U2-A Diary

I just want to drop a quick note to say THANKS to everyone who has emailed with (or about) photos for the book. You’ve actually overwhelmed my IN box. I still have close to 100 emails to get through, and many of those have several photos attached to them. :)

I’m sorry to say that I’m finding it impossible to reply to all the emails you’ve sent. If I have any questions about your photos, I’ll definitely be in touch. Those of you who have emailed to tell what you have, if I think the photos will be appropriate for the book, I’ll be in touch.

Thanks for your patience, and your great contributions!

Thank you all for the great photos you’re sending in. I think I have close to 100 emails just in the past couple days. Keep ‘em coming!

NOTE: Those of you who sent photos in earlier, I still have them and there’s no need to resend. :-)

Okay, gang, now that the manuscript is submitted and is being edited, it’s time to tackle photos for U2 – A Diary. Sarah at Omnibus says she needs everything by the end of January or thereabouts.

What We’re Looking For

In general, we’re looking for just about any U2 photo! Photos of the band signing autographs outside the studio, photos of them at movie premieres, other bands’ concerts, other appearances, etc. — those are all great. Concert photos will be great, too, but remember that live gigs are not the focus of U2 – A Diary, so we may not need a ton of those photos. If you have great shots of the band (or just one of the band members) outside the arena or stadium, or in other settings, we’ll be just as interested in those as anything.

In specific, however, I’d love to get photos of these concert-related things:

• The “fan displays” at the Vertigo Tour gigs.
• Photos of Bono changing his shoes during “I Will Follow” at the July 7, 2005, show in Berlin.
• Photos of the PopMart Lemon getting stuck in Oslo, August 1997.
• Photos of U2 fans in line at Point Depot for tickets, November 1989.

Photo Requirements

It would be best if you can send high-resolution photos, 300 dpi or higher. That will give the most flexibility in terms of how big the photo can appear in the book. If you only have low-resolution photos, we may still be able to use them, but they’ll appear smaller in the book.

What about copyright?

You will retain full copyright and ownership of the photo(s) you share for U2 – A Diary. There’s no money to be exchanged and no change of ownership/copyright.

How to Send in Photos

If you’re not sure we’ll want your photo(s), feel free to send me an e-mail giving as much detail about what you have, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Also e-mail me if you only have prints and need a physical address to send to. (I’ll gladly return them after scanning.)

If you just want to send your best shots, my address starts with matt and ends with the domain you’re on right now (u2diary.com).

When You Send…

Please include as much detail as you can about each photo: Date, Location, Explanation (if it’s not obvious). Since this is a date-based book, it will be somewhat difficult to use photos that we can’t tie/associate to a particular date.

Also, be sure to include your name so we can give you full credit if a photo is used.

Thanks!

I obviously can’t guarantee we’ll use everything that gets submitted, but whether or not your photo(s) make the book, I appreciate your willingness to help!

Any questions? Email me or use the comments if the answer will benefit other readers, too.

At exactly 12:11 a.m. today (Wednesday, January 2), I made the final edit on U2, A Diary, saved the massive MS Word document, and declared the manuscript finished. I think I smiled. :) I sent it via e-mail to Omnibus Press shortly after that, and then crashed into bed and slept. Zzzzzzz. So, now, several things…

First and foremost:

Thank you deeply and sincerely for all your help with this book. As I said a few posts back, U2 fans are amazing. If you’ve ever commented on this blog, or sent me a helpful e-mail, you’ve made the book better. I’ve been doing my best to keep a master list of everyone who has directly affected the text in some way, and your names will be included in the acknowledgments. (I’ll do my best to limit the number of names I forget to include.)

Secondly:

As soon as I have details from the photo editor, I’ll be posting here on the blog about how to submit photos, what types of photos we’re looking for, and so forth. Please stay tuned for that, because no matter how good my manuscript may (or may not) be, you’ll like the book a lot better if it has great pictures.

Third:

Over on the right here are my final stats from the MS Word file. Almost 204,000 words. Heheheheee. I was supposed to write 150,000, so … ummm … I went 33% over my target. Whoops! I’ll be curious to see how much gets edited. I can see the discussion now:

Me: “Seriously, that time when Bono stubbed his toe just has to be in the book! You can’t edit that out!”

Chris (editor): “Sorry, Matt. It’s gone.”

Just kidding. There are no mentions of stubbed toes in the book.

Lastly: I can’t say this enough…