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 # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 11, 2020 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $100 | (via pih.org monthly matching) |
| Oct 11, 2020 (same day as recurrent) | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $350 | 2020840-1000667609 |
| Sept 17, 2020 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $150 | 2020840-1000614701 |
| Sept 13, 2020 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $250 | (via pih.org website) |
| Sept 11, 2020 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $100 | (via pih.org monthly matching) |
| Aug 11, 2020 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $100 | (via pih.org monthly matching) |
| Jul 11, 2020 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $100 | (via pih.org monthly matching) |
| Jun 11, 2020 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $100 | (via pih.org monthly matching) |
| May 10, 2020 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $100 | (via pih.org website during external-match opportunity) |
| May 2, 2020 | WORLD VISION INC | $50 | (donated via their website). |
| April 21, 2020 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $100 | 2020840-1000178419 |
| April 10, 2020 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $250 | 2020840-1000148016 |
| Feb 26, 2020 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $250 | 2020840-1000050870 |
| Dec 2, 2019 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $250 | (via pih.org website during “Giving Tuesday”) |
| Dec 2, 2019 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $250 | 17830628 | 5474
(via rescue.org website during “Giving Tuesday”) |
| Dec 2, 2019 | NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL | $250 | (via nrdc.org website during “Giving Tuesday”) |
| Sept 26, 2019 | INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE INC | $500 | 17357314 | 5251 (via rescue.org website) |
| June 30, 2019 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $750 | ch_1Er7HqHr2vwHWiAv6cdOjVye (via pih.org website) |
| April 17, 2019 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $250 | ch_1EQRVQHr2vwHWiAvQWh3r6c1 (via pih.org website) |
| March 23, 2019 | PARTNERS IN HEALTH | $300 | 2019840-1000056972 |
| 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: $9,750 (plus another $9,750 matched by Microsoft, for a total of $19,500).
Cumulative Sales history
| Date | Total readers to date | Paid readers to date | Free readers to date* | Total royalties from paid purchases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 11, 2020 | 771 | 572 | 199 | $9,341.83 |
| Sept 13, 2020 | 760 | 562 | 198 | $9,246.57 |
| Jun 12, 2020 | 722 | 525 | 197 | $8,718.29 |
| May 10, 2020 | 705 | 509 | 196 | $8,488.03 |
| April 21, 2020 | 696 | 500 | 196 | $8,222.63 |
| April 10, 2020 | 687 | 491 | 196 | $8,222.63 |
| Feb 26, 2020 | 675 | 479 | 196 | $8,053.15 |
| Sep 26, 2019 | 643 | 451 | 192 | $7,630.35 |
| Dec 2, 2019 | 612 | 422 | 190 | $7,025.01 |
| July 2, 2019 | 572 | 382 | 190 | $6,394.34 |
| Apr 17, 2019 | 524 | 342 | 182 | $5,699.87 |
| Mar 23, 2019 | 511 | 330 | 181 | $5,523.99 |
| 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. If there are matching opportunities, I may also sometimes donate a larger amount up-front, and then let the royalties catch up.