Figuring It Out

Confession time. I'm a wee bit of a Luddite and don't really know or understand the technology, even though I think it's great - it's still a bit 'magical' to me! However I have been told that some people have not downloaded the complimentary PDF for the introductory offer of The Intentional Weaver but have been reading it on line. Which is all well and good, but that file will go away after the introductory offer closes so people really need to download the file to their desktop or whatever platform they want it on. Last night I went back to Dropbox and there is a 'download' button and when I poked it (again - I'd done it a couple of days ago but I wanted to make sure of it) the file downloaded in about 1 minute. Yes, it's a large file - about 39 mb.

Thank you to all who have expressed interest. It was a bit nerve wracking to complete this project because one never really knows how it will go!

The printer should be shipping my 'proof' copy on Dec. 11 and as soon as I approve it they will queue my book for printing. They say about 5-6 weeks so hopefully Canada Post will co-operate and I will be able to mail them out just as soon as I receive the shipment.

Decks have been cleared (so to speak) and systems put in place to process the shipping of the books.

If you want a copy on the introductory offer, and have emailed me but not received either a Paypal request or other communication, email me again. I have a couple of people who have not emailed but reached out in other ways which I have set aside until I have more time to deal with those but I have responded to all other emails that I have received. However last night someone mentioned on my Facebook time line that they had not heard anything so I asked if they would try again. This time the request did come through and has been dealt with.

As soon as I receive payment I send out the link to the PDF. There are a few reasons I have taken this approach.

1. Someone asked very nicely if they bought a print copy, could they please have a PDF so that they could use their computer and the search function of their system to find topics quickly. While there is a detailed Table of Contents, it does not have live links and there is no index (because of the very detailed TOC.)

With offering both print and PDF options via blurb *** it seemed like a nice way to introduce people to the book.

2. With the time lag between ordering and receiving the book, the receipt of the PDF is a stop gap until the 'real' book arrives.

3. People wanted something they could give for Christmas. The file can be downloaded onto a thumb drive, wrapped and the recipient will have something to open. :)

There are also a few reasons for having the PDF only option.

1. It's cheaper. No paper to pay for, no printing service to pay for. No shipping to pay for.

2. Some people are very happy to load books onto their portable devices - iPad, etc., don't want more physical books to store.

3. Overseas customers could just buy the PDF and save expensive international shipping. However, several people have requested a 'real' book and seem willing to pay the shipping.

As soon as I get the sample book I will package, measure and weigh it and get a quote on shipping. It looks like it MIGHT qualify for small packet air rates, but I don't want to quote that until I can confirm it. And it won't be much longer - still well within the special offer time frame.

So far I have three requests from outside North America. I will attempt to get quotes to those three as soon as I can.

In the meantime I'd just like to say thank you to everyone who has ordered this introductory offering. I hope you find something of interest. If you do, I hope you will share that information with your friends. When someone self publishes, one of the things they need to do is the marketing. I will be doing a small 'ad' this week (busy with guild sale this weekend) and will be happy to forward to anyone who wants to put the 'ad' into their guild's newsletter or share on their social media.

***for those wanting just the PDF, it should be available via blurb in the next few days - Ruth is working on some technology issues