In 2014 I self-published a book called
Zoos of the Southwest, covering 17 zoos in Southeast California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas. The issue of photo permission in public places is a gray area. Please note I refer specifically to USA; if you are covering international facilities I am not sure (though it is less likely that an overseas facility would sue for a book published in USA unless it's a major, widely distributed work). The bottom line is that technically you need written permission but the truth is most zoos would not bother to file charges unless you posted photographs from off-exhibit areas or that unfairly depicted the zoo in a bad light. Since I wanted to be extra safe, I did contact every zoo for permission even though I probably would have been fine not doing so. Only one facility had to be dropped (it was going to be 18 zoos) because they would not give permission unless I filled out a commercial filming application and paid a $100 fee. I was not dealing directly with the zoo director (who I am sure would not have cared) but had to deal with an official in the state parks department, since that particular zoo is actually a state park. After I removed them I sent a letter to the editor of the local newspaper, who ended up contacting the state parks for clarification. Someone higher up left me a voicemail saying they made a mistake and it would be ok to publish the photos, but by then the book was at the printers and it was too late.
What was surprising was how difficult it was to actually get hold of someone at most zoos. In most cases it took numerous attempts to actually get someone to respond, though when they did most of them said immediately it was fine. Only three zoos wanted to see the manuscript before giving permission and ironically it was the three zoos closest to me and the only three zoos I am a member of. They did give permission, though of course they could not have forced me to change what I wrote since freedom of speech is protected, but I suppose if they didn't like it they could have denied permission for photo usage.
@ANyhuis wrote one book himself (
America's Best Zoos) followed up a few years later (2008) with an updated version that he co-wrote with Jon Wassner. They did use a publisher. I no longer have the first book but I don't recall it having photos (though if it did they were black and white). The second book has a handful of small black and white photos scattered throughout. While no photo credits are given, the introduction says they were provided by the zoos themselves. (I should note the cover has color photos, presumably also zoo supplied).
More recently in late 2019
@Tim Brown and
@snowleopard co-wrote
America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums, which has an extensive thread here:
America's Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums . It was published by International Zoo Enthusiast Society in England, which Tim Brown runs. He sourced photos from a variety of places, including ZooChat members such as myself (mine is the cover photo), a few from online sources like Wikipedia, and a couple from zoos themselves. I am virtually certain he did not seek any permissions as he feels they are not necessary. Considering the book is a non-profit venture he is almost certainly correct (if they manage to make a profit those funds will be donated to conservation).
If you want to find a publisher let me tell you it is a very hard sell. In fact it is next to impossible, especially if you want to have lots of full color photos. Printing in color is exponentially more expensive than printing in black and white and unless you have a truly unique take or world-class, gallery quality photography, no publisher will be interested. If you have text they also want to see examples of other writing you have had published and if you don't have that they won't give you the time of day. Sometimes you can get lucky by finding a small regional publisher if you are focusing on a local region. But for the scope of project it sounds like you want to do, I think your only realistic option is self-publishing. You can do either electronic download or print-on-demand, the latter being where a book is only printed once someone pays for a copy. The other option, the one I did, is to pay to have a certain number printed yourself (in my case I did 200). Even finding the cheapest printer I could find (which meant sacrificing photo quality on cheap paper) it still cost well over two thousand dollars. I finally sold them - mostly to friends - but it took a few years. I listed it on Amazon and got exactly zero sales from that.
I hope I don't come across as too negative because I would love to see you complete your project. I just want you to be realistic about the possibilities, coming from someone who has actually done it. Other considerations are getting a bar code and ISBN (which in the USA is through Bowker I think?) and getting the copyright registered with the Library of Congress. If you do manage to find a publisher they will do this for you, but as I said that is a very hard sell and I ended up doing all this myself.
