----------------------<included message follows>------------------------
From: erobkin@uwcmail.uwc.edu
Date: Fri Jun 28 08:55:46 CDT 1996
Subject: The alt-photo handbook, DIY.
I've been thinking about this for some time and I believe the time has
come to see if there is any interest in a historic first.
People have complained about the shortcomings of various alt-photo books
or extolled the virtues of ones that are out of print and unavailable.
The alt-photo group can write their own book. There is certainly plenty
of information available for this and of all the groups I read this is
the most cohesive one and the most likely to pull this off.
You do not need a publisher or an advertising budget. There is a rapidly
evolving publishing technique called Book-On-Demand which uses computers
and laser printers to make copies of things as needed. Once the text is
done what is needed is a computer, a laser printer, and the post office.
One problem is page costs. The last time I looked at this a few years
ago the costs were relatively high and hard to control. Technology has
evolved a long way since then, amd I am optimistic that the page costs
can be brought below a US cent per page. That is one of the main
obstacles.
The language of choice for this is Postscript. It has the advantage of
printing complex format just as easily as straight text, if properly set
up it is very fast, and graphics can be intermixed. However, other word
processing programs may be just as workable. Again it is a question of
the current state of the technology.
Given the international mix in this group, it should be possible to have
the final work available in say English, French, German, and Spanish and
possibly some others.
In my opinion the USA's leading expert on Book-On-Demand publishing is
Don Lancaster of Thatcher, Arizona. I've never met him but I have
talked with him on the phone about other matters and I know his
writings. I am confident that he would give the group lots of help with
a project like this.
Some people with books in the works with regular publishers may be hurt
by this. Luis comes to mind as an example. If this project would work
actual financial hardship on an alt-photo contributor then my enthusiasm
would probably vanish. This is a sensitive issue and needs to be
handled carefully.
This does not require a unified editorial view of anything. For
example, the alternative views of sensitometry or print washing could be
cleaned up and presented as something for which there is disagreement
with the viewpoints laid out for consideration. In this case rampant
idiosyncrasy may be a selling point. With the right format, say three
ring binder, errata sheets and updates are trivial. Something like the
old Kodak handbooks.
The final book could include image samples, step wedges, supplier lists,
safety sheets, etc. The supplier list could be tailored geographically.
To make this work you will need a small committee to coordinate the
editorial part and the cooperation of many contributers to the alt-photo
list. This will be a lot of work. For muyself, I volunteer to help with
indexing the English version and to contact Don Lancaster although he is
easy to find on the net.
There have been books published on the net but this could be the first
book published by the net.
As of Saturday, I'll be out of the country for the next 3 weeks or so
and I'll be very curious to see where this has gone when I get back.
Save your flames until later.
Oh, yes, my hidden agenda in this is that I want a copy of the book.
Just think, this will give a whole new meaning to the phrase "see the
archive."
Eugene Robkin
erobkin@uwcmail.uwc.edu