Tiritiri Matangi: A Visitor’s Illustrated Guide By Martin Sanders LPSNZ
I’ve always admired the volunteers on the many restoration projects around New Zealand. After retirement, I became a guide on the Auckland sanctuary, Tiritiri Matangi, one of the most successful conservation projects in the world. I used my time off to photograph and record the birds and life on the island.
and publishing houses. I settled on Adobe InDesign as the layout vehicle. Publishing was more difficult, as the firms I contacted required an initial print run larger than I expected (or could afford). I initially used Blurb, the self-publishing app, to make the book. Extra copies became far too expensive so, with more research, I settled on self-publishing through a local printer.
After a few years, it seemed a waste to have so many images sitting on my hard drive, and I decided to put some of them into a book. I spotted a gap in the range of Tiritiri books for a simple, pocket-sized picture book covering the birds and a brief history of the island. I did not realise how long the project would take to reach fruition.
As I’d trained as a newspaper photographer in my youth, I had some idea of layout and presentation. With a focus on telling the story through photos, I had not factored in the time required to research and add the copy, compile the index and proofread the results.
My initial concept ballooned to include photos of birds, vegetation, reptiles, insects, the lighthouse history and some ferry journey photos; also, short descriptions of the walks. A study of Māori was also required, to name and describe many of the illustrations accurately. Starting from cold, I investigated publishing software
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For more details on Martin’s book project visit the Tiritiri online shop by clicking below: http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/art/tiritiri-matangi-avisitors-illustrated-guide
