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, humanitarian aid, and environmental issues. 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 (reverse-chronological) | Organization | Donation Amount | Receipt # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2019 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $200 | 2019840-1000031375 |
| Dec 29, 2018 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $250 | ch_1Dmoa5Hr2vw HWiAvXytd15WO (via pih.org website) |
| Oct 15, 2018 | SIERRA CLUB | $250 | 2018840-1000222344 |
| Sept 12, 2018 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $500 | 2018840-000169597 |
| July 15, 2018 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $250 | 2018840-000120868 |
| May 13, 2018 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $500 | 2018840-000078852 |
| April 1, 2018 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $250 | 2018840-000054964 |
| Mar 9, 2018 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $250 | 2018840-000037974 |
| Dec 25, 2017 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $250 | 2017840-000320458 |
| Dec 1, 2017 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $500 | 2017840-000296025 |
| Oct 4, 2017 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $1,000 | 2017840-000210521 |
| Oct 4, 2017 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $1,000 | 2017840-000210516 |
Total donations to date: $5,200 (plus another $5,000 matched by Microsoft, for a total of $10,400).
Cumulative Sales history
| Date | Total readers to date | Paid readers to date | Free readers to date* | Total royalties from paid purchases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 25, 2019 | 501 | 321 | 180 | $5,342.46 |
| Dec 29, 2018 | 474 | 296 | 178 | $4,994.55 |
| Oct 15, 2018 | 441 | 272 | 169 | $4,642.59 |
| Sept 12, 2018 | 416 | 257 | 159 | $4,387.51 |
| July 15, 2018 | 384 | 238 | 146 | $4,104.39 |
| May 13, 2018 | 357 | 218 | 139 | $3,714.66 |
| April 1, 2018 | 332 | 203 | 129 | $3,287.85 |
| March 9, 2018 | 321 | 195 | 126 | $3,163.22 |
| Dec 25, 2017 | 281 | 171 | 112 | $2,790.26 |
| Dec 1, 2017 | 273 | 163 | 110 | $2,655.73 |
| Oct 4, 2017 | 242 | 138 | 104 | $2,119.45 |
* Free readers = folks on my team & partner teams within Microsoft, to whom I distributed the book for free. Also a handful of other folks, who had helped review the book in the early stages of my writing process.
Note: For ease of accounting, I generally do my donations in $250 or $500 increments. So at any given moment, there may be a few-hundred-dollar difference between total royalties and total donations, until it accumulates to the next round number.