Book Update (2/8/10)

Just got off the phone with James, my printer rep. We discussed the book in more detail this time. He's sending over the contract later today which I have to sign and send back. The first payment is also due 50% upfront by end of this week. Again, I'm borrowing money from various sources to pay for this since I don't have a publisher to back me anymore.

So here's the process. It'll take two weeks to get a proof. You can get a press proof or a digital proof. A press proof is closer to what you get as it is done on the press machine itself. BUT any changes costs a lot of money because it is using actual inks, pressing plates, etc. A digital proof is cheaper and colors gets really close to it but it isn't the same as the press proof.

I chose the digital proof because it'll cost me only $10 per page change if I need to make any changes. Much cheaper ! The digital proof will have all the pages and I have to go through with it with a magnifying glass to make sure all is set up right - no misspellings, color dead-on, all the fun stuff.

So after sending in the files, 2 weeks later I get the book as a digital proof. I make corrections and send it back, in another 2 weeks, the books will be printed. Then it gets put on a freighter and ship back to the United States. They give 3-4 weeks for transportation. It'll arrive in Long Beach, pass customs, then deliver to LA where I have to find a storage facility to hold the books. I am told with the number of books, the rough size is two large cars. So I think I need to rent something like a 2 car garage size. (I don't not wanna see how much this is gonna cost, lol !)

BTW : I also found out each book will weigh about 3 pound ! That's heavy for a book ! Well, I can now safety say that the book is worth the cover price ! 8x10 272 pages, hard cover and now weighting 3 pounds lol !

So this week I need to send back the contract, double check the pages and look for mistakes. I also found out that I'll have extra pages because I made a mistake of counting the front cover as a page so that means more cosplayers will be added !

^^ Getting closer folks ! Getting closer !

"Rant About Cosplay Photographers"

Stumbled upon this YouTube clip named "Rant About Cosplay Photographers". Oh, so true - I've seen what she describes happen at cons and I'm like - seriously do people think ? But then I realized that most photographers are just people with cameras and really may not know any better. Really it is about educating folks. Yes, this should be common sense but sometimes I don't think it is as common as it should be.

I'm thinking of doing a panel discussion on the ins & outs and etiquette of photography and cosplay....

Hiroshi Nonami "Luna Sea Zoe"

I've been slowly going through all my photography book and happen across this one that I bought .... well, I can't remember when I even bought this book or where though a quick google shows this book was released back in 1995. These are beautiful images of the band Luna Sea done in Nonami's style. They're ethereal, beautiful, gothic in a way and totally un-Photoshop. All of his images are done by hand old school. To call Hiroshi Nonami a photographer is like calling Leonardo da Vinci just a sketch artist.

It's an amazing book, 95 pages, hardcover 10.5 x 13.5 book - I can't imagine how much it costs to produce this book !

Here's links to other Nonami's images here and here.

NerdSociety's Cosplay Corner

So NerdSociety is a website that covers anime, games, cosplay, movies, y'know, stuff nerds like, lol ! They also cover cons like AX, Comic Con and PMX usually with their roving Tentacle Brothers - see above video from AX 2009....wait, if you pause it at 1:10, you can see me in the back ^^

Anyways, looks like they've started a new feature called "Cosplayer of the Week". Over at Flickr, they started a group called Nerd Society's Cosplay Corner where you can join the group and post up your best cosplays.

Here's what it says :

A group dedicated to the awesome cosplayers out there and their costumes. Whether the costume is from anime, movies, comics or pop culture, we want you!

We'll also be featuring a "Cosplayer Of The Week" on our site. If you want to submit yourself or a cosplayer, please let us know at:

info@nerdsociety.com

Thanks and happy costuming! :)