Coffee table book to promote Springfield

“We can also see it being used to entice prospective employees to come here,” said Ann Elwell, communications manager for Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. “It will show better than any other piece the quality of life that we have.”

The book’s production will be paid for through sponsorships sold by Riverbend Books Publisher Barry Levin. He began selling sponsorships to area businesses and organizations the first week of April. Levin anticipates selling a total of 60 to 70 sponsorships for the entire book.

Sponsorships, which start at $4,600, guarantee businesses will be featured in the book through text and photographs. But sponsorship isn’t required to be mentioned in the text, which will present Springfield in a day-in-the-life style.

“This book won’t look like any other. There’s no formula for what we do. We do not do cookie-cutter stuff,” Levin said. “We work very hard to give each its own unique identity.”

Riverbend’s work on books for other cities reflected the quality the chamber wanted for Springfield’s book, Elwell said.

“Our goal is more to be sure that we depict the vitality and the quality of life that we have here in Springfield,” she said, adding that Riverbend seemed to capture other cities in a positive light. “Last time we did a book was 25 years ago. We think the time is right for it.”

The book will have more than 25 categories, such as health care, education, arts, recreation, infrastructure, neighborhoods and economic development. Most of the pictures in the book – 96 percent – will have people in them, Levin said, and stock photography won’t be used.

“It’s all shot fresh,” he said, and editorial content will have a magazine feel rather than a news format.

No out-of-pocket fees are incurred by the chamber for the project and the books will retail for $52.90.

“We receive a royalty fee off of sold books. I don’t have an exact amount because it is dependent on numbers of books sold,” Elwell said. “It will go to our general fund. It’s not earmarked for anything in particular. It will be going back to paying for programs for members.”

Levin estimates the book will have a ratio of 55 percent editorial to 45 percent sponsor pages.

Positive comments from chambers across the country led to Springfield’s decision to partner with Riverbend.

“The photography is just so well done,” Elwell said. “The way (Riverbend) has done it in other cities, you really get a flavor for them even if you’ve never been there.”

Karla Ewert, vice president of communications for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, said Omaha’s experience with Riverbend was a “huge success.” Omaha’s book, “Where Imagination Meets Opportunity,” comprises 520 pages with more than 1,000 photographs.

“We had to open back up twice after we had closed the sales deadline. The book kept growing because we had people clamoring to get in, which is a nice problem to have,” Ewert said.

Distribution of Omaha’s book began in November. Riverbend has published similar books for cities since 1992.

Levin, whose business partner is his brother, Rob Levin, said the company begins work on three new city books each year.

“That’s because they’re very, very editorial intensive,” Barry Levin said. “We’re shooting over 100 (photo) shoot days, more than 40,000 images.”

Riverbend has a full-time staff of four at its Atlanta office, and uses up to 20 independent contractors per project, including writers, photographers and designers.

Springfield’s book will be published in April and will be distributed through the chamber, sponsors and Barnes & Noble.

“The sponsors are a great market. It’s not unreasonable to expect a hospital to buy 500 copies just for physician-recruiting alone,” Levin said. “Sponsors typically order 50 to 500 books each. They use those books as gifts for employees, VIP visitors, marketing functions, and heavily for recruiting. Then we sell books to Realtors who use those for relocations.”

Books will be presold before going to press, and Levin will print about 1,500 more than are presold. He estimates printing 10,000 to 12,000 books.

Elwell said the Chamber felt the time was right to produce the book for Springfield; discussions date back four years.

“We’ve been figuring out the best time to embark on the project and finally decided this was the right time with all the new developments. Not just (Hammons Field), but that was one. Also the downtown renovations and other things going on across the city with health care development and Battlefield Mall,” she said.[[In-content Ad]]