Bermuda's New Book!

bermuda

Drummerworld Pro Drummer - Administrator
Staff member
No, it's not a drum book, that's why it's in the Off-Topic section! :)

My photo book BLACK & WHITE & WEIRD ALL OVER, THE LOST PHOTOGRAPHS OF "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC '83-'86 is now available!

This 208-page hardcover coffee-table book features a ton of my behind-the-scenes black & white photos of Weird Al & assorted colleagues on video sets and in the studio early in his career. Lots of my photos have been published or seen online before, but nearly all of these photos have remained unseen since they were taken 34+ years ago - even Al hadn't seen them until the book was in-progress! It's a fun photographic journey with a foreword written by Al.

Publish date is November 17, just in time for the holidays! (My publisher is smart!)

Visit www.BlackAndWhiteAndWeird.com for more info.

Bermuda

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Will this book be available in stores? I dont buy books online. I feel the same way purchasing books as most of us do buying gear. Book stores are a wonderful place to spend some time.

However, I have only purchased 1 book since the pandemic. I miss the book store.
 
No, it's not a *drum* book, that's why it's in the Off-Topic section! :)

My *photo* book BLACK & WHITE & WEIRD ALL OVER, THE LOST PHOTOGRAPHS OF "WEIRD AL" YANKOVIC '83-'86 is now available for pre-order!

This 208-page hardcover coffee-table book features a ton of my behind-the-scenes black & white photos of Weird Al & assorted colleagues on video sets and in the studio early in his career. Lots of my photos have been published or seen online before, but nearly all of these photos have remained unseen since they were taken 34+ years ago - even Al hadn't seen them until the book was in-progress! It's a fun photographic journey with a foreword written by Al.

Publish date is October 27, just in time for the holidays! (My publisher is smart!)

Visit www.BlackAndWhiteAndWeird.com for more info.

Bermuda

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Love the title - Anyway we could get copies signed by the author as DW exclusive? ;-)
 
It's 35 dollars in case anyone is curious
 
Will this book be available in stores? I dont buy books online.

Absolutely! The publisher is a big fan of indie bookstores, and any of them should be able to pre-order it for you (the major distributors will have it.) I'm not sure if every bookseller will be stocking it though, but they can order it anytime. I think that Barnes & Noble stores will stock it if you also want to grab a coffee. :)

Bermuda
 
It's 35 dollars in case anyone is curious

And believe me, I'm not seeing very much of that! They said if I wanted to make any money, it would have to be $50! ?

So if anyone wants to stick it to me, just buy a copy of my book!

Bermuda
 
Love the title - Anyway we could get copies signed by the author as DW exclusive? ;-)

Unfortunately, the books aren't passing through my hands before shipping, or I would do that.

Best I can suggest is check with www.booksoup.com - an L.A. bookstore - who should have pre-signed books* and a bonus pack of five 5x7" postcards of pics from the book. Some of the cooler indie shops are also getting the cards, but I don't think I'm signing for anyone else, so Book Soup has the exclusive for signed copies and I'm sure they'll ship them.

Bermuda

* I'm going to the shop when they get their supply and signing them.
 
Absolutely! The publisher is a big fan of indie bookstores, and any of them should be able to pre-order it for you (the major distributors will have it.) I'm not sure if every bookseller will be stocking it though, but they can order it anytime. I think that Barnes & Noble stores will stock it if you also want to grab a coffee. :)

Bermuda
That's awesome! Barnes & Noble and GC are right down the street from each other. It's a good excuse to drive to the city.
 
Congrats Bermuda. Getting a book written and published is definitely a milestone.
 
I’d still like to see a book where we co-interview you and like 15 major drummers you have to do covers of for Weird Al songs. That would be fun
 
That's awesome! Barnes & Noble and GC are right down the street from each other. It's a good excuse to drive to the city.

Cool! But B&N wouldn't have copies in stock until the Oct 27 release date, and you should call then to see if they're actually on the shelf.
 
What exactly is "The Box"? ($95.00) 250 copies
Is that postcards?

