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As an avid reader since I was a kid, I have always wanted to publish my own book. My longtime dream came to fruition when I published a book of photos of Street Sense winning the 2007 Kentucky Derby. The book combined my background as a photographer and insider status in the Thoroughbred horse racing world, as well as my propensity to do things myself by using an online printer to publish the book.
My husband and I traveled to Kentucky in April, 2007 to watch our friend, Carl Nafzger, train Street Sense during the final week leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Street Sense was favored to win, and my goal was to take as many photos as possible, while enjoying every minute of the Derby experience.
Derby Week is a special week in Thoroughbred horse racing as press photographers and writers from around the world converge on Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky to capture words and images of the Derby contenders. I focused solely on photographing Street Sense, and did not spend any time photographing the other contenders.
After Street Sense won the Derby and the joyous celebrations were over, I was back home with over 600 digital photos to sift through. I picked out photos which best illustrated the highlights of each day leading up the to Derby and put them in chronological order.
One of the things I asked myself was who was the recipient of this book. I decided to focus on two groups: (1) People who had never been on the backside of a racetrack and were not familiar with the behind-the-scenes preparation of racehorses, and (2) people who were involved with Street Sense, and would have this book as a memento of an unforgettable experience.
I downloaded the free bookmaking software from blurb.com, and chose a template for a photo book with captions. It was easy to drag the photos onto the template page and write a caption. The software is simple to use, and I expect in the future blurb.com will come up with even more template choices.
There are several book size choices, and I chose 10 x 8. I also made it exactly 80 pages, because if I went over 80, the price goes up. If I went under 80 pages, the book would not be thick enough to have the title printed on the spine.
I uploaded the finished book to blurb and ordered a copy, which arrived in seven days. After seeing the book in print, I made a few corrections, re-uploaded the new version, and then made it available to the public to purchase direct from the blurb.com site. I also keep books on hand and sell them on ebay or via my website,
Everyone who has seen the book has been excited about it, and I have met many Street Sense fans online who also love the book. I hope future generations of Derby fans and historians will find this book of value in adding to the historical record of the most famous horse race in the world, the Kentucky Derby.
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