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MAKE BOOKS
THAT
MAKE MONEY

Tools, training and templates
to make and sell your own books

 

Let’s re-think what we think
about book making.

Printing your own books, magazines or albums doesn’t have to cost the earth. You don’t have to pay someone else to do it. And you don’t have to be restricted to cookie-cutter templates that stifle your style.

 

Learn the skills. Empower your business.

 
 

Demystify design

Design applications can make us feel frustrated, restricted and dumb. Unfortunately they’re also required tools for our success. This training replaces the fear of the unknown with creative control over your ideas.

 
 
 

Empowered to print

Building professional relationships is difficult when you’re on the outside. We introduce you to the right people, and guide you through every step of the printing process.

 
 
 

Make pages that profit

For photographers, a book or magazine product can be the easiest $2000+ upsell ever. For thought leaders and entrepreneurs, a small publication for clients can make all the difference in their decision to work wirth you. We’ll walk you through the marketing language that builds your brand and increases your sales.

 
 

We’ve made the mistakes so that you don’t have to.

(A note from our founder)

Nathan Maddigan, Story Coach and founder of Self Titled Studios.

As a wedding and portrait photographer, I struggled to find an album product that fit my storytelling style. My clients wanted more pages than traditional albums – hundreds more - but the cost was prohibitive.

So in 2011 I designed and printed my own client book. It won some industry awards and launched
Self Titled Studios as a fresh alternative to the traditional offerings on the market. Since then, we’ve designed and printed hundreds of books for photographers and thought leaders. We’ve made all the mistakes, and we’ve discovered myriad tips and shortcuts. We’ve done the work. 

Today, it’s harder than ever for a photography business to thrive. Competition is massive, differentiation is difficult, and profits are drying up. I knew I had something that could help the industry, but the model was wrong - I was making money, but my clients weren’t. So we pivoted.

Self Titled Studios now exists to train photographers like you to design and print books like ours.


We’re getting out of the way, putting the power back in your hands, and the profit in your own pocket.

To your success (not just your survival),
- Nathan

How it works

 

Book a class

Group classes are run monthly, generally on Wednesdays or Thursdays. Private classes can operate anytime, on request.

Attend the half-day training

None of your learning time is wasted on generic samples. You will use your own content to lay out your first book, right here in the class.

Complete your design

With a take-home resource pack and a community of support, you will flex your new design talents to complete your layouts. When you’re ready, we’ll introduce you to your printing team.

Release your first book!

Whether it’s a single copy or a hundred, your new book is always worth celebrating. We recommend cheese, bubbles and a book launch.

The weight of the unknown

 
 
 

While most creatives have entertained the possibility of their work published in a physical form, the dream often gets crushed under the weight of the unknown. How do I design a book? How do I curate the work? How do I honour the images properly? Who do I go to for printing? What does it all cost? How can I make that investment back? What if I make a mistake? How much would THAT cost?
Where do I even start?

  • With the proliferation of digital, social, online and the impermanent, it’s more important than ever to have a physical artifact that showcases our unique skills and perspectives. It sets us apart, and honours our work for longer than a social media cycle. But, with so many barriers, and so many questions, who can afford to find answers? It’s understandably overwhelming.

    We have the answers. And yep, it did take years, and many false starts and mistakes.
    So now we can offer you a fast-track process at a fraction of the cost.
    And we will walk you all the way to the finish line.

    It’s a surreal feeling to hold your printed book for the first time. It shifts the way you think about yourself, and the value you place on your own work. It might excite your creativity again, sparking all the possibilities. For some, it will be the gateway to legacy-creation, a way to close chapters of life or career. For others, a commercial game-changer. An actual money-maker.

    We want you to succeed.
    And we want your work to be honoured, shared, remembered, and celebrated.

 

Half-day course. Big-time results.

Our masterclass takes participants through every step of the book-building process:

 

Design

  • Message discovery.

  • Client-focussed layouts.

  • Curating images for story.

  • Integrating words and pictures.

  • Shaping word blocks.

  • Page-by-page layouts.

  • Covers and spines.

  • Book size, shape, vision, aspiration.

  • Working with Adobe Indesign (*note - we learn only what we need. This is a book making course, not an Indesign course.)

  • Fonts and sizing.

Print

  • Preparing layouts for print.

  • Who to speak to, what to say, what to expect.

  • The proofing process.

  • Colours, papers and binding styles.

