The content will be a lot like my squibs posts, but more carefully selected, better organized, and more polished. Essentially it will be a digest of the best ideas I've encountered. I expect to print the "books" in April, and I estimate that they will be about 10,000 words short -- enough to fit on 30ish 8.5 x 11 pages.
My plan is to give them away on a pay-as-you-wish basis. And if enough people find it beneficial, I intend to do this quarterly.
For the physical appearance and design, I am using Nick Felton's annual reports and Leonard Koren's books for inspiration. There is a possibility I will hire a designer, but I will probably end up doing everything but the printing myself.
Why am I doing this? First and foremost, I like to share ideas, and I like to feel that I am doing something useful. I like the thought of having enduring physical representations of the best ideas I've encountered—of my great grandkids possessing written collections of the best things their great grandfather knew. Also, with pay-as-you-wish, I will get very interesting feedback on how valuable (or not) people find this stuff.
And it will be relatively easy for me to do. It is already part of my normal routine to meticulously record ideas in my notebook and type them up in what has become a ginormous, pseudo-organized text file. It's just a matter of selecting the ones I find best, organizing them, and forking over some ca$h for the printing costs.
You could really help me out by giving me an accurate estimate of how many copies you think you will order and/or how many friends you think you will tell. This will help me estimate how many copies I should print. Please respond using the form below.
