Though it's been some time since my last post, it's not because I've abandoned the vegan/fruit world. In fact, it's been a strong part of my life for the past six months--I'm pleased to announce I've published my very first book, "The Fruits of India: A Complete Compendium" volumes 1 and 2. I've taken my fruit blog posts, edited them (heavily!), added a few more fruits, and compiled them into a 540-page book. Technically, it's two 270-page books, but tomato tomahtoe.
Currently, the only two printed copies in existence will stay with me. The first reason is because, knowing this was a personal copy, I used a ton of beautiful images of which I don't own the rights (I do for the cover, as displayed below). Secondly, I'm still figuring out distribution models for such a big, image-intensive book, and it'll probably take me a while to do things like format/upload the book to Amazon's Kindle and Mac's iAuthor. The large book size and plethora of images is problematic, as self-publishing is still cost-prohibitive in this realm. On the other hand, I'm not even ascertaining traditional publishing because I want to retain the rights to my book--maybe I'll want to do multiple editions. Perhaps I'll want to copy chunks of the book for a new theme surrounding cooking. Or maybe I'll just give the content to the public domain (thus making it free). I have no idea. But I do know that such flexibility goes out the window when a publisher picks up your work and offers royalties.
Below is a picture of the book cover for volume 1. The photo was taken by the talented Harini Prakash and modified by me.
In the meantime... 2013 was the year of fruits. Now it's onward to vegetables!
Currently, the only two printed copies in existence will stay with me. The first reason is because, knowing this was a personal copy, I used a ton of beautiful images of which I don't own the rights (I do for the cover, as displayed below). Secondly, I'm still figuring out distribution models for such a big, image-intensive book, and it'll probably take me a while to do things like format/upload the book to Amazon's Kindle and Mac's iAuthor. The large book size and plethora of images is problematic, as self-publishing is still cost-prohibitive in this realm. On the other hand, I'm not even ascertaining traditional publishing because I want to retain the rights to my book--maybe I'll want to do multiple editions. Perhaps I'll want to copy chunks of the book for a new theme surrounding cooking. Or maybe I'll just give the content to the public domain (thus making it free). I have no idea. But I do know that such flexibility goes out the window when a publisher picks up your work and offers royalties.
Below is a picture of the book cover for volume 1. The photo was taken by the talented Harini Prakash and modified by me.
In the meantime... 2013 was the year of fruits. Now it's onward to vegetables!
Good to hear from you again. What a beautiful looking book. I look forward to reading all about Indian vegetables in 2014- Happy New Year:)
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