  • Common mistakes.

Profit

  • True costs of printing.

  • Finding the “sweet spot” between volume and price.

  • Pricing your books and magazines.

  • How to pitch a book product to clients.

  • Using your book as non-monetary leverage.

  • How to elevate the value of a product.

  • Storytelling for influence.

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Get started.

Frequently Asked Questions

 
 
  • There have certainly been some “get rich quick” training providers in the past who made all the money, while their participants lost out. We’re trying to disrupt that stereotype.

    The only profit we make is the registration payment from you. Less the room hire, consumables, travel, time, and taxes.

    As for your profit:

    Obviously, the only way you don’t make money is if you don’t sell a book. But considering the margin (upwards of 400% return on your investment) we do believe in this strategy, and we’ll be on your side to make it happen.

    (If it helps, as a wedding photographer, my retail price for a magazine netted $2000 profit. -Nathan)

  • Only this:

    WE ARE NOT YOUR MAGIC BULLET. ALL YOUR PROBLEMS WON’T BE SOLVED JUST BY ATTENDING OUR CLASSES.

    It’s the truth. You could generate a lucrative financial return, but you will still be expensing TIME, designing each page. You can’t get away from that.

    Our job is to give you the best tools to minimise the timeload, maximise the creative experience, and find the best balance of TIME, PROFIT, JOY and STATUS.

    This isn’t popular marketing, we know. But we want you to succeed, and we’re okay being honest about the real journey you’ll take to get there.

  • Honestly, we don’t even like the label of “trainer.” It sounds like a power imbalance.

    We prefer “guide.” It’s an identity that allows us to partner in your success, meet you where you’re at, and bring all of our tools and expertise to serve your development, not our own egos.

    As for authority, our founder and head trainer Nathan has spent over a decade in the domestic photography industry, and almost as long in the printing and self-publishing world. He has guided artists, entrepreneurs and thought leaders towards the creation of their best publications.

    But, more importantly, we’ve made a heap of mistakes. We think this matters because otherwise, you will end up making them. We’ve been there, and we know the terrain. So we can guide you around the pitfalls.

  • You can! Well, we think you could. Actually, we tried ourselves, but couldn’t find the right thing.

    YouTube had amazing in-depth technical training, and vague lightweight training, but not much specifically tailored to photographers, with industry connections to the local printing industry, and live support.

    It all felt distant, and it took much longer than four hours, and it didn't result in a finished product. We’re still looking though, and will let you know if we find anything better than what we’re doing in person.

  • We get it - you like beautiful things, but you just don’t have the time or the patience to design a book. And that’s okay!

    If you have staff, you can send them on the training, and you’ll end up with your own in-house designer. Alternatively, you can commission a Self Titled Studios Certified Designer to do the work. Contact us here to learn more.

  • Yep, there’s always a chance you’ll make a boring, generic book. Just like there’s a chance you could take a boring, generic photograph. The key to standing out, in any creative discipline, has always been courage. Courage to be authentic, to uncover and display your creative uniqueness. Our courses guide you towards leveraging your uniqueness, before leveraging your products. Because who you are cannot be touched by any competition, and is your best chance of creating stand-out publications that you can be proud of.

  • We do refresher courses, as well as deeper dives into thinking like a storyteller and shooting for story.

    Previous attendees earn an alumni discount for all future courses.

  • Since we primarily work with Adobe Indesign for the actual page layouts and exports, you will be at a disadvantage without it.

    But, the rest of the course will still be of great value, as it explores story theory, sales, marketing, industry relationships, etc. So we won’t refuse you if you don’t have the software, but it’s preferable.

    If you already use a design program that you’re happy with, you may find your own workarounds, and you can always download a free trial of Indesign on Adobe’s website.

  • Just select Private one-on-one training and we will get in touch to arrange the details. Online sessions run in two parts, each for up to 2 hours.

    As this is more location-specific, we will also do the research to find the best printer in your area, and gather the required specifications for your designs.

  • Of course. We can conduct our training anywhere in the world. Get in touch for a custom quote.

  • We have a range of client books in our Perth city office, which are great for sparking ideas for your own designs, as well as getting a feel for the quality of the pages.

    Just get in touch to arrange a time to drop in.

  • Our office is in the centre of the city (2F, 618 Hay Street, Perth.)

    Depending on the cohort size, we also have access to various rooms within the State Buildings and Lawson Flats.