About
Producing and publishing books

After I had decided to channel the material I had gathered on various travels into a tangible project, the question of how to bring it to fruition arose. They had to be actual books, for I had always wanted to be listed in the Directory of Available Books—a small vanity, hopefully forgivable.

The solution arrived with the Books on Demand service from the book trade supplier Libri: the production and distribution of individual book copies or small print runs. This makes it possible to produce editions—such as the one I had in mind—without incurring significant upfront costs, and to distribute them through standard book trade channels.

It works like this: The book is produced entirely digitally, stored in a database, and printed only when a customer has ordered a copy. The rest is routine. Libri’s delivery vans transport the book—which is flawless in both appearance and feel—to every affiliated bookseller in the German-speaking region within one or two days.

Thus, the technical prerequisites for publishing were now in place; all that remained was to get the author up to speed on how to utilize them. This first entailed mastering the unfamiliar terminology from the world of printers, typesetters, and typographers—all ancient guilds that continue to cultivate their "secret languages" to this very day. Added to this were the many technical requirements: everything from operating the software and preparing the text to scanning and retouching images, and finally, assembling all the content within a self-designed layout. Setbacks and failures were inevitable—and they were not long in coming. It was not always easy to keep the ultimate goal firmly in sight: the finished book! After a good two years of intensive work, the moment finally arrived in the autumn of 2001, and the printing presses could begin rolling to produce the first two volumes: Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. This intensive preparation quickly paid off, for the third volume—Central California—was produced with lightning speed in just three months and has been on the market since the summer of 2002. Despite all the effort involved, the journey to this point has proven well worth it; the author of what began as a small series has since evolved into a creator whose horizons and work now extend far beyond the PhotoFührer USA series.

The titles have since been translated into English and published for worldwide distribution via Kindle Direct Publishing on Amazon. For a solo author, this is the most practical way to reach a large audience.