UPDATE: How to Get the Book of the Year

UPDATE to the Update: I just learned that you can buy the book directly from the publisher, with reasonable shipping costs. I don't know what the shipping costs might be to other countries, but when I went through the checkout procedure they were going to charge me $8.50 to Upstate New York. So try this method first. More news as I get it. —Mike the Ed.

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This one's going to be hard to get, I'm afraid. The publisher is small and Only Human is its first and only photography book.

Hennessey + Ingalls Art and Architecture Bookstore in L.A. have gotten hold of a few copies (Judy did a signing there) and have posted it on Amazon. Only a few, though. [Note: gone as of 1 p.m. Friday. —Ed.] They might be able to get more.

There are only 1,000 copies total in the press run, and most of those will be reserved to sell at the de Young Museum during the exhibition the book is based on. In fact the publisher wasn't even going to release it until then. It's the exhibition catalog.

I got a very nice note from Judy after she read the review. She seemed genuinely touched by what I wrote. If you read the post before the review, you know I had some reservations about my ability to convey the emotional nature of my response to the book and to the work. I think I did okay, though. Judy was a photographer I admired when I was in art school in the '80s, and it's been a rich and relevant experience for me to come full circle with her life's work.

I'm sorry the book is not more readily available, but then, some books are, some books aren't—photography books are inherently difficult to produce and distribute, and there's little consonance between what's good and what's easy to get. Some dreadful books are all over the place and some great ones are difficult to obtain...as any longtime book buyer or collector knows all too well. I didn't know much about the book's distribution before I wrote about it. If you're balking at the shipping costs from the Museum store, I don't blame you at all (and Judy says she'll do what she can to look into that), but it's worth mentioning that after the book is out of print, which is likely to happen fairly soon, the price plus the shipping might well seem like a bargain. Consider our Book of the Year from last year, Multitude, Solitude: The Photographs of Dave Heath—it's out of print now and the prices of used copies on Amazon as I write this run from $130 (double the price when it was new) to $296.

The "Only Human" show is at the de Young Museum in San Francisco from April 7th to September 16th, 2018. When it begins I'll try to remind you.

Mike
(Thanks to Greg Edwards and several other readers)

Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Winwalloe: "It's interesting that Jörg Colberg's book Understanding Photobooks that you wrote about a few days ago specifically discusses shipping costs as an important part of a publishing project."

Dave Kerr: "Judy Dater was one of my instructors at the San Francisco Art Institute in the spring '74 semester, around the time she made the photo of Imogen and Twinka. As a long time admirer of Ms. Dater's work, I look forward to adding her new book, Only Human, to my library."

Joe: "It's a Christmas miracle! I ordered the book from the de Young as soon as you described it here, and it arrived this morning! Just in time to be wrapped and slipped under the tree for my wife (a portrait photographer)." 

Comments

[Robert Gordon]

Bought my copy at Amazon this morning.

Only 13 copies left after I checked ou.

[Rodolfo Canet]

Thanks for your efforts, Mike, but this will be indeed hard to get. H+I in Amazon add close to 60$ of shipping costs and the publisher webshop messes up royally my shipping details. Oh the joys of e-commerce!

Happy holidays for you and your readers and commenters!

[James]

Sometimes one can feel robbed by shipping costs, but I try to look on it as, in this case for example, a $60 book and $8 for shipping and packaging.
Makes me feel better anyway.

[Gordon Reynolds]

The show of Judy Dater’s work will be held at the San Francisco DeYoung museum in Golden Gate Park starting April 7 next year, running into mid September. The link to info about the show is:

https://deyoung.famsf.org/exhibitions/judy-dater-only-human

[k4kafka]

Judy Dater book "Currently Unavailable" on Amazon link. Maybe we can sell-out this book/catalog in its first printing before her show even opens in April ? As a collectors item, with great investment potential...could be,kiddies.

[JOHN GILLOOLY]

Just ordered from the publisher link - looking forward to it! The book recommendations from Mike are one of my favorite things about the blog. Collecting photo books has become a hobby of mine because of Mike's reviews and suggestions. I recently purchased and really enjoyed the Gordon Parks: Collected Works.

Happy Holidays to everyone in the TOPSphere!

John

[Arg]

I can't believe that the publisher's website doesn't have Australia on the list of countries on the registration page. But New Zealand, yes.

[hugh crawford]

Shipping stuff around makes up much more than the cost printing my book project by far.

As I mentioned earlier I designed my book project around the price of paper and shipping.

Shipping ( my cost, not counting the packaging ) is less than $8 for my book in the US. Of course, I have to get it shipped to me from the printer/binder which is a bit as well, but there is a price break for 10 tons of books, although it took a LOT of shopping around. One company wanted 7 times as much as who I am using.
Want to see how much shipping for a 4.5 kilo book is internationally?
http://photooftheday.hughcrawford.com/some-photos-of-that-day-book-shipping-costs That's $66-$76 for medium size USPS flat rate up to 20 pounds which is the cheapest by far.

The cheapest non-postoffice shippers come in at about 3 times what the post office charges.

Books that weigh less than 4.4 pounds (2 kilos) are a lot cheaper per pound.

I could write a book... ☺

[David Elden]

Thanks for bringing this book to our attention, over the years you've steered me to a number of wonderful publications I would not otherwise have been aware of. Re how to buy, I just ordered from the publisher at the link you provided, couldn't have been easier and they charged 6.50USD for shipping to Canada which seems more than reasonable. No idea when it will arrive but looking forward to it whenever it is.

Dave.

[MikeR]

Well, I followed your link, placed an order with the museum, and my CC has the charge pending. Given the experiences of others, did I just get lucky?

In keeping with the season, I'll say, "Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia" (check with your sister-in-law for translation from Polish.) Starting tomorrow, and a large part of Sunday, I'll be busy preparing for the Christmas Eve "Wigilia," doing my best to keep a tradition from my boyhood a little bit alive. Some of the customs don't agree with what one finds on the web, but apparently the SE corner of Poland had its own take on customs, as well as a somewhat different way of speaking Polish. For example, wigilia, strictly speaking, is pronounced vee-gee-lee-ah, while amongst my relatives, it was pronounced wee-lee-yah.

Part of the tradition is to set a place at the table for an unexpected guest. Mike, if you happen to be in SE PA Sunday, give a call, I'll give you directions.

[Gabriel chan]

Just sawfrom the internet, the photo is amazing. Already ordered to send to my cousin's US address total about USD 60.- else shipment cost to Singapore is USD 60.- on top of the book.

Thanks for the amazing find.

[Peter Wright]

Have a great Christmas holiday season. May you be recharged and rested when you come back.

(Of course, I ordered my copy of your book of the year. It's a no brainer. I have learned so much about photography by simply following the advice you give out. Thanks again.)