In 2004, I left my career as a Royal Navy Photographer to start my own photography business. Little did I know back then I’d become a best-selling author and see my books open doors to multiple international speaking events, ambassadorships, sponsorship deals, and even working with global corporations.
I’d always dreamt of writing a book. I’ve been an avid reader since I was a child, but in the early 2000’s up to around 2015, there were two major obstacles preventing me from creating my own book: the physical cost and the fact that I’m dyslexic. Now both these obstacles are easily overcome, it’s possible for anyone to write and publish their first book, even if, like me, you’re dyslexic. Software like Grammarly, Hemmingway App and even Word with its “Read-Aloud” function make spotting and correcting your grammatical errors easy. You can even use Chat GPT to help outline your book draft, often saving you hours of preparation time.
From a cost perspective, the outlay to create and publish a beautifully designed and professionally printed book is minimal; you can do it for less than a few hundred pounds, whereas just 15 years ago the cost would have been in the thousands. There was no print-on-demand for self-published authors as there is now; you’d have to order bulk copies, then store and ship them yourself.
Thanks to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, you can upload your finished manuscript and book cover in a matter of minutes, then once approved, you could be selling physical printed copies of your book worldwide on Amazon’s website, not to mention additionally earning commission from Kindle downloads for readers who prefer a digital copy.
Nothing increases your industry authority like writing a book!
Being a published author has dramatically increased my authority in the photography industry, both as a mentor and public speaker. I encourage all the photographers I mentor to come up with a book project they can bring to life. You could do just that, too.
When you become published, you shift from being just a photographer to being seen as an expert in your field. The title of published author still carries a lot of weight; it opens up a world of opportunities and massively increases your visibility online. Magazine features, guesting on podcast shows, speaking events, local radio, brand alignment and sponsorship deals all become a lot easier to attain when you have a book under your belt. Having a book published is the best business card you can own; it gives you the credibility to speak about your subject and also connects you directly with your readers. So many people who’ve purchased and read my books have taken the time to reach out to me personally, both here in the UK and around the world. It’s an amazing feeling knowing that what you put out there is helping, motivating, inspiring and entertaining others across the globe, and you’re earning a passive income in the process.
Everyone has a book in them; you might not even know it, but you do.
The first question I get asked by photographers is “What am I going to write about?”. We all have our own areas of expertise or knowledge we’ve acquired in a certain subject. It might not even be related to something you’ve studied or worked on; it could be from a life experience that can be valuable to other people searching for an answer to their questions or needing a little bit of encouragement and motivation. I myself have written two journals, one on goal setting and time management, the other on mindset and motivation. Both these books have come from my own life experiences. The first from running multiple businesses over the years, and the second book was inspired by my biggest ever business failure and coping with depression as a result of the subsequent huge financial loss. Writing about my experience, being open and honest about my journey, has helped thousands of people around the world and given them inspiration to see a way forward from their own setbacks and mindset.
Yes, your book could be photography-related. It could be an instruction guide to your niche or specialist area of photography, it could be a guide on how to set up and run a photography business. But it could also be photography combined with another of your interests or hobbies, which fuels a “project of passion”, becoming an incredible book that is a joy to create.
For example, one of my photography mentees, Susan Allan, an extremely talented architectural photographer from Edinburgh, is combining her love of history with her stunning architectural images in a book project all about historic Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders. She told me that she’s finding the whole process thoroughly interesting and enjoyable, as she delves deep into the history of her local area. In the process, she’s also generating a lot of interest about the book’s release within the circles of her ideal clients, namely architects, designers, and construction companies, who themselves share a similar interest in the local area’s historic buildings. So, it goes without saying that when this book is published, it will open a lot of doors for Susan in her niche of photography.
Could your book idea be a passion project?
One of my greatest passions is travel, so far this love of travel has taken me to over 60 countries and counting. Every time I travel, I catalogue my adventures on social media with stories and photographs from the places I visit. My long-term plan is to write a series of travel books from my international destinations, last year I began a project much closer to home, in fact, right on my doorstep.
