Dion's random ramblings: Cory Doctorow - a magnificent interview on giving away your work, and doing EXCEPTIONALLY well for it!

Update 14 February 2009 - If you've arrived at this post to download copies of 3 of my books for FREE you're at the right place! Simply scroll down the page and you'll find links to download the PDF copies from scribd, or read them online if you don't want to download copies. I'd love to hear back from you!

Rich blessing,

Dion

____
Cory Doctorow is a truly exceptional individual. I've read a number of his books and enjoyed them immensely - Little Brother is the most recent one (which I listened to on MP3).

Cory is also the person who convinced me of the value of giving away my books! There are two reasons why I do this:

1. I would rather have people engaging with what I write than make money from it. I prefer the notion that my ideas touch, challenge, and perhaps even change people, to having a few extra dollars in my bank account! You see, I am quite realistic about my ability to write. I know that I will never be able to make a living from what I write. It takes someone with a unique talent, or the support of a media machine, to get this right - I know a few persons who are creative and gifted enough to do this (e.g., see my friend John van de Laar). So, I would rather give my work away than live under the delusion that I could live off it.

2. I buy the idea that information should be shared! Don't get me wrong, I understand that artists and educators often need to make their livelihood from what they spend their days creating. But I think there are more creative models for making a living from your ideas, thoughts, and insights - again John is an exceptional example of this. John offers a service as a primary revenue stream (he inspires people in person, shares the gift of music, the depth of liturgy, and imparts skills in his workshops). John's 'products' (books and CD's) are a support to this process, they are not the sharp point of the arrow, rather they are the shaft that supports it. So, after persons have been engaged, encountered, enriched, and blessed, he can offer them the opportunity of taking that journey further, deepening their understanding etc., by buying one of his books or CD's. In John's instance simply 'giving away' ALL of one's work is not feasible. But, you will see that he gives away a LOT of his work!

Now, this is not quite as easy for me since what I've written thus far is quite specialized (it is mostly academic and it is not directly related to the kind of teaching and speaking that I do when I travel the world - although I will say that I do have plans to correct this!) In my case, since I cannot support what I do with my days and hours by what I've written, I simply give my thoughts away to be shared, critiqued, and used. After all, these are my thoughts! It is not as if they are separate from who I am. When people read what I've written it should give them a deeper insight into my theology, faith perspective, and spirituality - even if I am not directly relating what I've written to what I am currently doing.

Cory's approach is somewhere between John's and mine. Cory's expertise in both in story telling (fiction, narrative etc.) and in Creative Commons licensing. So, what Cory does is a bit like what John does. He will share his insights on Creative Commons, the internet, new media etc., and then sell and promote his products as a 'shaft to the tip of the arrow'. However, since his writing is not DIRECTLY related to the speaking and teaching topics for which people engage him (i.e., he writes fiction and is most frequently asked speak on licensing law, new media etc.) he is also a bit like me. His motivation (at least in the early days when his books where not that well known - a bit like me!) was simply to share the hard work and ideas that he had developed freely so that others could use and enjoy them.

The incredible outcome of that has been two victories! First, he has shared his ideas with incredible success and this has made him much more sought after as a speaker, teacher, and expert. But, the second spin off of his 'free sharing' has been that his books are now best sellers! So, he gives them away for free, but so many people want to own paper copies (with lovely colour covers etc. perhaps to put on their shelf, or give as a gift, or to make notes, or read next to the pool) that he is making a LOT of money from the sale of his books!

This has been my experience. The sales of the three books that I have the rights to give away (I have written 6 books to date and own the rights to three of them - you can find out more about my books here) have climbed significantly each time I give them away for free. Again, I must reiterate that I don't sell my books to make money! I would be blessed if I had enough money to simply give away paper (printed) copies as well, but that is costly. So, the sales of my books are simply used to restock what I've printed so that I can sell and give more copies away.

Well, here's a wonderful interview with Cory Doctorow - see the end of the video for his thoughts on Creative Commons and publishing (and his incredible success as a result).

And, here are free copies of my books, once again! Please download them, print them out, give them away, email them to friends and use them absolutely freely! I give glory to Christ who gave me the time and ability to write them, and I pray that they will be a gift to you!

An uncommon spiritual path - the quest to find Jesus beyond conventional Christianity. Download the PDF file (click here)

Christ at the centre - discovering the cosmic Christ in the spirituality of Bede Griffiths. Download the PDF file (click here)

A prayer guide for use during examinations (with grateful thanks to Roger Prentice). Download the PDF file (click here)

If you would like to own 'paper copies' of any of my books please drop me a line if you're in South Africa (unfortunately I cannot give those away for free), or please buy copies from Amazon.com if you're outside of South Africa.

Technorati tags: free books, download ebook, Cory Doctorow, Christmas gift, Creative Commons

If there is anyone who would like to put the code for my books on their website or blog (perhaps in the format above) please just drop me a line on email - I would be truly grateful for the exposure, and would gladly send you the HTML code to copy and paste into your site.