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We just finished a project working with our new client, Gerard Tomko. Mr. Tomko is an award-winning wedding photographer based out of Philadelphia. He's been in this profession for over 28 years and that definitely shows in his wonderful images. It was a great piece to create for him so that he can showcase his work during the Wedding & Portrait Photographers Convention in February.

Gerard Tomko is also a survivor, he battled and beat cancer this last year and is now back to work and creating wonderful images. We personally wish him well, much success and continued good health!

To visit his site for more information on his images or to schedule your upcoming nuptials....http://www.gerardtomko.com

We have a lot of customers inquiring about if they need an ISBN number and Bar Code for their books. While we posted about this topic before, I think it’s important enough to reprint the original posting here:

Do I need an ISBN Number and/or a Bar Code? The answer to that depends upon your needs. Let’s start with the ISBN Number. You are not legally required to have an ISBN number. It simply depends upon if and how you are going to sell your book. So, if you are selling your book through workshops, direct mail or through the Internet, you most likely will NOT need an ISBN number or Bar Code.

If you plan to sell your books through retail chains, specialty stores or catalogs, (Borders, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc.) you will most likely be required by the reseller to obtain an ISBN number for your book for inventory and general ordering purposes.

Here's Why: An ISBN number identifies a book title or edition from one specific publisher and is unique to that edition, meaning that it can never be reused. This also means that if you sell both a hard copy and a soft cover of your book, you must have two unique ISBN numbers.

The ISBN itself is a 10-digit number that is divided into four parts separated by hyphens. The first part of the ISBN is a group or country identifier. The second part is a publisher identifier. The third part is a title identifier. The last digit is a check digit used to validate the ISBN. In other words, the ISBN is a code that identifies your book around the world. You can apply for an ISBN number by contacting Bowker, who is the U.S. broker for ISBN numbers.

Now for the Universal Product Code (UPC), also known as the Bar Code. This is a computerized product identification system. Your ISBN Number is NOT the same thing as your Bar Code. Most retail chains require both a ISBN Number and Bar Code. However, the ISBN Number can be translated into bar code format. When you purchase your ISBN number through Bowker, you can also purchase the Bar Code, or you can find a list of UPC Code (or Bar Code) suppliers here.


ISBN Numbers and UPC Codes and their costs.

Bowker is the U.S. broker of ISBN numbers. This is the place to go to get your number. Usually, Bowker sells numbers in blocks of 10, for approximately $250, or a cost of $25 per book. This price also includes the UPC Code (Bar Code) which you will also need. If you don't wish to purchase ISBN Numbers in blocks of 10, you can purchase a single ISBN. However, it's not as easy and it is not as cost effective. You have to call Bowker directly at 877-310-7333 and request a faxed application for $125.00. I haven't yet been able to find the form downloadable from their site. Additionally, this cost of $125.00 is for the ISBN number only and you have to purchase the bar codes separately for a cost of $25.00.

You don't have to purchase the bar code from Bowker though, there are other options available. If you want to do it yourself, there is a whole list of ISBN software available online for generating your own codes, or you can try companies such as Bar Code Graphics that will create the bar code image for you for about $10.

On a final note, you may also want to consider registering your book with Bowker's directory "Books in Print". This is their master list of all books available. Oddly enough, when you buy your ISBN number from Bowker, you aren't automatically registered into their master list.

Picturia Press has collaborated with Cheryl Brown in the past and was thrilled when she asked us to help her create and launch her new website. Cheryl is a wonderful Art Director who has worked with clients such as LL Bean and Eddie Bauer.

For more information about Cheryl, or her company CBROWNCREATE, you can visit her website here.

It's hard to believe how quickly time is passing and now Valentine's Day is only a month away. This is the perfect time to start planning that special way to proposed to your sweetheart. Proposal books are a unique and romantic way to tell the story of your love through pictures and words and something you can both treasure for years to come.

This year, Blurb is having a promotion that will give you a $75 credit (wow!) for sharing your engagement story with them. The contest runs through February 14 and they will announce the winner on February 16th. For more information, you can read Love Bound on the Blurb Blog.

Picturia Press will be happy to work with you to design something very special that will "pop the question" in an unforgettable way.

We're sending out all our best wishes to our clients, supporters and friends for a safe and happy new year. Picturia Press will be closed for the holiday, but back at work and designing new books the second week of January.

A big thanks also to Blogger Buster, they recently reviewed the Picturia Press blog in their "50 More Fabulous Blogs" posting. We we're thrilled to be included.

P.S. Watch for us during the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco, we'll be Blurbing!

Picturia Press has been asked to speak at a Blurb event during MacWorld Conference & Expo - San Francisco in January, 2009. It's a wonderful opportunity to share our experiences designing and working with the great people at Blurb over last 18 months. We're looking forward to being there and meeting everyone.

We recently read an article in Business Week on "The Next Big Thing In Selling Design". The article discusses how companies are now looking into the new "hot" trend of coffee-table books for marketing.

Designing and creating eye-catching print publications aimed at attracting new clients and for general business development purposes is an appealing method to reach out to their target markets in a unique way.

Picturia Press just finished publishing a very sweet and inspiring new book. We were contacted recently by a father who wanted to give his daughter a very special gift for the holidays. His goal was to create a book that would chronicle his daughter's life from when she was born through to her current life now as a teacher.

He has some really wonderful pictures of her through all stages of her life. In fact, he had to go through roughly 8,000 pictures to select the ones he wanted for the book! We had a great time working with him to create this lovely gift. We are looking forward to hearing back from him after the holidays to see how much she enjoyed the book. So stay tuned for an update on this project.

