I am seeking an agent/publisher to present my photography portrayal: 'London, A portrait of the greatest city on Earth'. I would appreciate it if you would please read my proposal here. Once read, you may click into my Adobe presentation link below.
My proposal is to produce the definitive, predominantly photographic book of London, as a 10”x10” 250+ page hardback. My aim is to capture the heart, the spirit and the very essence of this city in constant motion. To appreciate this essentially visual story, please view at actual size: 10”x10”.
Proposal
I anticipate my book being marketed primarily to the foreign visitor market, but also with an appeal to the home market. While there is plenty of competition for books about London, the vast majority are niche and typically ‘Hidden London’, ‘Alleyways of London’ or ’Secret London’ etc.. My proposal is a more ‘head on’ atmospheric exploration and represents a broader view that visitors to London can readily relate to. So for example the excitement of London’s West End by night is all captured as a glittering experience.
I believe my project can become the definitive book of the capital, with the keyword being ‘Glimpse’, rather than ‘Complete’. Whilst I am offering readers many of the expected scenarios yet through a fresh eye, I am also complimenting these with a deeper and more esoteric collection of the lesser known aspects of London. My book design is entirely bespoke, contemporary in style, simple and yet of a high design quality. My cover has an immediacy and impact with the appeal to open, whilst page designs are of a subtler low key nature. My photography like my design has an ‘arty’ edge that will meet or surpass the best within the genre. My format requires little copy since I am accepting that coffee table books are primarily viewed rather than read, so leaving more space for greater imagery. Introduction aside, the proposal is almost entirely visual except for supportive captions and chapter intros. Subject to editing, I can supply a complete package.
Book Intro
As Samuel Johnson famously once commented in 1777: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”. My portrait of London makes the case that whilst London is undeniably the greatest city on Earth, there need never be a time for boredom here. This book is far from being a ‘blue sky’ city portrait and still further from being an exhaustive exploration. However it is a unique glimpse into what contributes to London’s greatness. While many of London’s classic scenarios are here within, there are many more offbeat locations ripe for exploration.
Having grown up in London and returned half a lifetime later, I feel particularly well placed to view the city through ‘either end of a telescope’, both as a local and visitor. This book delves into the story of a city that has evolved over two millennia, following the Roman
invasion and subsequent birth of Londinium in AD 47. Towns, villages and even hamlets once sedately set in open countryside, have long since been woven into our higgledy piggledy fabric of contemporary city life, with Georgian, Regency, and Victorian ‘grand planning’ enriching its history over the past three centuries.
However my book is not solely about our environment, as I also reflect on the city’s unique infrastructure, its pomp, its heritage and the extraordinary creativeness of its inhabitants. For example, having invented underground rail travel in the mid-1860’s, London’s transport system has long since set the tempo for such travel with innovative architecture, distinctive branding, ground breaking cartographic design, whilst together with the Royal Mail and the Household Cavalry, daring to embrace red.
We British have always been a creative species. Our culture, has
delivered Shakespeare, Turner, Dickens, The Beatles, JK Rowling and more recently Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Being inherently creative is almost a part of the British psyche; to invent, to be unique, to dare and to squeeze so much from our tiny plot.
As an island nation, chance has ensured our individuality endures, with London being the living embodiment of that idiosyncratic presence. Whilst other cities undeniably exhibit extraordinary beauty, magnificent modernity, ancient ruins, staggering skylines and even
flooded streets, London’s greatness lies within its unparalleled diversity.
Assessment
The time you might spend in a bookshop quickly flicking through such a book, is all you may need to initially consider my project. With 20 million overseas visitors and over a quarter billion day-trippers due to visit the capital during 2020, as well as foreign rights and the possibilities for developing the concept for a foreign city series (with a tweak to the sub-title), I feel the project has considerable potential. Additionally it could be produced in two formats: 10”x 10” hardback as shown and 6”x 6” soft-back economy pocket edition. The two Adobe links below lead firstly to the front, spine and back cover design whilst the second is to my edited book presentation.
An Agent review
“Thanks for sending this my way – the photos are gorgeous and I think this would make a stunning coffee table book. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m best placed to help you find a home for this. I think your best bet would be…” Megan Carroll, literary agent of Watson Little Ltd
Who am I
I am a photographer and designer with plenty of book design experience as well as clients that have included the BBC, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Design Council, the National Portrait Gallery, the British Tourist Authority and the V&A Museum. I have regularly lectured at The Central St Martins School of Art London and the London College of Communication. In my early years I worked for Sir Terence Conran’s Design Group, J. Walter Thompson Agency and for the precursors of ‘Dorling Kindersley’.
Creative writing experience
Less a formalised course and more an informal two hour session per week, organised by writer and publisher Tom Corbett of Halesworth, Suffolk UK.
Visual
Adobe book link:
indd.adobe.com/view/6eb225fc-8596-42f1-aff3-d8100b1d70f3
My web link: https://www.rolandblunk.com/photo/
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