traditional advertising may not.

You don’t have to do everything yourself

Self-publishing doesn’t mean you have to personally perform every single task.

You might write the book yourself but employ a designer.

You might create the photographs but use an editor.

You might handle the marketing but outsource fulfilment.

You could even employ somebody to format the book for print and digital publication.

The important thing is understanding what you want to achieve and then finding the right people or services to help you achieve it.

Learn from people who are already doing it

If you’re considering self-publishing for the first time, don’t be afraid to ask questions.

There is an enormous amount of information available through books, podcasts, videos and online communities dedicated to independent publishing.

Organisations such as the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) can also provide resources and opportunities to connect with experienced self-published authors.

As with photography, you’ll find plenty of people willing to sell you a course about how to do it.

You don’t necessarily need to buy one.

Start by researching the process yourself, learn from people who have already done it and work out which parts of the process you actually need help with.

Make your expertise work harder

Photographers already spend enormous amounts of time creating knowledge and content.

You learn techniques.

You solve problems.

You develop your own approach.

You build experience.

You create images.

A book gives you a way of packaging all that expertise into something that can continue working for you long after you’ve finished writing it.

That doesn’t mean every photographer needs to become a full-time author.

It simply means that self-publishing is another marketing tool worth considering.

If you have specialist knowledge, a distinctive photographic style or a story that deserves to be told, turning that expertise into a book could help you build credibility, reach new audiences and strengthen your photography business.

And unlike the man I once saw standing in the town centre holding a cardboard sign saying “Photographer for hire”, you won’t have to stand on the street waiting for somebody to notice you.

Your book can do some of the talking for you.