My whole house looks like this. Pictures all over the walls. Comforting. Those of students from my last workshops and mine as well. Works in progress. Books the goal. These are just inexpensive Walgreens quickies for selection and rough sequencing only. Just to get a feel. A rough to size dummy comes next. Then maybe back to the wall with larger prints . Another dummy. Back and forth. You can’t know how a book will be until you make a dummy and hold it in your hands for a bit. I usually end up with at least 2-4 dummy copies. If you make a book be sure to keep these dummy copies. They can become quite valuable if your book rises above the masses. Book publishing is a labor of love. A benchmark for your work. You are unlikely to get rich publishing a photo book yet these days it’s imperative if you intend to make a mark. Your life as a photographer changes dramatically if you publish a fine book. No small task. A book cannot be just a collection of good pictures. That is a portfolio, not a book. A book needs to have a narrative, a theme, and must take viewers somewhere. It generally takes years to make a book. Few are able to stick with it. Early passion fades, and only the strongest of heart are able to finish. At a time when most of us have a bit of attention deficit and seek instant gratification, a photo book is a long haul deal. Usually years to shoot, months in layout and production, and finally distribution, a book is definitely a mountain to climb. The so called ” rush to publish syndrome” kills many. To be avoided at all costs. I’m off today to New York and out annual Magnum gathering of the tribe. Our 70th year. I only know one thing. Some will lay new books on the table. I expect to be humbled by my colleagues work as always. Magnum means photo books. Maybe next year mine will be ready . One step at a time. One step at a time.