"Publish Your Photography Book" by Darius Himes & Mary Virginia Swanson, is a very welcome addition to the growing field of books about publishing photography books. It is very well-designed (of course) and expertly written and provides a very good overview of an evolving subject. Subjects of note include helping photographers deciding why they want to publish and how that might impact their design, an overview of the publishing industry and about how photobooks are made, the advantages of self-publishing vs. publishers, and how to market your photobook. If you are a photographer and are thinking about doing a photobook, this book will provide you with a lot of insight and value.
Perhaps because of its broad subject, enough subjects are only cursorily covered such that this book, while very worthwhile and a welcome addition, is not a complete reference. In many cases, for example, only a list of aspects to consider when making a decision is provided -- this is useful but will leave many readers wanting more. A glossary or index would also be helpful for a book intended as a reference book.
What the book doesn't do, however, shouldn't take away from what it does do. My favorite parts of this book were the contributions from industry professionals and photographers - I found many nuggets of information in these short excerpts from industry professionals, and the stories describing how photographers approached making their own books were quite fascinating. The book is clearly not intended to be exhaustive and instead provides a big picture of why and how to publish a photobook, a job in which it does admirably well.
In short, "Publish Your Photography Book" is certainly highly recommended, but recognize that it does not go into great depth on many of the key steps in publishing photobooks. For less than 20 bucks on Amazon, photographers will find this entertaining and useful book very worthwhile. The authors have also provided a website with more info about the book, and you can find a good review by Douglas Stockdale here.