I live in the very beautiful county of Northumberland, close to the Scottish Borders, it’s a paradise for hikers, motorbikers, outdoor enthusiasts and campervaners. Like the famous North Coast 500 in Scotland, Northumberland also has its own road trip route known as the Northumberland 250, and up until now, nobody has released a book about this incredible road trip adventure. So, I saw the opportunity and jumped on it, writing, researching and photographing content for this amazing book project along with a friend and fellow Northumbrian author, Debby Rapier. The project took us just under a year to complete, resulting in a fantastic 377-page full colour guidebook. Our book showcases all that’s best about Northumberland, including over 100 personally reviewed places to eat and drink, plus over 150 recommended sights to see, many of which most tourists never get to visit. We combined our local knowledge, love of the outdoors, our writing skills and my photography to produce this beautiful book. The feedback so far has been amazing.
With this project, I turned to a premium book printing company called BookVault. You can find them at bookvault.app. They print and ship premium quality books, with no minimum order, perfect for photo-heavy books like ours. You can even print limited edition hardbacks with bookmark-ribbons, page edge printing and beautifully created book jackets. BookVault also allows you to sell through their trusted partners and the Great British Bookshop.
For our book, I built a simple website using the WIX platform. You can visit our website at www.northumberland250adventures.co.uk then I linked it up to BookVault’s ecommerce app. This means as soon as an order comes in, it’s automatically sent to print by BookVault, then shipped directly to the customer in around 5 days. We have already begun writing the next in our Northumberland travel series and hope to release our 2nd book by the end of the Summer.
Meet Steve, he’s a travel and adventure photographer, but also a 3-times publish author.
Steve began his writing journey just 18months ago, and in only a short space of time, he’s written and published not one but three travel-related books. His latest book is a local’s guide to the famous Scottish North Coast 500, as Steve himself lives on the route and has done the road trip too many times to remember. I helped Steve with his formatting and Amazon research. Getting the right keywords and book categories for Amazon is an essential part of your book’s success. Around 68% of all book sales in the UK are made on Amazon, so having your book published through Amazon KDP can lead to so much potential, but like getting your website found on the internet, keywords are just as important for your book’s sales page, as you’ll be up against a lot of competition.
For Steve, having both his North Coast 500 guide and his two travel journals published on Amazon has led to a lot more authority and recognition as an outdoor and landscape photographer. He’s also launched a series of landscape photography workshops and mini guided tours as a result of his book’s success.
Meet Samantha, she’s a boudoir photographer with a difference, and that difference connects her with her audience.
As a photographer, Sam’s work has always centred around helping women and teen girls feel seen, valued, and confident in their own skin. Over the years, she realised that while photographs can capture a moment, there’s so much more going on beneath the surface.
This inspired Sam to create her guided Body Confidence journals, one for women and the other for teens. They’re designed to encourage reflection, build confidence, and give women and teens a space to explore who they are. She has filled her pages with thoughtful prompts and gentle encouragement. Whether that means dreaming big, working through something tough, or simply taking a moment to pause.
Since Sam wrote her journals, her position as a photographer changed. She is now better connected with her audience and potential clients; she speaks from a position of knowledge and experience, allowing her to become widely known, liked and trusted by others.
Sam has written for multiple magazines as well as appearing on both local and BBC radio interviews, it’s also given her a platform to connect with fellow female entrepreneurs and talk freely about body confidence in the workplace.
Now it’s your turn
When it comes to writing a book, the hardest thing to do is get started. Once you’ve come up with an idea, break that idea down into chapters. It doesn’t have to be a novel; most of my books sit at around the 20k to 45k word count.
Take it one chapter at a time, but start small. I still have very manageable daily writing targets even now; it’s better to write small and often, if you want to remain consistent. Aim for just 250 to 500 words a day or 3 or 4 times a week; those pages will soon start adding up.
Another tip is to get your cover professionally designed once you have your book title and project laid out. This brings your whole concept to life and gives your book an identity of its own. If you want to turn up the heat, you could even start posting your book cover 3D mock-up designs to social media, giving your followers a brief taster of what’s in store, then commit to a rough timeline for publishing.
My best advice is to get planning and get started writing; you’ll be surprised at how quickly your book project can come together. If a dyslexic like me, without a single school qualification in the English language, can write and publish multiple best-selling books, then you most certainly can.
To find out more about my photography marketing books, check out my mentoring website at www.thephotographersmentor.com