Picturia Press has worked with Lewis|Leeper, a legal firm based in Boston for over a year on several projects, including a book. Recently, we were contacted by the firm and asked to help them update their website.

We were pleased we could offer our services and give them a brand new website. If you would like to find out more about Lewis|Leeper, or to see their website, please click here.

Cold November, what an appropriate title for a book!

This was a very fun and exciting project we were asked to work on and we were so pleased to be part of helping create this book of poetry for our client.

Cold November is a collection of approximately 75 poems. Our job was to design a book working with color, fonts, typography and engaging background treatments and make the poems come alive on the page and give them mood and meaning. Hopefully we've accomplished this, we feel it's a beautiful book that should make the best seller's list!

Click here to view the book

Picturia Press is very happy to announce that yet another wonderful book designed by us has become a best seller! The book, A Journey of the Heart, was created for a fund raising event. This wonderful private diary and journey of a man recovering from a heart attack (see post of 09/05/08) was a great joy for us to create for Mr. Frank Ostaseski, of the Metta Institute. We wish him all the best, and we're pleased that the book is helping raise funds for their wonderful cause.

This is in fact the second book now designed by Picturia Press that has become a best seller. We recently published a cookbook called Friends, Food and Fiction, which was designed for a ladies book club in Des Moines, Iowa (see post of 09/14/08).

Orchids An Intimate Portrait of Beauty was a wonderful book for us to work on this month. This extremely beautiful book features the drawing, photography and paintings of Jerry Gotkin.

Some of the orchids in this book are captured in isolation and some in their natural environment. All of the images featured in this book, have been reproduced in Limited Editions by the artist.

Rather than create a catalogue of the orchids, Mr. Gotkin preferred to create a "stand alone" piece that would be in and of itself an artistic work, yet still compliment the original creations.

With over 120 pages of compelling images, this 13 x 10 book is stunning on it's own and we were excited to work with Jerry Gotkin again, making this the fifth book we have created for this Florida based artist.

To view the book, click here.

Marjorie's Table: Material and Instruments of Art as Art is the fourth book done with noted artist Jerry Gotkin. As usual, we were very fortunate to work with some beautiful images and we also had the benefit of being familiar with the artist's previous work.

This was a unique book to create in that it examines the work table, palette and the instruments that an artist uses to create. The materials - brushes, paints, canvases, vases, flowers and all they other items a painter would use - all displayed and seen as their own expression of art.

Jerry comments, "What I tried to do, in preparing the images and formulation, was a painful exercise. I saw that it was lacking a point of view and cohesiveness but I was at a loss to either recognize or articulate it. When I presented it to Suzzanne, she hit the target as soon as I sent her my ideas. It was a clarion bell. This book would not work if we were merely going to display the images as individual pieces. This had to be a conceptual book organized to convey a central theme. She knew what I wanted to do; I did not. I cannot express the clarity that came with her direction."

We're thrilled to bring to life another book of artistic work by Gotkin Arts Studio. We look forward to working on their next project with them. Click here to view the book.

When we did this book, I wasn't aware of what "Leaf Peeping" was and how extremely popular it is in New England. Apparently the leaves are only visible for a limited number of weeks and annually draws huge visitors to view and photograph the breathtaking fall foliage.

Hiking is the perfect way to experience the change of the seasons. These images were shot during a hiking trip on the Appalachian Trails in and around Rangeley Lake, Maine.

Such a fun book to create. Just under 50 pages and a 7 x 7 book, this is a wonderful way to take your vacation photos and turn them into a priceless memory book. These photos would probably have resided on a computer and sat for years waiting for something to happen. But now it is a treasured memory book that everyone on the trip will be receiving as a gift.

Click here to view the book.

While Picturia Press continues to create new books (three more in the works right now....) we wanted to take a moment to let all our new and existing customers that we are excited to be offering a 10% discount on all book orders placed on or before December 1, 2008. If you would like to take advantage of this offer, please reference the code: BB1201OLB.

Lots of books to create for the holiday season. Avoid the holiday rush and get started on your book project now. Picturia Press wishes you all the best during the upcoming holiday season.

Click here to view the book.

Today, we just finished our third book with noted artist, Jerry Gotkin. This was an exciting project for us to work again with Jerry on creating a showcase of his wife Marjorie Gotkin's "Still Life/Florals" watercolor and gouache. It is always a pleasure to work with Mr. Gotkin, and these were some incredibly beautiful images to design and layout. We recently published his Tall Ship Series and the Hospice by the Sea Gardens books.

Both Marjorie and Jerry Gotkin have been successful and well-known painters and artists for many years and some of Marjorie's works are in the Smithsonian Institution American Art Museum/Portrait Gallery Libraries. So it was an honor to help create this book for them.

Click here to view the book.

This is quite a unique book and although it took a very long time; it was a wonderful project to work on. Picturia Press was contacted by a book group in Des Moines, Iowa that had been meeting once a month for over 20 years! During that time they had read and reviewed over books and wanted to share their book list with friends and family. But also during that time, this book group, called the Decem Doctae, or "ten learned women", have been meeting at each other's houses to review the books and to share a delicious lunch prepared by their host for the meeting. So in addition to sharing their recommended reading list, they wanted to share some of their recipes they've collected over the years. Additionally, one of the ladies from their group is a photographer, so naturally, our clients also wanted to include images of their beautiful city.

It took some time and management to collect all the different images, bios, book lists and recipes from 14 different women belonging to the group over the period of 20 years and then editing the book so it was cohesive and consistent. Let's just put it this way... everyone writes a recipe differently.

The end result is a book we love and are sure the client will love also. Click here to view the book.