The book makers

Keith Wilson

Keith Wilson is an award-winning photo editor, journalist and author. He is the co-founder of Photographers Against Wildlife Crime™, an international group of leading photojournalists and writers who have combined their talents to produce two highly acclaimed photo books about the illegal wildlife trade. Keith is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society Visit www.keithwilsonmedia.com.

‘WHEN I started in my journalistic career anything that was self-published was derided and labelled as vanity publishing,’ recalls Keith Wilson as we catch-up over Zoom. This idea seems laughable now as I admire the award certificates for HIDDEN and Photographers Against Wildlife Crime on the wall behind his desk. ‘Now, of course, a lot of the very best books are a result of self-publishing and crowdfunding,’ he confirms, as though reading my train of thought. In recent years the traditional book publishing model has changed dramatically, and photographers are often expected to help out with the cost of producing and/or marketing their book. ‘If they’re asking for your financial support in the first place then you might just as well do it yourself,’ laughs Keith.

Self-publishing leads to a lot of hard questions and the first is whether or not your project is actually book-worthy. ‘The more original the idea is, the better,’ says Keith. ‘When I sit down with people the first thing that goes through my mind is, can I think of anything like this, on this particular subject, that’s been done before? If not, then it’s got a good chance of being noticed.’ The next step is to consider the size of your audience and how you will get your book into their hands. ‘It’s amazing how many photographers don’t give the same level of priority to marketing and distribution as they do to the design, layout and editing of their book,’ says Keith. ‘It’s