Premise

Lost Dogs is a photographic art book and educational tool in one. It is the true story of dogs from an animal shelter in Dallas, Texas. A "lost dog" is one that has fallen through the proverbial cracks of our dog-loving society and been abandoned. Throughout its pages, readers will see real shelter animals that have been taken from their kennels at the SPCA of Texas and photographed on locations throughout the metroplex with no prior bathing or grooming.

Through the use of hauntingly beautiful, black and white photography the authors propose to educate, as well as entertain dog lovers. Lost Dogs will provide readers with information about every photographic session.

Each chapter of Lost Dogs will tell a story of a particular dog. Why we decided to use this dog, where we chose to photograph him and what this dog was like to work with, will all be part of the story.

In addition the book will examine true factual information pertaining to each particular abandonment issue raised by the individual subject.

Often the animals will have been taken back to the area where they originally lived or were rescued from. In other instances, the animals will have been photographed in a location indicative of their breed heritage.

The Authors

Kerrin Winter and Dale Churchill have national reputations as fine art photographers of pure-bred dogs. Their photography of dogs has been used by many dog magazines including Dog World, Dog Fancy, The American Kennel Club's Hunting Test Herald and The Field Trial News, The Golden Retriever News, The Canine Chronicle, The German Shepherd Quarterly, The Doberman Pinscher Quarterly, The Shih Tzu Review and Dog News.

Their written work has also been published by The American Kennel Club publications listed above. Known locally as the dog photographers, Winter and Churchill enjoy a reputation as perfectionists. They are widely sought by field trailers, professional dog breeders and exhibitors as well as those who love their pets enough to have them immortalized by the Winter/Churchill brand of portraiture.

The SPCA of Texas

When Winter and Churchill decided to write Lost Dogs, they searched for an animal shelter in Texas that would support the cause of education as well as animal welfare.

The SPCA of Texas has been operating in its present location in Dallas for fifty-six years. Through skillful communication and a compassionate desire for community education, the SPCA of Texas has become a well-known leader nationwide in the campaign for animal welfare.

Programs that the SPCA of Texas provides for the community include pet assisted therapy for the elderly, obedience classes for new pet owners, animal behavior seminars, low-cost spay and neutering, the VIP or Very Important Pet and pet fostering programs for animals who have had trouble becoming adopted.

All of these programs supported by the SPCA of Texas are simpatico with the philosophy towards animal welfare shared by Kerrin Winter and Dale Churchill. The SPCA of Texas was the natural source where Lost Dogs could spring to life.

Synopsis

Lost Dogs is an art book that will educate its readers as well as entertain. Each chapter is the story of an individual dog. One page per chapter will be dedicated to a black and white photograph of the dog. The facing page will be the story of the photographic session with this animal. We will document what the dog was like to work with, how he came to be abandoned and, when possible, tell what became of him.

A Part of each chapter will be used for examining particular abandonment issues. For example, if the dog was abandoned to the shelter because he became too expensive to feed, we will use this information to explain to the reader why he or she needs to decide whether or not they can financially afford to keep a dog. Case in point: Great Danes are really cute as puppies but they grow quickly, becoming quite large. As adults, they may require as much as twenty pounds of food a week. A multitude of Great Danes are abandoned to shelters annual. Many people get puppies spontaneously, never thinking about financial responsibility.

Marketing

1. General Book Buying Demographics

2. The Professional Dog Industry

Millions of dollars are spent annually in the pure-bred dog industry. On any given week there are literally hundreds of dog shows throughout the country. People who are this dedicated to dogs buy dog-related items for themselves, as entertainment and enjoyment as well as education tools for their clubs and as gifts. They are diverse in their purchases. Their only consistent criteria is that the products they purchase be dog-related and authentic, representing the truth, with regard to the world of dogs.

3. The American Pet Industry

This is one of the industries of the nineties. According to USA Today: "People are having less children and acquiring more pets. Exotic vacations are out. Spending more time at home is in. Pets have become part of this new 'cocooning' movement." According to Kiplingers' - "the pet market is booming." Lost Dogs could not arrive at a better time.

Promotional Ideas

Kerrin Winter and Dale Churchill share a reputation as the premier animal photographers in Dallas. The Dallas Morning News has written a number of articles about their company, Outdoor Life Photography. Kerrin Winter has appeared as a guest speaker on various radio and television programs to talk about dogs. Dog World magazine, the largest canine publication in the United States, has published a feature story on Outdoor Life Photography and its approach to photographing dogs, in its March, 1995 edition.

Although there are other animal shelters in Dallas, the SPCA of Texas has skillfully positioned themselves as the leader of animal welfare in Texas.

Since both the photography team and the SPCA of Texas are well known in Dallas, it is the natural place to begin a national campaign. Press releases placed into the right hands will bring immediate attention to this book project. Newspapers and radio programming will receive this information with open arms. Radio and television interviews will help promote the book.

An art gallery to hang the original photographs will be found to kick off the Lost Dog campaign. Supportive marketing materials can be created to sell during the gallery exhibit. Greeting cards, posters and calendars portraying some of the book's images can be sued to further promote Lost Dogs. As interest grows in Dallas, more press releases will be sent to media groups in other major cities, using the Dallas market as a prototype for marketing nationwide.

To saturate the dog and art market, copies of the book along with press releases can be sent to magazines that support our demographics and publish book reviews. Some recommended publications are: Pure-Bred Dogs/ American Kennel GAZETTE, Dog World, Dog Fancy, The Canine Chronicle, Dog News, Photo District News, American Photographer, shutter Bug, Time Magazine, Newsweek, People, Connoisseur, Arts and Antiques, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Texas Monthly, The Red Book, Parents Magazine, and Good Housekeeping.

As the publications of Lost Dogs begins, the Outdoor Life team of Kerrin Winter and Dale Churchill will begin securing interviews with major radio and television programs that may see animal-related topics as good ratings material.

A national book tour will also include "meet the author" book signings in stores that sell Lost Dogs, in cities where the tour takes them.

Lost Dogs is the first book of its kind to be published. It is a beautiful art book about dogs that communicates a very important message. In a time of "political correctness" the climate for Lost Dogs couldn't be better. The photography team of Kerrin Winter and Dale Churchill are already well received by the sophisticated dog market of the United States and the SPCA of Texas has positioned itself as a leader of animal shelter organizations in America. The executive director of the SPCA of Texas, Warren Cox, has agreed to endorse this book, and in his doing so lends credence to an already very marketable project. As a crossover book, (art and dogs) Lost Dogs has a widened demographic field to find target audiences.