böcker: frågor och svar (svensk version inom kort)
What can I do with the images in these books?
The books are intended for usage in multiple ways. They are primarily meant to be used as a source and/or reference material for original artwork, but they are also intended to be helpful for those who wish to study equine anatomy and biomechanics. As long as you are the owner of one or more of these books, you can: 1) Use all images - in full or in part - as sources and/or references for any type of original artwork. Both traditional and digital methods are permitted. 2) Sell the original works you have created. You may also create editions from your originals, and these may also be sold. You may do so for as long as you wish, and you are not required to pay me any royalties. 3) There is no limit to how many works you can create, nor is there a limit to the type of art mediums you can use. 4) Once the book is no longer in your ownership, you lose the right to create new works from the images contained in it. You are still free to sell works already created and you are welcome to create and sell new editions from those works.
Is there anything that is not ok to do?
I trust in the owner of the book(s) to use common sense and courtesy. Please do not do anything that may hurt the sales of the book(s), such as scanning and uploading it to filesharing sites, or adding any of the images to sites such as Pinterest or DeviantArt. Also (and this is important): You are not allowed to manipulate the images themselves in “artful” ways. Reproducing the images and applying any kind of “art effect” using digital tools and/or applications (such as Photoshop, Topaz, Filter Forge, Instagram, Prisma, Photo Lab, etc.) is strictly prohibited. The images are intended for use only as described above. Any and all rights to manipulate the images themselves in an artful manner remain strictly and fully with the author.
I would like to teach using this book and would also like to duplicate some images for my students. Are you ok with that?
I am very pro-education and would be very happy to see these books used for teaching purposes. That being said, please keep the following in mind: Copyright laws vary from country to country, but using two to three images is fine and in accordance with “fair use” practices. If your student(s) should opt to buy one or more of these books you are, of course, more than welcome to discuss and use any and all images in those books.
Will they ever be made available as e-books?
Short answer: I do not see that happening for the foreseeable future. Long answer: That depends. I do love e-books, but unfortunately they are ridiculously easy to share illegally. As much as I believe that my friends and fans would never engage in file sharing, these books can be bought by anyone and most customers won’t know me from Adam. I will just be another faceless name to them. I did a lot of research for these books and visited some rather unsavoury places on the internet. I wanted to see what was out there and what people were sharing illegally - maybe it was bestselling titles only and my books wouldn’t be thought of as interesting enough? Unfortunately I quickly realized that you can find everything and anything under the sun, and that not even the most obscure of subjects was safe. Should there ever come a time when e-books are better protected than they currently are, I will be the first to jump on the bandwagon. However, for now the books will need to remain in printed format in order to protect myself and my business. To put it in a perspective that is easy to understand, the sale of just 25 books actually covers a large part of my annual accountant’s bill. So while it doesn’t sound like much if I were to lose 25 sales due to file sharing, it would actually have a tremendous impact on my finances. Thank you for understanding and I promise that I will keep my ear to the ground and keep myself updated on this subject, because it would be awesome if I could also sell e-books one day.
Will these books be made available through other sites, like Amazon?
Short answer: Not at this time. Long answer: When I was looking for a suitable print-on-demand (POD) company I had certain requirements that I felt were non-negotiable. They were (and are): 1) The printer must provide great value for money without compromising quality and/or my profit margin. 2) The book pages must be able to lie flat, or as close to it as possible. 3) The printer must handle all shipping to the end customer (you). 4) The printer must ship internationally. Unfortunately I have not been able to find a POD company that will meet the above requirements and that will also distribute internationally via Amazon, etc. In fact, MagCloud is the only company that I have have been able to find that can actually fulfill all four requirements - every other POD company falls short in some way. MagCloud will only distribute through their own channels, and as I am not willing to ship the books myself, their distribution system is the only possible option at this time and for the forseeable future. Why don't I buy books in bulk and hand them over to Amazon for distribution, you may ask? Because it's horribly expensive for a small business like mine. If Amazon can charge a fee for something, they will. It simply wouldn't be profitable enough to let them handle everything at this point. I'm not saying it will never happen, but at this point in time the only way to buy these books is through MagCloud.
Will all new books be discounted for 24 hours when they are first released?
Absolutely!
Are the images retouched in any way?
Only minimal editing has been done. I have done my best to edit in a way that is useful to equine artists while still remaining true to the horse as it was in the instant it was captured by the camera. I have not retouched or removed things I normally would when editing, such as nicks, cuts, scars, and dirt stains. I have also stayed careful not to exaggerate contrast, detail levels, and sharpening in order to remain as true to life as possible. Lens correction has been applied to minimize zoom lens distortion. You should expect for some images to be a little "soft" or have slight partial blur - this is due to either a short depth of field or slight motion blur. I opted to include these photos despite this due to the interesting angle and/or movement. Please be aware that these are print-on-demand books, a technique which comes with a certain set of image printing limitations. The image printing quality cannot compare to high-end photo books from specialized publishing houses.
If you did not find the answer you were looking for, please do not hesitate to contact me! I am always happy to answer any questions you may have.