To Print or to Click ... That is the Question ... update

Hi All

As you may be aware my book went live on Monday. 

I have had mixed feelings since it has gone live: joy and relief!

In the few short days since then, I have been asked by a number of people if I would be creating a paperback or hardback copy?

In short, the answer is no. However I feel that I should give a longer answer ...

My previous experiment in the world of Self-Publishing

Having self-published my wife's book back in 2008 (22 Boyfriends to Happiness--> https://amzn.to/2JvKZ7l ) we discovered that creating paper copies is wasteful on so many levels. 

I managed to personally sell Catherine’s book into 50 Waterstones stores across the UK ... sounds like a great feat doesn't it? Except for what the wholesaler doesn't tell you… 

When people thumb through books on the shelves or take them to the cafe for a soya decaf latte mocca, after a while they become grubby and coffee stained. The retailer (waterstones) returns them to the wholesaler and doesnt even pay "rent" for the privilege!

What happens to the books once they are returned? The wholesaler (who asked me to print another 1000 copies becuase they were "selling so well") calls me up to say “we have had x number of returns of your book: shall I pulp them or return them to you. If you want them returned you must pay for postage!” How demoralising …

Turns out the only "sales" being made were the ones that the book store ordered from the wholesaler ... these werent sales to real living breathing customers.

To click ... that is the answer!

To that end I have made a decision that I would only publish this book in digital format; firstly because its an environmental issue, even if we were to use recycled paper. And secondly, we can’t accurately predict how many paper copies we would sell thus creating more even waste (for Lean practitioners you will be familiar with the DOWNTIME wastes including inventory and defects … yes we had printing defects too in the sort-run of the second batch of 1000 copies!!!)

But yet I am still a fan of paper, so I can relate to the small amount of disappointment that my decision may have created: I love the smell and feel and the ability to "flick through" the books. Not only that blue light upsets our sleeping patterns, so reading the Dark Tower just before on my kindle or iPad is also a concern too.

The only problem for me is storage: I've had to build a man-cave to store my library, but still, I wouldn't swap it for a digital library.

So, in the meantime, I feel that to Click is the right answer; I hope that as an environmentally minded customer you will agree. However, if there are a sufficient number of requests that make it commercially viable I will gladly do a print-run to satisfy that smaller customer base. Just contact me directly and I will add your name to the very small list.

Update November 28th

So, in short, I have been asked a good many times now about whether my book would be available in the more traditional format i.e. paperback. I have now relented, but have found a good half-way house in that I am utilising Amazon's Print-on-Demand service. I don't have to worry about the costs of printing large print runs and the waste associated with returns. At the outset, it seems a good middle road and my values remain intact.

Thanks to all of you who have supported me by buying your kindle copy, your support is greatly appreciated.

About me

I am the author of “Leaders, it’s not how you finish … it’s how you start! A radical, new strategy for leading successful Agile Transformations revealed” Available on Kindle – you can get your copy by clicking here --> https://amzn.to/2DMYPyv and paperback by clicking here --> https://amzn.to/34n3xyu