Something different

[Richard Turner]

I recently entered a competition for "Wildlife Blogger of the Year". https://www.terra-incognita.travel/...ear/wildlife-blogger-of-the-year-2018-entries The organisers "Terra Incognita" an eco travel firm, are thinking of making a book from all the entries, and I offered to sound out the collective wisdom of Litopia to see what you think of the idea. My first thought was that it should be a high price collectors-and-libraries type project, but then I realised that there is a ready market for at least 91 of the books, but only at a price which all those aspiring young conservationists could afford.
Any thoughts?

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Looks very high quality. Why do they want to make it a book? What do they want to do with the proceeds?

 

[Richard Turner]

I guess a book would give some permanence to the idea, but will have to ask about the proceeds.

 

[Marc Joan]

I've been exposed to the wildlife photography / documentary / blogosphere / competition / writing universe quite a lot recently, due to the involvement of family members. I haven't looked at this particular competition, but I suspect that Terra Incognita will be using this purely for their own marketing purposes. Those who win or who are placed in the competition will have something to put on their CV; beyond that, I'd expect neither financial return from book sales, nor any significant publicity. Winning something like this may help you somewhat if you wish to carve out a place for yourself in the nature writing /photography/ etc ecosystem, but you will still need to continually knock on the gates of the gatekeepers if you are to get anywhere -- it won't be anywhere near sufficient in itself.

 

[Richard Turner]

Here's the answer I got. Any thoughts on the best format for this potential book would be very welcome.

At the moment we're considering either 1) donating a percentage of the proceeds to an environmental/sustainability cause related to Terra Incognita or 2) donating a book for every XX sold - leaning more towards the first. We'd need to use some of the proceeds to help cover the costs of getting Terra Incognita up and running this year. Hope that helps and any suggestions are welcome. Cheers, Kristi

 

[Richard Turner]

I've been exposed to the wildlife photography / documentary / blogosphere / competition / writing universe quite a lot recently, due to the involvement of family members. I haven't looked at this particular competition, but I suspect that Terra Incognita will be using this purely for their own marketing purposes. Those who win or who are placed in the competition will have something to put on their CV; beyond that, I'd expect neither financial return from book sales, nor any significant publicity. Winning something like this may help you somewhat if you wish to carve out a place for yourself in the nature writing /photography/ etc ecosystem, but you will still need to continually knock on the gates of the gatekeepers if you are to get anywhere -- it won't be anywhere near sufficient in itself.

Thanks Marc
I applaud your cynicism. My feeling is that it would be unlikely to generate much profit, but would nevertheless serve to show that those from less privileged backgrounds can play an important part in trying to save the natural world.