As evidence that a lot has been going on, I point out the fact that yesterday I never got a chance to make an entry in this blog. That was the first day I have missed in a long time. Things have been very hectic as I try to figure out the next steps. This morning Amazon sent another order, this time for 418 books. I need to go ahead and cancel or decline all outstanding Amazon orders, because I can’t possibly produce that many books. I’m still selling books to individuals on Amazon Marketplace, but we’re just barely producing enough books to keep enough on hand to fulfill those orders.
Today I saw that someone has listed a copy of the book as Used on Amazon Marketplace for $80.77. I’ll have to check to see if that sells; if it does, I guess it means my pricing is off!
I have started the process to get the book printed by the print-on-demand company, Lightning Source; I hope to send the pdf files to them within the next few days. Hopefully, then all the people who want the book through Amazon will be able to get them. The interiors will have black-and-white photos rather than color, but that shouldn’t matter too much, because the purpose of this book is to show people how to use the camera, not to illustrate the taking of beautiful color pictures.
Anyway, we have one color laser printer up and running now. We decided to get a new set of high-capacity color toner cartridges that are the genuine Brother ones. I’m pretty disappointed in the quality of all of the refilled toner cartridges we tried. Every time I thought we had found a great source of economical toner, it turned out the supplier sent us defective cartridges, or ones that weren’t completely filled, etc. We are going to try refilling the genuine Brother cartridges ourselves, with bottles of toner. That will be the last attempt; if that doesn’t work, we may stop printing and just rely on Lightning Source.
I don’t feel good that there still seems to be a good amount of demand for the book that we can’t fill quickly, but that’s the way things go with projects like this; it was to a certain extent an excursion into the unknown. An excellent learning experience. I do hope we can turn it into a financially profitable one, but that’s still uncertain.
Hi Alex,
It's a shame about the switch from colour to black and white photos. If possible, a book explaining the use of something ought to exemplify its capacities. To do otherwise is like McDonalds advertising their burgers using pictures that look worse than a Big Mac.
Also, regarding your faulty toner, is it possible you've fallen victim to a counterfeiter? I've just put together a story on the subject, and they're pretty pervasive. Good luck with the refilling anyway!
Yours,
Inks
Hi, Inks — Thanks for the comments. I understand your point about the black and white photos, and I would prefer to stay with color myself, but it's not economically possible unless I can get a bigger publisher interested, who can print the books in large volume. Your point about the toner is interesting; I will look for your story and try to learn more; the experience certainly has been frustrating! –Alex