Monday, November 19, 2012

Lemon Parade


sold

Warning, rant forthcoming. So, for the past 3 years I've been using Blurb to create one book a year, each featuring 100 paintings from that year. I was becoming moderately unhappy with Blurb since they had raised their prices so much, but was willing to continue as the competition was sparse. I recently put together my fourth book and ordered a test copy. I was appalled at the quality! I wrote to them to see if maybe this was an accident. It's been 4 days and I still haven't heard back.

My lovely stepdaughter, Maddie, did some research and found a new publisher -- Magcloud. It is owned by HP and I am giving it a try. So, my book will be later than usual this year, but if all goes well I will have it out before Christmas, it will be bigger, and a lower price!

12 comments:

mary maxam said...

Beautiful lemons and teapot! I look forward to hearing how the new publisher works out.

Bruce Bingham said...

Hi Carol, the knife works really well with your rant;)))) Looking forward to you new book.

Barbara Pask said...

This is wonderful, love the yellow. I love your composition and that trail of lemons that lead you to the teapot.

Sue Marrazzo Fine Art said...

This makes me like YELLOW!!!
So NICE, and textural!

Roxanne Steed said...

wow, Carol - thanks for the scoop on Blurb. I've been wanting to do a book of garden paintings...and have dragged my feet on it for so long. Sad to hear their quality has gone so far down-hill. But I just clicked over to the Magcloud site- looks interesting! Thanks for sharing the info!! LOVE these cheery yellows btw! Happy Thanksgiving to you & your family!

Lavon said...

Carol, love this wonderful yellow painting; so bright and cheery. The pink background sets it off so well, yet somehow brings the brightness of the yellow into almost softness.

Michelle said...

lovely lemons! I hope your book was an accidental lemon, too. I have started making a book in blurb on your (and others) recommendation... but maybe I am too late!!!

Unknown said...

Me encanta! Las pinceladas son geniales.

Un saludo.

Gary Klingemann said...

Hi Carol, been a while since we talked (former UT studio art major, originally from Austin). I design for a living and my take on this is you get what you pay for, one has to figure out what your time is worth fiddling with this. I recommend learning the basics of a page layout program and partnering with an online printer. Although Quark or InDesign are what we use in the industry as professional tools, they may be a bit much for your needs and they are not cheap. I heard PagePlus by Serif is easy is rated high from online reviewers like CNET. I would find an online printer or even one locally to help you from there. Your book layouts are so simple perhaps you could find a student from a local art institute to do this for you. Caution, never use Word, it was never intended for layout, it is essentially a word processor and printers loathe getting these files. One thing to keep in mind is that your layout can be exported as a PDF with settings. Printers can tell you what those settings need to be. Best of luck, shoot me an email anytime if you need advice in graphic design/layout.

Maryann Lucas said...

Love your painting... as per usual. Really want to comment on the your Blurb blurb. Absolutely classic... as I published and ordered my Blurb book on this very day and THEN looked at your blog only to see this thumbs down rant. I am, however, trusting The Process and remain hopeful that I will love it when it comes in the mail. Thanks for all your inspiration and guidance.

Elizabeth Rymer said...

I am so-o-o sad to read of your latest experience with our treasured publisher Blurb. They have done four books of my paintings and I had considered them makers of magic. What's happened?

Carol Marine said...

Thanks everybody! I too am incredibly disappointed with Blurb, especially since I had such good luck with them for 3 years! I will post a picture soon of how the quality has gone down so you can see what I'm talking about.