A collection of images depicting greyhounds doing human things. They have jobs, go to the beach, the shops, the zoo. They catch the bus, sell flowers or coffee. They even dress up as historical figures, like Cleopatra, Julius Caesar or Napoleon.

Fantabulous Hounds started its life as a project on Kickstarter for their Make 100 challenge. I made 100 humanoid greyhounds and posted 20 of them on the Kickstarter page each week. The best 70 images made it into this collection. The images were created with the help of the AI art engine MidJourney, and edited by me, sometimes substantially.

Did you know?

The greyhound is one of the world’s oldest dog breeds. Cleopatra owned greyhounds and you can see greyhounds immortalised in the Egyptian hieroglyphs. The ancient Egyptians really cared about their hounds. The passing of a hound was a major sad occasion.

I’m sure you know that greyhounds are very fast, having recorded an official speed of 72km/h. A German shepherd would struggle to reach 2/3rds of that speed. Let’s not talk about slightly overweight fluffy Labradors.

Greyhound racing is a horrible sport. In the past, trainers would use live bait (like, live rabbits) and would put down any animals that didn’t make the cut.

Fortunately, these days the industry is much more regulated. Don’t ask me why it’s still an “industry”, because I would prefer it not to be.

Many people are waiting to adopt these quiet, gentle and frankly very lazy dogs. Many hounds are adopted out before they ever get to see a racecourse.

It is still dark as I scramble down from the car park to my chosen venture spot. The camera gear is heavy, the tripod is awkward. It’s COLD. But by the time I’ve set up the tripod, the eastern horizon lightens and the sun puts on the most spectacular display. Pale blue, pink crepuscular rays, golden fluffy clouds. I take hundreds of pictures.

Later, when the joggers come out, the rising sun dances on the waves and lights the white bellies of seagulls from below.

This happened while you were sleeping and I was nuts enough to be out there. I want to share those special moments with the world.

This book, and these photos are very personal to me.

I live in Sydney which is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I’m biased, of course, but let me show you.

Let me take you to the famous spots, but also the lesser-known locations. And let me do this at a time most people are still asleep: at dawn.

This collection of more than 100 photos is the best pick of thousands I’ve taken over a number of years.

The book is printed on 150gsm coated paper and will only be available in hardcover and digital options.

The book has 110 pages at coffee table size: square 21 x 21 cm (google tells me this is 8.26 inches. If you say so, google).

Each location comes with a What Three Words code so that if you want to see these places for yourself, you can tell within a square of 3 x 3 m where I took the picture.

This book takes you everywhere along the coast between La Perouse in the south and Palm Beach in the north, and covers both urban and nature settings.

I’ve self-published for over ten years. I’ve seen the industry start, take off and mature. I’ve seen tactics, companies and people come and go.

However, over that time, a few important principles have always held true, but in the morass of advice of varying quality it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.

In 2017, I wrote the Unboxed books, a series of four books about how to publish sustainably, and by that I mean in a manner so that you can keep doing it long-term, and how to use your mailing list to set up a self-perpetuating sales vehicle.

While the strategies haven’t changed, many of the peripheral situations have. In short: we have far more and better tools, but far more competition, not only from other authors on the sales front, but also from services that entice us to spend ever more money before we publish.

This book is my ultimate guide to what you need, what you can try, and what is likely to be a waste of your money and time.

Over more than 500 pages I talk about the unvarnished experience of self-publishing and selling books while keeping control of my catalogue and not funding anyone’s private jet in advertising costs.

I wrote this book to pay it forward to the community. I don’t sell courses. I don’t do affiliate marketing. I have no vested interest in anyone’s self-publishing journey. Except for this: I want you to enjoy it.