Book Publishing Secrets with Patrick Stull, Author of Encounters

American artist Patrick Stull has spent the last eighteen years mostly creating imagery about the lives of women. He searches for what lies beneath the surface of his subjects, empowering each one he encounters. He has recently ventured into the realm of surrealism, creating powerful imagery that reflects on our humanity while dealing with the meaning and power of art.

Stull say's, "My work has allowed me to venture past the camera into the realm of a humanist, an artistic life, delving into the intellectual, a more cerebral life experience, creating what I call 'connectivism.'" 

His ongoing work is based in large-scale digital photography accompanied by sculpture/body casts, composition art, painting, poetry/prose and drawings.  His art is then integrated, collectively, into exhibitions to provide the viewer a once in a lifetime experience. The presentation of the work is delivered to the viewer in a unique and emotionally powerful way.

Stull, 71, a self-taught artist, works in many artistic disciplines. Educated at San Diego State University with degrees in psychology, economics and philosophy during the 1960’s, amidst the backdrop of the counter-culture revolution and the Viet Nam War, where his social consciousness and political views were shaped. Stull emerged from a Catholic Irish/German family, one of five children where work, discipline and religion took precedence over emotional expressions of the self – a different kind of loving environment. Being a husband of thirty-plus years and father to two has taught him the power of kindness, love and commitment. 

His latest book is the fine art photography book, Encounters.

Visit his website at www.patrickstull.com.

BOOK BLURB:

With photography at its base, Stull offers a nuanced explication of his encounters to allow the viewer an opportunity to form a relationship with his art. While looking within ourselves, exploring our own feelings, he hopes that he will inspire greater humaneness in response to his art.

ENCOUNTERS is the second in a series of six large-format books in which artist, photographer and author, Patrick Stull explores a wide range of experiences. Using light and the physical body, the written word and his artistry he creates imagery that examines aspects of the lives of women.

Compiled over the last 18 years, the images in ENCOUNTERS, Stull says, are meant to “inspire and challenge the observer while always empowering the subject.”

Stull brings a powerful sense of the surreal and the spiritual to his work as he plots a course along the many paths of the human experience. His imagery runs from the ghostly and ephemeral to the flowing and fiery.

As much as he concentrates on the human form, Stull never forgets to focus on the humanity of his subjects. His choice of the coffee-table style book format draws the viewer into an experience both intimate and universal.

Stull’s first book in his series, titled EVOLVE, was published in 2006. A third book, titled HIDDEN DIMENSIONS, is completed and awaiting publication. Future titles in the series include DHARMA, BEING DIFFERENT, and YOGA, A HEALING MOMENT.

Stull hopes that his readers come away from the book with “a love for art and a respect for the female who gives us life and challenges us to be better human beings.

ORDER YOUR COPY HERE

Thank you for your time in answering our questions about getting published.  Is this your first book?

Encounters is my second book, it contains 232 pages of unique imagery, prose, odes and drawings. I have five more books headed to print over the next two years.

With this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie, etc. – and why did you choose this method?

I self-published and found the book printer in Asia through a Los Angeles fine art printing firm. I chose to self-publish, while sourcing the printer myself. When creating reasonable quantities (1,000 plus), you can’t efficiently print in the U.S. due to costs. Much of the cost is labor due to the hardcover binding process. If you are not producing a hardcover, if the volumes are 500 or less you might look into U.S based printers. I chose to print in Asia where I found a good balance of all factors.

Can you tell us a little about your publishing journey?  The pros and cons?

The process of creating Encounters was daunting. Even though it was an effort of love, it required the integration of imagery and text which is somewhat unusual. This made things somewhat more challenging to promote to the publishing world. However, I did reach out to some publishers to understand the process. Once I had this understanding it was clear to me self-publishing was a better choice. Specifically, the publishing world is very difficult to navigate within a given timeframe. Costs and control over the product is relinquished by the author. It became apparent that self-publishing would be the best alternative for me. Finding a high-quality, fine art printer and deciding how I was going to market and sell the book presented additional challenges.
Self- publishing a book, allows control over costs, marketing and distribution. An author has complete ownership of the outcome. On the other hand, employment of a publisher affords a greater opportunity to generate attention to the book and perhaps greater income from sales.

What lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and about the publishing industry as a whole?

If you are an unknown author the probability that you will financially break- even is challenging. When you look at the costs related to creating a book one must consider that the development, printing, shipping, fulfillment and storage, credit card processing and publisher’s expense leave little proceeds unless you can scale sales.

Would you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?

I am at the beginning of this publishing adventure so there is little to say except, I would reach out to publishers before self-publishing. This way you educate yourself as to what works for you. Keep in mind that self-publishing does limit your market exposure.

What’s the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?

My advice is “less is more.” Avoid saturating the reader with who you are and what you think. Never allow your ego to dominate the message and always approach your reader/viewer with humility. This allows truth and reality to rise to the surface for all to enjoy.

If you decide to self-publish you should first consider what it is you are trying to accomplish: financial success, notoriety, the exercise of skills or simply personal gratification. Each of these things influence the effort. Life is random, so expect nothing from your efforts however, dream that the world will embrace your work and that you will have the opportunity to create more for their enjoyment.

Be patient and never stop doing what you love. Persistence is powerful.