
A new idea for the MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER: You must become your own publisher, printer, and distributor.
HAPTIC INDUSTRIES: Creative Tools to Empower You >
1. More creative control

As a modern photographer, your goal isn’t to make a ton of money, gain massive fame and influence, or be written in the history books. Your goal is to express your creative spirit, and have full creative control and autonomy over your pictures, art, and products.

For example, for our Learn From the Masters Book, we had the option of going with a traditional publisher, but we chose to self-publish and self-print it instead.
To be frank, we probably would have made way more money, had far larger distribution, and seen our book on more photo book store shelves, but we decided that we wanted full creative control and autonomy — how we wanted to design our book, but also to keep all the “Learn From the masters of Photography” content available for free, and open.
2. More fun, and playful experimentation

A fun product we put out is “CREATIVE EVERY DAY”— an experimental book that combines the trifecta of:
- Photography
- Drawing
- Writing
As part of the HAPTICLABS KYOTO OFFICE, Cindy, myself, my sister Annette, and Cindy’s sister Jennifer all rented a tiny Airbnb, and cranked out this book. We designed it all together using Adobe Illustrator, Indesign, Photoshop, and got it printed locally in California. We then distribute the book from Cindy’s family home (her mom packages and ships the books), and we also sent CREATIVE EVERY DAY to Amazon for fulfillment.
The fun thing was: CREATIVE EVERY DAY is a labor of our love, and brought us together closer as a family. It gave us all the opportunity to flex and workout our creative muscles with Annette and illustration, Cindy and writing, Jennifer and editing, and me and photography.
The power of publishing your own books, photography, and art is that you can try printing small batches of books (under 100 copies) and to be like a mad scientist — making fun and playful experiments, to try out new ideas, to bring joy into the hands of the viewer.

CREATIVE EVERYDAY is now available on mobile as PDF/Kindle Edition >

3. You can pick yourself

Now with the power of the internet, you can “pick yourself”— you don’t need to wait and be “discovered” by an agent, a publisher, or anyone else.
You can print and publish your own books on blurb.com (to keep costs lower, print it as a magazine), you can sell your books or pictures as a Kindle Edition in the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing platform, or by opening up your own “Woocommerce” shop for WordPress and sell your own products in your own store.

I remember as a kid, sitting on the sidelines, waiting to get picked for baseball. I was often picked in the middle or the last. That was a horrible feeling.
Now, you don’t gotta wait to get picked or “signed.” Even a lot of musicians nowadays no longer opt for big music deals. They rather stay independent, and solo— to regain more creative freedom. This is what the musician Chance the Rapper chose, and makes most of his money selling shirts, products, cds, and shows.
Conclusion

Build your own platform. Become your own photography entrepreneur. Pick yourself.
Print your own books, sell your own products and just have fun.
Do it for the love and the money, and stay small. Strive to make books that spark joy in yourself, and spark joy in your reader.
MAKE BOOKS
ERIC
HAPTIC INDUSTRIES: Creative Tools to Empower You >
Photography Entrepreneurship 101

PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP BOOKS
Take control of your own photographic destiny:
PHOTOGRAPHY STARTUP 101
- Photography SEO and Blogging: How to Become Number One on Google
- Now is the Best Time to Be a Photographer
- PRODUCERISM
- What Is The Value of a Picture?
- Your Photographic Labor is Not Free
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS 101
- Chapter 1. How to Make a Photography Blog
- Chapter 2. How to Price Yourself
- Chapter 3. How to Find Your Market
- Chapter 4. Why Teach Workshops?
- Chapter 5. How to Build Trust
- Chapter 6. How to Market Yourself
- Chapter 7: Why Should Someone Attend Your Workshop?
KEYS TO SUCCESS
- Why You Must Be a “Personality” in Order to Succeed
- THRIVE OR DIE.
- Impatience is a Virtue
- Create Your Own Category
- HOW TO DREAM BIG.
- Will Not or Cannot?
- Why Not?
- How to Think BIG
- How to Stay Ahead of the Curve
- How to Invest in Yourself
- The Two Camera Rule
- MEANINGFUL DIFFERENTIATION
- Advice For College Students
- How to Thrive in Uncertain Times
- CANNIBALIZE YOURSELF.
- DO AND GROW RICH
- Does Fear of Punishment Hold You Back?
- HOW TO GET MORE FOLLOWERS
- How to Innovate
- How to Build Your Own Empire
- YOU ARE ENTITLED TO HARD WORK.
- PICK YOURSELF.
- OWN YOUR PLATFORM
- 10 KEYS TO SUCCESS
Table of Contents
Learn how to make a living from your passion:
- Preface. BRAVE NEW WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY
- Chapter 1. How to Create Value
- Chapter 2. ZEN CAPITALISM
- Chapter 3. Scarcity
- Chapter 4. How to Brand Yourself
- Chapter 5. How to Build a True Following
- Chapter 6. The Blueprint to Success in Photography
- Chapter 7. HOW TO BE BOLD
- Chapter 8. How to Sell Out
- Chapter 9. GO AGAINST THE GRAIN
- Chapter 10. EXTREME ABUNDANCE
- Chapter 11. Photography Experience Economy
- Chapter 12. Why You Should Make Money for Your Photography
- Chapter 13. How to Become a Famous Photographer
Photography Business 101
How to Make Money with Photography

- How to Charge More Money in Your Photography
- Why You Should Not Pursue Photography as Career
- Can Photography Make You Rich?
- How I Earn $200,000+ a Year From Photography
- How to earn $10,000 a month as a photographer
- Why you must be an expensive photographer
Photography Marketing 101
- Why Have More Followers?
- Why You Should Do Photography Work For Free
- How I Became an Internet Famous Photographer
- Photography Blogging Ideas
- Why You Should Promote Your Own Name
- How to Build a Following
- How to Stand Out as a Photographer.
- HOW TO GO VIRAL AS A PHOTOGRAPHER.
- How to Master Marketing
- How to Sell Yourself

How to Hustle.
- Entrepreneurial Advice to My 18 Year Old Self
- How to Become Insanely Productive.
- 5 Lessons From Hesiod on Hustling
Entrepreneurial Principles
- It is Better to Beg For Forgiveness Than Ask For Permission
- The Free Way to Become Rich
- JUST DO IT.
- 7 Steps: How to Make a Living From Your Passion
- How to Do What You Love for a Living
- How to Create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
- How to Fail Big
- How to Invest in Yourself
- How to Be Bold in Photography and Life
- Mission: Cover Your Rent and Food
- 1,000 True Fans
- The “10x Principle”: The Only Difference Between “Success” and “Failure”
- Make More Value Not Money
- We Live in a Photo Utopia
How to be a Full-time Photographer
- How to Make a Living From Photography
- The 3 Principles of Making Money With Photography
- Advice for Aspiring Full-Time Photographers
- Don’t Go Into Debt For Your Photography
- How to Brand Yourself as a Photographer
- Trust: The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed as a Photographer
Photography Blogging
- How to become rich from photography blogging
- How to Make a Living with Blogging
- 50 Blogging Tips For Beginners
- How to Start Your Own Photography Blog
- A Photographer’s Guide to SEO, Blogging, and Social Media
How to Teach Photography
- How to Become a Photography Teacher
- How to Teach a Street Photography Class
- Why I Teach Street Photography Workshops
Social Media
- Why I Deleted My Instagram
- The Social Media Blackbook for Photographers
- Why Do You Need More Likes or Followers?
- Instagram is Going to Be the Next Facebook
- Don’t Trust “Free” Photography Social Networks