It's an alternate cover on the book, signed, with a numbered COA, plus twelve 9x12" prints suitable for framing, in a nice box. that's sold exclusively on the book's site. The postcards are a separate incentive for indie shops selling the regular edition. So that's actually a cool thing too. I don't know how many sets of postcards there are though, or who'll be carrying them (I just know Book Soup so far, because I'll be signing their books.)

Bermuda
 
Congrats Bermuda. Getting a book written and published is definitely a milestone.

Thank you, and to be honest, this all went very smoothly for me. I lucked-out getting sent to the right publisher (by a friend at Sony) and not being sidetracked by Covid. Although I suppose the book could have come out at any time, but it's nice that it stayed on track.

I give all credit to the publisher, who knows and does things that a self-publisher doesn't, and this publisher has good promo skills and connections. A piece was featured on Rolling Stone's site this morning, Entertainment Weekly, Ultimate Classic Rock, AV Club, Nerdist. Rock Cellar, and several other sites that picked up the stories from them. So there was quite a bit of exposure beyond Al's fanbase.

Suffice to say, I'm glad I didn't go the self route, although I did look into a few years ago.

A perfect storm I guess, but the book is also really good. The fans will buy it of course, but I think it has a bit broader appeal.

Bermuda
 
I’d still like to see a book where we co-interview you and like 15 major drummers you have to do covers of for Weird Al songs. That would be fun

There'd be some pretty good names in there... Dave Grohl (twice,) Chad Smith, John Densmore, Rionn Tutt, Stewart Copeland (twice,) Hal Blaine ( :( ) Tre Cool, Frankie Banali... :) Could be fun!
 
My photo book BLACK & WHITE & WEIRD...
Congratulations! Looks like a well-produced book, and I hope you’re satisfied with the quality of the image reproduction. I wanna get it just to see your work. ?

Question: what type of photograph did you provide the publisher with? 8x10 prints, or 11x14 prints or digital scans? If scans, did you make them or have a service bureau make them? Who designed the book? What’s the paper weight? Details, man! We need the details!
 
I ordered my copy. And you’re gonna sign it when I find you, mister!
Congratulations on now being a #1 photographer and author!

Thank you and of course! :)
 
Congratulations! Looks like a well-produced book, and I hope you’re satisfied with the quality of the image reproduction. I wanna get it just to see your work. ?

Thank you! The production will be great, this publisher specializes in pop-culture coffee-table art books. The images were retouched and density-corrected enough to get them about 90% there for the book. I knew the publisher would balance them better for the printing process. Like most people with a camera, not all of the shots are great, or even very good. Certainly the case with me! the difference is, I shot tens of thousands of photos over the years, so even a low percentage of great shots is still an impressive number!

Question: what type of photograph did you provide the publisher with? 8x10 prints, or 11x14 prints or digital scans? If scans, did you make them or have a service bureau make them? Who designed the book? What’s the paper weight? Details, man! We need the details!

Negs were scanned by a local service, using one of the high-end Nikon scanners. At some point it would pay for me to buy one, but my initial venture just involved 22 rolls of film, so I didn't want to jump in just yet. Very hi-res, the grain is larger than the pixels, which is how it needs to be. If something had to be fixed so much that the grain was too annoying, I eliminated it.

The publisher has a pair of designers who are youngish and are fans. Their eye was very good for which photos to use, and what would benefit as full-page or across both pages. I made only one correction to those choices, suggesting that the sole shot of all 4 of us - plus Dr. Demento - was ideal for autographing and needed to be across both pages. Book is side-sewn so there's not a typical gutter to interrupt the image. The book can lay flat if desired. :)

They told me the paper weight, and I forgot. :( But it will be nice. They're really doing it right. Nice video teasers, and they reached out to key media outlets and scored an interview (including Al) with Rolling Stone, at least the online version. yahoo and others picked that up, and there are other key pieces. I'm #1 in a three categories on Amazon, and they still don't even have a picture of the book yet!

Al thinks it could be a hit, that would be a nice surprise!

Bermuda
 
Book is side-sewn so there's not a typical gutter to interrupt the image

That in itself is fantastic. Nothing worse than not being able to see the full image because of the spine of the book. I wish more folks/publishers took this into consideration.
 
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