Yes dear readers, just when you thought I didn’t have time to do anything else around here, I decided to write and publish a few eBooks! People keep telling me that I have a flare with the written word and a distinctive writing style, so I figured that the natural progression was an eBook.
I am in the process of putting together the first one which should take me a few weeks, based on the first few months of my journey. It will document how I lived before my epiphany, what happened that fateful day, and the beginning of the journey. I expect that it will be less than 100 pages long, and I will self publish it via Amazon and Smashwords so that it will be available for most eBook readers.
Afterwards, I am planning to write a series of sustainable living ‘How To’ eBooks that will be for sale for under $4.00. Each of these publications will have much more detail than my normal blog posts, so will hopefully offer more information for those budding builders, and DIYers out there, or anyone who wants to build a sustainable lifestyle.
So, as you are all faithful readers of the blog, what subjects do you think I should I tackle first in the how to series, and dare I say, would anyone think about buying a copy if I did publish them? I am open to suggestions. You have the floor dear readers!
I think the first key topics are those to do with basic survival. Water capture (and safe storage) is essential. How do you stop your water from going bad (especially important if drought severity increases). What foods can be grown quickly (and how) that will keep you alive (and hopefully healthy) so that you can branch out into more long term activities?
Gav,
I think it’s an awesome idea, I love reading your posts so consider this a pre-order!
I myself am interested in the details – the how to, why, how much, results, etc… but I’m not sure that’s what gets everyone else’s socks off. In executing the phases of my sustainable journey, I focused on the things with greatest financial payoff first (e.g. energy efficiency, solar PV, solar hot water), and as savings were realised, worked on the other things that had a slower payback (insulation, double glazing, and soon – water tanks). I don’t know if that’s a way to order the series (in phases), but it certainly helped me build momentum and keep it up.
Good luck, and I’m already imagining myself reading your work!
Gavin, looking forward to reading it. I think it would be a good idea if you outlined how you got where you are but then passed on a step-by-step guide to how you would have done things given the benefit of hindsight. I think a lot of people will benefit from your first hand experience.
Good luck with the book,
James
About bloody time !!!!
looking fwd to reading them and as there is no sustainability group in my area I’ll be recommending them to everyone.
Keep up the good work mate..
When does “Gavin’s guide to starting a sustainability group” come out ?
I’m sure that will be a best seller as most of us have no idea to get a group started and incorporated.
Great idea, cheers Phil!
I’m with James — step by step would be great.
This is an excellent idea Gavin and good for you for thinking of spreading the word to a wider audience. As usual I have a few comments – hey, that’s what you asked for and that’s what this section for too. So:
1. Are people in general these days going to have the patience to read 100 pages now that most are trained to tweets, blogs, brief emails and short snappy newspaper/TV news items? Perhaps a series of 10 or 20 page snappy pamphlets with lots of photos would find a wider audience.
2. Remember you are now an international personality with a readership world wide, so please don’t restrict yourself to what works in your own little neck of the woods – though of course that is your area of expertise. In my part of Canada for example, individuals investing in solar PVs is discouraged as they credit us LESS for any excess than they charge.
3. Your cheese tutorials are my bible for cheese making and I hope you will issue a complete set of these as a book or CD or DVD.
Goood luck
David
I’ll have to second the suggestion of Cheese making. Your step-by-step videos are the reason my cheese has turned out as well as it has. I’d love to see more recipes and more varieties. I’ve been trying to get hold of a red leicester recipe but no luck. I’ve also been thinking about trying some mild swiss. But no matter what the subject matter, I think you will have an audience. You’re examples of living green are wonderful footprints for the rest of us to follow. By the by, I have a friend who is thinking now of building her own cobb oven thanks to you!
Well done!
Steve
Steve – I will email instructions for Leicester to Gavin and if you also email Gavin and ask him to forward the details to you, you will get it. This is a descriptive recipe from a very romantic sort of book by John Ehle. He uses a complete mix of measurements including US gallons and Drams. One Dram is 3.9 grams – approx 80% of a teaspoon. This is for regular Leicester but I guess the difference between that and Red Leicester is the addition of the red marbling bacteria which you can get from cheese making suppliers.
Good luck.
David
Go for it! I’m sure you’ll be successful.
You may be interested in my friend Anna’s experiments in the world of self-published eBooks. You can access her books here:
http://www.wetknee.com/
Also, check out her blog archive for some of the trials and tribulations she’s been through. She seems to be having good success selling shorter eBooks at $0.99 – people are used to paying that for an iPhone app or song, so it has become the standard no-brainer price point.
Let me know if I can help in any way!
Thanks for the link Darren. Anna has really produced some wonderful eBooks, and her blog has given me so much information that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere.
Cheers!
What a fab idea… especially as the price of print books is so excuciatingly high in Australia!
I think 100 pages is fine for an ebook on how you get going… and don’t be afraid to make it longer. Why should we pander to those who can’t read more than a txt or tweet? There are plenty enough of us who read real writing, your blog included 🙂
I would like a how to on soap, beer and wine making (any fruit), and maybe even white vinegar and cider? My children would like a how to on Wensleydale cheese (Grommit!)as any we have seen here in Oz has been crazy money and it’s THE cheese they miss from the UK!
Looking forward to getting your first book 😀
How to. Build a cob oven please!
Thanks for all your suggestion. I have written them all down in my ideas list for ‘How To’ books
Gav