I believe that there is inherent value in having a paid premium resource (e.g., my book). Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s great to have blog posts and StackOverflow answers and whatever else. But a book shows a level of commitment from an author that goes far beyond; it establishes his/her belief in the platform, backed by a serious time investment. A good book will also save its readers hours and hours of stumbling in the dark. And so I firmly believe that such resource should be a paid one (albeit at a reasonable price, one that lets a reader show his appreciation for the work, while still being affordable enough that cost isn’t prohibitive).
So, all this being said… that’s why my book is a paid resource. But the motivation is backed by a philosophical belief in the intrinsic value of paid things, not by greed. And so, in the spirit of backing this statement by action, and by spreading the goodness that technology brings, I am donating the entirety of my book profits to charity, with a focus on disaster relief and humanitarian aid. Moreover, through Microsoft’s generosity, any amount I donate will be matched 100% by Microsoft’s employee-giving matching program, doubling the donations’ impact.
Below, I will maintain a log of my profits to date, as well as an account of which charities I’ve donated to, for full transparency. If you have any questions, just email me.
Donations to date
| Date | Organization | Amount | Receipt # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 4, 2017 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $1,000 | 2017840-000210516 |
| Oct 4, 2017 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $1,000 | 2017840-000210521 |
Total donations to date: $2,000 (plus another $2,000 matched by Microsoft, for a total of $4,000).
Sales
| Date | Total readers to date | Paid readers to date | Free readers to date* | Total royalties from paid purchases | Total donations to date | Balance accumulating towards next donation** |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7 2017 | 242 | 138 | 104* | $2,119.45 | $2,000 | $119.45** |
* Free readers = folks on my team & partner teams at Microsoft, for whom I’ve been giving the book for free
** Balance accumulating towards next donation: For ease of accounting, I will be sending my donations to charities in $500 increments. So this is the amount that I’m currently holding on to until the next $500.