What are publishers looking for in a tarot?

Uma said:

The deck I have produced is REALLY different. A niche within a niche? Or creating a whole new market? Who knows... This plane isn't even off the ground and I'm trying to see the view from above.

Well some may dream. Why not?

U

Click to expand...

Just a thought, but one way to gauge interest might be to show the deck (or at least a number of cards) here and see how people react. This is a large, specialised forum and the response should give you at least an indication of the likely reception for your work. The feedback can also be very useful.

Uma said:

While I can see how this way of publishing puts a company in the driver's seat, controlling the final product from start to finish, speaking from the artist's point of view I don't think I would feel excited and inspired and empowered to create something that comes from my own being. Even a paycheque can only motivate so far and no further in my opinion.

Click to expand...

If You feel this way about a Publisher something is definitely wrong.

There are professionals to whom a Tarot deck is just like any other form of illustration... and there is nothing wrong in their pay-inspired motivation. They are VERY good for some kind of decks. And again, sometimes we manage to ligth a spark into them.

From the point of view of an intelligent Publisher the "product" is not just in the service of the author. It is a complex multi-layered experience. It is something that takes from many parts, many persons into an unified results.
In short: it is teamwork.

If you are an artist... or a writer... you should find a way to work with and not agaist your publisher. And that's why... if you are going for the money, simply sell to the highest bidder. If not, if it's for the act of creation, try to find someone you can relate with.

***

It is very difficult to say what the cost for doing a Tarot deck may be. I would say from 10 to 15k Euro on average.

On furher commitments, it all depends on single policies, different from Publisher to Publisher.

***

I may say that *IF* the Tarot of prague had been submitted to LS, it would have probably been turned down. It is collage and... I'm pretty sure about this, if it ever had been published by LS it would have been unnoticed.
It was Baba's job that give that 3-D dimension to the deck and made it what is today.
And even if turned down, everyone here would have probably be convinced that the deck was rocking good.

The Bohemian Cats, on the other side, would have perfectly fit. ^^
(if it was a proposal from LS, you did very good to turn it down. Create your own reality! And, as Baba did, do not think that any deck - ever - would simply sell itself without a big work behind - that's what a Publisher should do. Not just promote, but help the deck "fit into a need". I admire Baba's vision more and more, even if I follow a different path).

best,

ric

RiccardoLS said:

If You feel this way about a Publisher something is definitely wrong.

There are professionals to whom a Tarot deck is just like any other form of illustration... and there is nothing wrong in their pay-inspired motivation. They are VERY good for some kind of decks. And again, sometimes we manage to ligth a spark into them.

From the point of view of an intelligent Publisher the "product" is not just in the service of the author. It is a complex multi-layered experience. It is something that takes from many parts, many persons into an unified results.
In short: it is teamwork.

If you are an artist... or a writer... you should find a way to work with and not agaist your publisher. And that's why... if you are going for the money, simply sell to the highest bidder. If not, if it's for the act of creation, try to find someone you can relate with.

***

ric

Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing your feelings. I'd like to comment on this part (quoted above).

I have nothing against commissioned work. It just isn't my thing. I'm too much of an independent thinker and in this particular project which is finished (not in a skeleton draft stage) I am representing a huge body of teachings whose principles cannot be compromised by somebody else's bottom line although certainly there is room for adjusting minor things to suit the needs of the market. I have nothing against other artists and writers who enjoy and get fulfillment out of commissioned work. To each his own. Speaking only for myself, I do appreciate it when a publisher is flexible and broad minded in their thinking however as this opens them to growth in greater directions than they imagined. Of course this is a matter of choice. Freewill. I believe it is the same whatever line of business one is in.

I have nothing against teamwork. On the contrary, as you said it is a matter of finding someone one can relate with. Collaboration at the conception stage is a very personal process. I am new to this side of the business but I know in a general way that both the perspectives of the creative team of artist/writer and the business objectives of the publisher need to be respected and taken into account on a kind of balance scale. Also the expertise needs to be honoured within that team. I have a background in advertising where clients pay tens of thousands of dollars and sometimes have a hard time trusting the instincts of the creative people they hire to represent their product. "Letting go and letting God" kind of a thing. So, as I see it, this teamwork needs to also empower those people who are the experts in their particular field and everyone needs to listen to everyone. That is the guideline I try to follow my life not only in business situations. In my experience that is the kind of teamwork where magic happens.

