Anyone tried any of the stock photography e-books out there?

[ChristineM]

One more newbie question from me...I have read about several e-books/online programs such as "Turn your photos into cash" which promise to share all the secrets one needs to know to succeed in (mostly) microstock photography (some also mention selling photos to magazines, etc). They all sound a little too good to be true, and yet tempting...has anyone here tried any of these programs? What did you think of them? Are any of them useful?

Thanks in advance for any and all patience and guidance!

[Christian Michael]

Hey ChristineM and welcome to DPS. I have been a member of shutterstock & another similar site for over twelve months…..you wont get rich with these sites and I'm yet to meet a photographer that did. Its no different with photography or any other business. If it sounds to good to be true….it probably is.

[ChristineM]

Perhaps I should clarify...I don't actually expect to get rich, and that the vast majority of their claims will not hold true for the vast majority of photographers. I 'm just curious whether the tips and techniques included in these types of programs might actually be beneficial to having images accepted by stock agencies (and actually sell), simply as a way to make a little extra money on the side, and if such a program is worth the money to have such information compiled in one place versus slowly collecting similar information from a variety of sources.

[Devchenka]

Im a member for several stock photography websites. To make money you have to be good at it. Know what different stocks need and upload a lot of pictures. I had it only for few months and i made only a dollar lol. I do it mostly for fun, its free, although it takes time to aploud pictures and put description, its a bit of work and sometimes i think its not worth it.

I know people make money but they work hard for it.

[valleymiss]

I have over 1000 images on 4 different stock photography websites .Like Christian said you really have to work at it and study hard,. I sold one image for $199.00 and reaped about $135 for it..but that is a rare case,and that company is now defunct. But the others I just upload and upload and hope they get approved. It is fun to do,frustrating if your images aren't approved,aggravating when they are rejected "because this isn't exactly what we are looking for".

I make anywhere from 50 cents to $3.00 on the images I have listed. The good thing about it is you keep the copyright and unless you go exclusive you sell them over and over. I have one image that has sold many times,but only for 50 cents or so. I have been a menber on one site over 2 years and so far have made a little over $200.00,but like I said unless you really work and have few to none rejections,you certainly don't get rich.

Now that is my 2 cents worth. It costs nothing to try.

[OsmosisStudios]

By most reports, microstock is dead. At least from the photographer's point of view.

[Xposurepro]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

By most reports, microstock is dead. At least from the photographer's point of view.

for that to be true wouldn't it have had to been alive at some point. LMAO ..

But back to the original question, if you have no people skills to deal with traditional portraiture then micro is for you. I know some people who treat it as a full time everyday job and are good at it plus have very large portfolios that they have been building for the last 5+ yrs and they say they make 30-40K a yr. Which I'm like you're crazy you can make that in one month shooting portraits n weddings .. but they don't like dealing with actually talking to clients or running a business. Your average micro shooter on the other hand makes a year what I made today before I went to get something for lunch.
Don't buy any books on it. If you wanna do it just dive in there .. and don't believe 99% of what you hear and read on blogs. The entire industry was founded by photographers who were not pro or even semi-pro photogs .. just a bunch of web designers who wanted to share free pics and then more web designers who thought hey let's cash in on this ... and 10 yrs later they still havent learned much. It's basically the ghetto of the photo industry.

[Jim Bryant]

What time and effort you put into shooting stock will pay off one day.....maybe. With everyone else out there, not only one this forum but others, as well purchasing this ebook will only put money into the author's pocket and not yours. I not saying don't purchase the book, but being a newbee, you'll be up against other novice photographers and professionals as well trying to make a few pennies with stock pictures.

I got into it about 6 months ago and have made about $1000.

I don't have a secret, but I agree with Jim. Don't waste your money on books that tell you how to make money.

Actually, I'm thinking about writing my own book on how to make money with photography. It'll be one page and say "Write a book on how to make money with photography."

My advice is to submit a large variety of photos and see what sells and what doesn't. If something is selling well, go take more photos of similar subjects. Also submit to a large number of sites. Some photos will sell better on different sites (I have yet to figure out why).

Also, some sites will accept or reject different images, so don't be afraid to submit the same stuff to different agencies.

[danbaileyphoto]

I agree somewhat with what's been said above, but I won't go so far as to say that you shouldn't buy book that tell you how to make money with photography. I certainly bought a few books when I started out and even found one that was self published (the equivalent of an eBook 20 years ago) that gave me lots of good info and that I found very helpful. Books and eBooks can definitely inspire and motivate.

Plus buying books is good for the economy, even some photographers eBooks- there's nothing wrong with paying for worthwhile content, no matter who creates it. Who knows, maybe someday you'll write an eBook and hope that others buy it.

I'd try and preview what's in the book before buying, tough, and I wouldn't go overboard and buy lots of books right off the bat, maybe just one or two that you really think will help you.