More Than a Card, Less Than a Book

A year ago, I picked up an accordian fold book in France. It was small, 3 X 5 inches, and very affordably priced. One side was a sketch book of a trip and the other was the text explaining and identifying the pictures. It got me to thinking of alternatives to publishing a book versus just having images copied for cards. Here was a middle ground. The little book I purchased was hard bound and much more elaborate than what I went to work on. I have been working with a local printer, who does great scans and giclee prints for a reasonable price, and discussed what I wanted to do. I made a dummy copy, took the book I bought and together we problem solved. I didn't want to make a major investment, "print on demand" seemed the way to go.
To back up a little bit - I paint miniatures, having frames custom made would make them prohibitively expensive. I buy frames, either commercially made or remnants from a framer, remove the glass, trace it onto my watercolor paper and paint to size. This enables me to price my work reasonably, yet pay myself adequately for the work I do. My pieces are usually impulse purchases, Many artists think of the frame as an integral part of the art, the difference is that I start with the frame and paint it to fit, both size, style and color. I took the same approach to the booklet. The printer has limitations on size of single sheets of paper that can go through the printer. She gave me a sheet of this and I managed to lay out the entire booklet on one sheet, which meant one scan. The fewer the scans, the lower the cost. To reference the images on the reverse side, I used blackline drawings of the same images and the text was placed next to each one. This way the images were not spoiled by reference numbers or letters.
The finished booklet fits a 5X7 envelope, the back has a thumbnail sheet and it is presented in a glasine envelope.
This first book was a labor of love. It was a profile of the town and area that we visit every year in France. I had more than enough reference photos after going there for over ten years. It is now for sale in the Galerie Arbouge in LaBastide Murat, in English and in French. My next booklet is titled " A Day at the Beach" . Check this blog soon for pictures of it in process and finished.