In the words of my spiritual teacher, on which my tarot project is based, it is using "SELF" as leader -- allowing the universe to speak through everyone and empowering the best idea. When the group is in alignment, centered in a higher awareness and unselfish, all needs are met in the perfect way.

This deck is not really so much "my" creation as it was commissioned to me by the universe with the blessings and guidance of a spiritual teacher who lives in and taps into an extraordinary field of consciousness. I am confident that it will get published in the perfect way to fulfill these higher objectives and that no one will be shortchanged in the process.

best wishes,
Uma

baba-prague said:

Just a thought, but one way to gauge interest might be to show the deck (or at least a number of cards) here and see how people react. This is a large, specialised forum and the response should give you at least an indication of the likely reception for your work. The feedback can also be very useful.

Click to expand...

Thank you, yes that is certainly a next step. I have already shown it to dozens of people -- including professional tarot readers and the response so far is overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Exposing it to a wider audience to see the reaction will be a next step.

best wishes,
Uma

HudsonGray said:

I'm continually seeing marketing articles in trade magazines trying to pound home the information that things are significantly shifting, most especialy in the marketing field. Article after article says the way to reach the right group is to niche market WITHIN the general group of whatever the business caters to. It's not so much micromarketing as segmented marketing (yes, it has a special name already).

Click to expand...

Thank you -- this is very interesting, exactly the kind of information I am looking for. I'll have to do more research. If you know of any particular articles you think would be useful, please let me know. And thanks for the support.

best wishes,
Uma

What you said is very beautiful... but it's really a very difficult task.
You would need not just a Publisher to "publish" your work, but also to "believe" in it.

Ric

Thank you Ric,

I have seen it work and it is amazing when it does. My teacher has taught me that when I think "out of the box" and believe that a greater intelligence is guiding everything that happens, I get more than I asked for, better than what I asked for and usually quite different to what I asked for...and it all flows in an effortless way when I'm willing to surrender to it. When a team comes from this same intention then it works because we become a synergy in surrender to that greater intelligence, creating an even higher energy field. Much much more comes out of that field than just the production of some product.

Maybe this is a lot to ask of this day and age but even the creation of this deck went through just that process. It was a co-creation and I had to merge/surrender my limiting ideas many times with a greater idea...so it's not a fairy-tale vision but real and doable and practical, but of course that first leap in faith is a big one...and then the other part of it is to associate with people who feel as you do, who are coming from the same space and can work in synergy with you. In Holland a CEO has developed leadership teams for management all based on Sri Vasudeva's teachings of Self-as-leader, wowing audiences of hundreds around the world. And a psychotherapist is using the same model to transform psychotherapy.

In my little way I hope to break new ground in the world of tarot so I am looking for a lot of open minds out there and yes it will take a different kind of publisher, one who can grasp the tail of this idea and believe in it and allow themselves to fly with it. Christopher Little, the literary agent who decided to take on JK Rowling's manuscript Harry Potter took a chance to try something different to his normal fair and look what success resulted!

I am impressed with AGM Muller's bold new direction in tarot and think they may be the ones who will take this leap. We'll see what unfolds.

best wishes,
Uma

RiccardoLS said:

The key point, I think, when making a submission, is not to show how good a deck is, but rather to express with immediacy what can be seen in the deck. It's personality... it's stand alone, at a glance, value.

Click to expand...

So, you're saying one would need not just quality, personality and uniqueness, but the ability to be shown to the public to fill a niche/genre?

For example, the pairing of a deck like this:

http://www.langustl.de/tarotmotivega.html

(a deck from a couple threads over)
...combined with the overarching *idea* of an Impressionist/Cubist theme deck, which could then be marketed to fill a niche (assuming a given company had not already/recently done an Impressionist/Cubist deck) within the tarot art-deck community?

good topic. I wonder if my deck could be published.

Maybe Oprah can help us if we cannot get accepted by the companies and help us self publish a full color deck.

Two years later, I'm uploading to the whole forum. See my thread entitled:
The Tarot of Life (new unpublished deck) in the Tarot Deck Creation forum.