Christmas comes early

published: Mon, 1-Nov-2004   |   updated: Thu, 27-Oct-2005

Christmas does come early, once in a while, and this year it certainly will for my readers. I've just checked on Amazon and the usual, er, sellers are trying to leverage the fact that my book is out of print and have copies on sale for $220 plus. Now, I know that you don't have to pay these prices, it's a free market and all that, but all the same, it's bloody ridiculous. Oh, and of these inflated prices, did I mention that I get exactly nothing, nada, zilch?

Well, I have some news that will ruin their day and possibly their Christmas as well. It seems that my contract with WordWare has a clause that states if the book goes out of print, the copyright reverts back to the author. I've checked with the Powers That Be at WordWare, and it's true. The book's text is now mine again (the code has always been mine).

That's pretty good news for me, but what about for you? Well, since receiving this news, I've been doing some investigations into just-in- time or on-demand printing. It seems that I can produce a newly typeset book under a different title, with some updates and corrections, and add in a similar level of payment to me, for about $25 - $30. It'll be sold via on-demand printing, so when you order a copy it will be printed there and then and shipped to you directly. I won't have to print huge batches of thousands of copies; something that I can't afford.

Now, there's a certain amount of work to do and up-front payments to make (I have to update and typeset the book, design the cover, buy an ISBN number, buy the back cover bar code, and all that kind of fun stuff), but I reckon it'll be available for sale on December 1, just in time for Christmas. I'll fix the price at that time and let you know how you'll be able to order it.

If this experiment is a success (like I sell enough to cover my up-front costs), I'll be using it for other books that I have in mind. Not necessarily large covers-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know type books, but smaller more focused books at a smaller price.

So, please don't buy a copy of my book from these sellers on Amazon, buy ten from me in a month's time for about the same cost!