Press Release for Illustrious schools

This page is specifically for schools and school teams/boosters who are looking for ways to help get the word out for the new book “Illustrious: The Best High School Basketball Gyms in Illinois” by photojournalist Vincent D. Johnson.

*Potential cover for the book “Illustrious.” It may change before printing.*

Congrats! If you are reading this you are probably from one of the 120 high schools who have a gym featured in the book. After four years in the making, Illustrious is poised to be one of the most popular books about Illinois high school sports ever! And I’d love for you and your school to be more than just a page in the book.

Below are a list of ways you can get involved.

Facts about the book

Who made this book?

Spread the word!

Share my photos

How does the school get a copy?

Book a visit at your school.

What schools are included?

What does the inside of the book look like?

Facts about the book

Hard cover book with dust jacket
Book size: 11.5 x 10 inches
264 pages
Over 400 full-color photos
Printed on firm (105#) paper
Featuring 120 different high schools & 126 different gyms
Book author & photographer, Vincent D. Johnson
Foreword by Michael O’Brien of the Chicago Sun-Times
Retail price $29.95

Who made this book?

Vincent D. Johnson, a Chicago based photojournalist who has worked for various news outlets over the past 30 years started working on this book in 2021. Johnson, who currently does most of his work for the Chicago Tribune and its suburban papers, is a regular contributor for the Tribune’s Daily Southtown newspaper. The book was picked up for publication by a well-known publisher, but after the book was made small, Johnson backed out and is publishing through his company Othervertical.

Spread the word

The easiest thing to do. Make a post on your school, team, or personal social media accounts talking about how your gym is featured in the book. Feel free to use any of the photos of your gym I may have shared or use your own. If your post allows links, you can link to:
the main page of this website https://illustriousgyms.com/
the page for ordering the book https://illustriousgyms.com/product/illustrious-gyms-the-book/

You can always tag me too if you want. I’m on Instagram/Threads @VDJsports and Twitter/X @VincentDJohnson

If you can mention it in any email newsletters or school websites, that would be absolutely amazing!

If you are a school or team, feel free to use any of the images on the website when promoting the book Illustrious.
Any requests for non-watermarked images or prints of images, please reach out to me at: vincent.johnson [at] othervertical.com or 773-924-1493.

How does the school get a copy or copies?

I will be making tours around the state promoting the book come next October. The print run will be limited and I can’t guarantee there will be a second printing, but I will be sure to save one copy for each school that wants to get one for their library or history collection.

That being said, more than a few schools have expressed interest in getting several copies to have available for sale in their school book/spirit stores. I will gladly extend the discounted price I’ll be giving to book sellers across the state, to the schools who would like to sell them too. The book will retail at $29.95 and will be sold to schools ordering a dozen or more copies at $20 a book. For sales tax reasons these orders would need to come from the school or any other 501c3 organization associated with fundraising for the school/teams.

You can reach out to me directly for more information email: vincent.johnson [at] othervertical.com or my office phone 773-924-1493

Anyone looking for a personal copy can pre-order their’s here.

Book a visit to your school.

Below is a calendar of dates that are scheduled for Illustrious book events. It can be used to see if there is an opening for having a Vincent Johnson visit your gym for a book signing event.

What schools are included?

Everybody is dying to know what schools are included in the book and how I rank them.

While I’ll be keeping my personal rankings to random posts on social media and not one complete list. I will include all the schools in the book and a “x2” or “x3” if they have more than one gym featured. However, there are a select few gyms in the book that I’m keeping a secret. So, you’ll have to get a copy to know them all.

The list in alphabetical order.