Matthew Finley

www.mfinleyphoto.com

Making a Photo Book: concept through publishing

I’ve known Matthew Finley through the Los Angeles Photo Center for quite a long time and last fall, I reviewed his project An Impossibly Normal Life. It’s been so interesting, and inspiring to watch him go through the process of turning this very interested idea into a photo book. He had a very successful Kickstarter (his video is on this link) campaign and should be publishing this fall. Self-funding is an accepted part of the process, which is why I wanted his story to be part of this showcase. Many thanks Matthew for being so generous with your information!

Ann I’m interested in what got you thinking about this being a book, how long had you been working on this series and how many images did you have when you felt ready to turn it into a photo book?

Matthew: I had the idea for this project in mid 2020 and I had first conceived it as a gallery show, much like my earlier work, but after collecting over one hundred images, a new concept began to emerge. I started to arrange them in chronological order and the thought of a photo album tracing someone’s life really attracted me. Once I started imagining it as an album, it naturally led to imagining it as a book.

Did you have previous photobook publishing experience?
I have been interested in books for a while and have attended numerous talks and lectures with artists and presses talking about their book experiences. I played around a little with Blurb, but this is my biggest endeavor yet.

What was your goal for the book? Why do a book…
My goal for the book is first to convey an emotional story. I hope that people will start with a sense of wonder: “What is this? Was this person real?” That they get sucked into the joy and love of our main character’s life, and that it moves them. Maybe they come away thinking, “Why isn’t our world like this?” Maybe that can lead to change. Second, my hope is that this book can make a bigger impact than a gallery show could. That people I’ll never meet might end up with a copy in their hand through a library or independent book store and receive some comfort and hope from it.

How much $$ is needed to start?
To start, I had to invest $5,000 to offset the staffing cost for the publisher.

About the design process: What other creatives did you work with during this process: Designers, Editors?
The publisher suggested a designer with whom they had a good working relationship. As luck would have it, they were able to attend an opening for the gallery version of the work, so we got to meet in person and see if we were a good fit.

How long did the process take - and what was your role (and experience) related to the selection and sequencing of the images?
I started meeting with the publisher last October and we are aiming for the book to come out this October, so it will have taken a year. My hand-made version of the album became my book dummy. As I purchased new images, I made new pages, rearranged orders, and altered the story of the main character based upon what I found. The publisher and designer agreed that the album was a pretty solid and complete selection. With just a few tweaks, we had our sequencing completed. From time to time, I have worried that a chronological approach is too simple, but simplicity is also a virtue. This story is not about mystery or being clever. While some might like more ambiguity, I’m confident that the emotional truth will have a wide appeal.

How did you choose a publisher? What was special about this one.
I withstood a year of kind rejections and silent refusals to even respond! Then, after one expressed interest, they experienced some upheaval and actually recommended my project to the publisher I’m with today. They loved the concept from the start, and I went with them because they had the same vision for the book as I did. They pride themselves on putting out quality books and my project fit the kind of subject matters into which they wanted to expand.

About the funding process with your Kickstarter: I received several good queries from you during the Kickstarter funding process. The wording was terrific…you’re as good a writer as you are a photographer - did you have input on this, guidance?
I heard it a number of times before we started on the Kickstarter campaign and people were 100% right when they said, “Kickstarter is a lot of work!” It was that and more. My husband has a writing background and together with his help, and the publisher and designer’s experience, we were able to conceive of a complete concept for the fundraiser, the page design and rewards offers, and some different approaches to soliciting for people’s engagement. We spent a lot of time focusing on what people might want to take away from their contributions, the importance of grabbing and keeping people’s attention with a good video that explains the project and on not being afraid to email and post about it again and again — more than you want to.

What was your overall campaign for funding like?
We knew that the book would cost around $25,000 to make but also felt that such a goal might be a bit high of an ask in our current economic conditions. We set the goal at $15,000 since Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform. Of course, we hoped we could exceed that and we’ve ended up reaching $20,000. We’re still taking contributions if you or any of your followers would like to join in!

How did you figure out who to target for what?
I used my newsletter for announcements and reminders, and I made a target list of people who I thought would be interested in the book or in supporting me, or in supporting the themes of the project. To these people, I wrote individual emails two or three times during the campaign, consistently fine tuning my message to find what might appeal. Some backers responded to the emotional nature of the story. Some were on board to make a statement for queer identity, and others were fans of my work who wanted to help me achieve this goal of breaking into a new format of work. All the while, I was programming daily social posts across different platforms and mentioning it to anyone I met in person, like a broken record. It was a lot. LOL!

Is there a certain amount of followers you feel you need to have to be successful in this type of campaign - or a way to “leverage” one’s existing followers?
I don’t know about the amount of followers, just that every little bit helps. I asked every organization with whom I had previously shown work to share on their socials. It feels like a big ask, but you have to do it. It’s a numbers game and if you don’t have the followers, you have to make up for it other ways. I’m so grateful they shared it. Just remember that most people need to see something multiple times before they will participate, so keep getting the message in front of them!

What happens after the funding? As in, what are the final steps to making this “real”?
Currently we are figuring out printing details. What can we afford? Do we prioritize this special embellishment or that one? What paper works best for this project? Within the next few weeks, we will answer them and order a proof. Then, it’s off to the printer. I am pushing hard to stay on our timeline of an October release, and remember that all the while, you must be working on fulfilling the rewards to all of your backers. That’s a whole other pile of detail-oriented work that must be ready when the books are. I will be having a solo show at the Los Angeles Center of Photography in October and if all goes according to play, the book will play a major part in it. Fingers crossed!

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