Summary
This proposal seeks community approval to begin a “Botto Books” self-publishing initiative with the production of the first of a series of high-quality self-published monographs dedicated to each of Botto’s periods.
The first book, dedicated to the Genesis period, will showcase Botto’s minted artworks and select fragments alongside texts and other contextualizing information about the period and Botto’s artistic / technical architecture. As the first in an expected series, the initial book will also serve as a springboard to establish a brand design and workflow framework that will be used for each subsequent title of this series.
The overarching goals of this book series include canonical documentation of Botto’s groundbreaking contributions to AI art, expanding Botto’s work into permanent physical formats, and to produce physical, limited edition objects that serve as key cultural artifacts within Botto’s broader legacy.
For this effort, we have identified a partner, Anteism, that is a Montreal-based publisher of fine-crafted artist monographs with a particular focus on new media art. Authors of recent titles of theirs include Mike Tyka, Casey Reas, and a forthcoming publication by Refik Anadol.
Anteism represents a very strong cultural fit, and has impressive expertise in designing, producing, and marketing fine art books. The Anteism team has offered to co-publish the book, and would collaborate with the DAO on managing design, marketing, sales, and distribution. We believe that Anteism’s existing community of art book and art-technological enthusiasts meshes perfectly with our goal in expanding Botto mindshare to likely new supporters and relevant decision-makers in the curatorial world.
In addition, the Anteism team has presented us with a unique opportunity for including the book in an exhibition during the Los Angeles Art Book Fair from May 15-18. This exhibition will be co-produced by the Google Artists + Machine Intelligence program, and would make for an excellent publication deadline to set as our goal.
Rationale
A monograph would:
- Serve as a lasting record of Botto’s achievements and a key artifact for future reference.
- Strengthen Botto’s cultural presence and legitimacy in the art world.
- Open new opportunities for co-creation with the Botto community.
- Engage the Botto community with a tangible, collectible artifact.
- Open the door to a new collector base centered on fine art book objects.
- Open opportunities for partnerships with galleries, museums, and other stakeholders.
- Create a new avenue for revenue generation.
The project lead for this initiative will be Gregory Eddi Jones, who since Fall 2023 has served as BottoDAO’s lead writer. Greg’s extensive background in the art photography world has led to multiple photo book / art book publishing projects in the past 10 years, and involvement in all phases of publishing from art direction to design/layout, production oversight, marketing, and distribution.
His own self-published photobooks reside in numerous institutional collections, including libraries at the Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Yale University, among many others.
Proposal Specification
1. Content Creation: Compile a selection of Botto’s work from the Genesis period, including all minted works and select discarded fragments.
2. Guest Essay(s): Commission an essay from a notable thinker, critic, and/or curator to contextualize Botto’s genesis period.
3. Design: Develop a visually compelling design that reflects Botto’s aesthetic and ethos.
4. Production: Collaborate with our publishing partner on the design and materiality of the book.
5. Marketing & Distribution: Promote and sell the book to the Botto community, art institutions, special collections, and a wider audience of art and art book collectors.
Timeline
The project is estimated to be completed over a 5-month period:
Month 1: Content gathering, essay commissioning, design/layout
Month 2: Distribution and marketing planning, finalization of content
Month 3-4: Final edits, pre-production, printing
Month 5: Marketing, release, and distribution
Budget
Estimated top end budgets for this project are outlined below. Included within the USD estimates is an allocation of 10-20k Botto to be offered as payment option to contributors on the project. We do not expect to fulfill the top end of these estimates.
1. Research & Content Creation: $3000 - $6000
--Artwork curation, file preparation
--Compiling and organizing ancillary content for the book
2. Guest Essays: $2,000
--Commission fee estimate for 1-2 guest essays of approximately 1500-3000 words
3. Design: $4000 - $7000
--Graphic design and layout, pre-press
4. Printing & Production: $8000 - $14000
--Printing a limited run of 250-500 copies
Total Estimate $17,000 - $29,000
Criteria of Success
Financial
Our goal is for sales of the book to generate a return to the DAO that will at minimum break even with the budget. Pricing will be determined ahead of a pre-sale of book copies, from which we will measure demand and make final determination of the edition size. The final edition size will also factor into price determination. In the majority of book publishing projects, higher edition sizes equate to lower production costs on a per-book basis. In service to meeting and/or exceeding our financial goals, we will reserve the option to present higher-tiered price points for special edition copies, corresponding NFTs, and/or limited edition prints to coincide with book publication.
Important to note: As the first of a planned series of books, design costs will run higher for the initial title, as the design scheme for the Genesis book will serve as a template for each subsequent book.
Distribution
Our goal is to achieve broad distribution within the respective communities of both Botto and our publishing partner, Anteism. For any remaining copies not sold directly to collectors, continued distribution may include offering the title for sale at specialized book fairs and art book shops.
In addition, we will look to achieve placement of copies into special collections (such as museum and academic libraries) and will reserve a select number of DAO copies that we can distribute to potential exhibition / curatorial partners.
Cultural
This book would be an important cultural artifact that documents the creative and technical legacy that Botto has established within its first four years of operation. As a physical object, we aim to produce a finely crafted object that will be cherished as a rare, collectable, and historical art book.
The publication of the book will also serve as a cultural catalyst that we can build around. This could include online events and/or an IRL book launch with a partner location TBD.
Disadvantages / Risks
Dampened demand
Case studies in art book publishing within NFT/AI/Crypto communities are few and far between, and while we believe the Botto community would be enthusiastic about supporting/collecting physical Botto books, events such as unexpected negative press, bear markets, and market competition always exist as potential pitfalls that can hamper enthusiasm about collecting the book.
Partnership complications
While we feel confident that our publishing partner is a strong fit in regards to both culture and expertise, we can never rule out the possibility of complications arising from creative, financial, technical, or philosophical disagreements that may arise from our collaboration. Such factors can lead to delays and cost overruns.
Cost overruns
Art book production can be quite complex, and involves risks that include prolonged design phases, production errors, and distribution delays. Any of these factors may result in cost overruns that exceed our original budget. The top end estimate above takes into account costs associated with a longer-than expected production phase.
