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Musing May, 2008

Going, Going, Gone!

This morning I did a quick search on the web for my first book, Tillman Crane/STRUCTURE. Several places around the world have it listed for an average of $110 although I have heard from friends that they have seen it list for as high as several hundred dollars at one time or another. What is so crazy about this situation is that I still have approximately 200 new, ready to be signed, copies available in my studio for a much lower price!

I produce photography books because I love the process of defining a project and seeing what comes from it. I love the entire process - processing, printing editing and packaging. If you have read these Musings over the years then you have followed my ups and downs throughout the process. I love it when a book of mine leaves and finds a home somewhere else. Hopefully they reside on a bookshelf or coffee table and are being looked at. Some may be holding up that short leg on a table and others may be forgotten, gathering dust but hopefully most have been looked at, examined and enjoyed.

My third book, ODIN STONE, is in production. Unfortunately, the printer we used for our last book, Stinehour Press, closes its doors this month so we are looking for a new printer to work with. There are several excellent printing houses we are talking with, both in this country and abroad. My first book, Tillman Crane/STRUCTURE, was printed as a run of 2500 in Italy. It's a beautiful printing job but with the weakened dollar it makes the book just too expensive to justify going to Italy to print. Stinehour Press did an equally great job with the second book, TOUCHSTONES, a small edition of 500. TOUCHSTONES is completely sold out. STRUCTURE isn't. We still have copies left in our storage unit. I am reminded of this every year at tax time when I have to inventory the lot and pay taxes on unsold inventory. I wonder if that is why so many photo books are remaindered - tax consequences rather than book quality.

Which leads me to today's rambling: Tillman Crane/STRUCTURE. We have approximately 200 copies left in our storage unit. "Conventional" photo book wisdom says to keep them, selling a few at a time and hike the price higher each year. However, I need to raise money for the next book project, ODIN STONE. Printing is expensive and with the weak dollar getting more so. Therefore I am going to go against conventional wisdom and put the remaining copies of STRUCTURE on sale.

From May 15 - August 31, 2008, Tillman Crane/STRUCTURE will be available at sale prices through both my web site ($55 plus $10 U.S. shipping) and through eBay ($60 plus $10 U.S. shipping). So if you want a copy of or know of anyone else who wants a copy, now is the time to get them because when we sell these last few, STRUCTURE, like TOUCHSTONES will truly be out of print. Buy one and donate it to your local library or college library. We both win: I sell a book and you get a tax deduction. The Limited Edition version of STRUCTURE, which includes a 7x9 inch platinum/palladium print of Plate 68, Brooms, is also on sale at $450. Purchasing one of these, holding it for a while then donating it to a rare book collection would also be a great tax deduction. I get no tax deduction or very little by giving it directly to a collection. I only get the cost of production. But if you buy a copy and then donate it, you will get the full value you paid for the book and print.

Please forgive this shameless commercial minute, but if I want to continue as an artist I need to sell these books. So to paraphrase a political slogan, "buy early and buy often". Remember, when these last copies of Tillman Crane/STRUCTURE are gone, this book will be out of print and the only way to buy a copy will be on the used market. If they are selling for $110 currently, what will they be worth when I have none left?

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