The Origami Forum

I love flying insect models, I am planning on making a "insect collection" with 6 insect models inside a shadow box and sell it for around $100.
I am only trying to decide what paper to make them out of. I would love to make them with Origamido but that would cost $60 JUST for the paper.

phillipcurl wrote:I love flying insect models, I am planning on making a "insect collection" with 6 insect models inside a shadow box and sell it for around $100.
I am only trying to decide what paper to make them out of. I would love to make them with Origamido but that would cost $60 JUST for the paper.

They must be your design or an extremely modifed version of someone elses design in order for you to LEGALLY sell it.

- - - Jake - - -

The legality is unclear, contrary to popular belief. But rather than have that argument, what you suggest seems like the right *ethical* thing to do.

who said they wouldn't be my design?
they probably would be someone elses but since the charity is going towards an elementary school, if I were to ask the designer, i'm sure they would be okay with it. I would definitely ask before I did so, though.

Fluffy wrote: They must be your design or an extremely modifed version of someone elses design in order for you to LEGALLY sell it.
- - - Jake - - -

Or just get permission.

phillipcurl wrote:who said they wouldn't be my design?
they probably would be someone elses but since the charity is going towards an elementary school, if I were to ask the designer, i'm sure they would be okay with it. I would definitely ask before I did so, though.

Yeah, some designers hate it if you make money off of them, whether it's charity or not. I'm not one of those guys and would would think it rather neat if someone sold origami models designed by myself.

For the book: I actually have quite a few origami designs, 71 that I documented. There's a couple models models I did around 1999- a bear cub and stag beetle - that wouldn't make my grade today, but they do have rather fun folding sequences. I have enough models for a book like Kamiya's if I wanted to go in that direction; Works of Shuki Kato 1999-2011, lol.

There's no question that my best designs were only in the last couple years though, but I'm a bit hesitant to include all of my best models in one book

That's true, because if you score, you'd only have one awesome book....but then again, 71 models?! You could probably split up the epic ones and mix in the sortof awesome ones and you'd still get me to buy it at least

Do three books, in a series, that build up to the final one, with the most complicated models.
The Works of Shuki Kato: Book 1 (easy)
The Works of Shuki Kato: Book 2 (intermediate)
The Works of Shuki Kato: Book 3 (complex)
and...
Shuki Kato: Zoanoid Dragon

or, just pick 15 or 20 of your favorite and best and diagram them into one book, and release the rest for free on the internet (i vote this idea, it saves me money...)

fncll wrote:

Harpseal wrote:Well yeah, he should, however realshare shall floweth with illegal PDFs free for download. I bet that's partly what he's worried about.

If so, we'll never see a book. It's not like that possibility (likelihood) is ever going to go away!

Not that we never will see a book by Shuki Kato, just if he cares about marketing, and he knows how many books have fallen dead in sales to the "realshare disease", then anyone in their right mind with that knowledge, wouldn't right a book.






despite this, if he wrote a book, I for one, would buy it, and buy it again for my freinds who hadn't bought a copy already, then start a thread persuading people not to get the download.

There's always the e-book and/or app book route. Or sell diagrams individually for a small cost. It's the VERY rare author who can ever expect to make profits from selling books... and not just origami books!

ew, an app?

ebook would be ok, but i still don't like them. I like the idea of selling single diagrams. A better idea, in my opinion, would be to not actually publish the book, have people send Shuki the money for the book and he would send it back, that way he would make a little more money (book stores keep approximately 40% of the cost)

I've worked with various authors selling books for many years... it's hard to make a profit even if you handle everything yourself. You have to factor in not just printing and shipping costs, but sheer time. But sure, that would be cool for me as a reader. Avoiding the chains and booksellers that charge exorbitantly is the way to go if you are dealing with paper books. Which I prefer!

That said, I didn't say "app," I said "app book," which is a different thing... and something some authors are making a decent profit with.

App books are nice, but limit the market to those that have the right platform to use the app, like Apple or Android.

eBooks is probably the best alternative right now for an independent author that wants to publish their material. eBooks to me are done in the EPUB standard and are not PDFs. Selling PDFs is easy, but also easy for people to copy and distribute on the internet. eBooks sold via Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble can have DRM on them to help prevent massive theft. Ultimately it is the authors decision.

What does Shuki Kato think?
I would be willing to help.

I also would be willing to help, but I do not know much about making a book. I can diagram and create CP though.
I think that Shuki already has that part down, though. If there is anything I could do, let me know.

origamiguy wrote:App books are nice, but limit the market to those that have the right platform to use the app, like Apple or Android.

eBooks is probably the best alternative right now for an independent author that wants to publish their material. eBooks to me are done in the EPUB standard and are not PDFs. Selling PDFs is easy, but also easy for people to copy and distribute on the internet. eBooks sold via Amazon, Apple and Barnes and Noble can have DRM on them to help prevent massive theft. Ultimately it is the authors decision.

What does Shuki Kato think?
I would be willing to help.

Sure, the platform is a limitation with apps. On the other hand, it is BECAUSE of the protections in iOS and difficulty in piracy that some publishers are moving to that model instead of ebook formats... add to that the richness that is increasingly available in terms of the platform capability and I think it's a pretty enticing alternative. At the very least, it is one possible way forward: create truly *rich* books as apps that people would want because they offer more, rather than the relatively anemic standard ebook format(s).

Or offer the book in a basic format as a traditional ebook and as a "deluxe" edition as an app... either way avoiding the pain of print. I prefer print, if not that an app, if not that a standard ebook...

Ideally it would be an actual book, and I won't be doing it to make a huge profit (a small one would be nice...). My oldest sister Stasia actually has experience with authoring and selling books (check out The Virgin Project via Amazon) and I'll definitely be asking for her input this Christmas when she visits. I mean, I guess an eBook would be okay as well, but that is definitely not what I originally dreamed of.