In this world of on-demand videos, instant download apps, streaming music, even rapid loading electronic books, magazine & periodicals, one might wonder why I'd even consider offering a real physical book with paper pages. Well, there are a couple reasons. First, though I expect few if any real railroaders to read this story, there might just be one or two who would like to. An eBook reader would be the perfect for train crew trying to stay awake while wasting away at a "Stop Signal", this however poses a serious problem in the face of the FRA's Emergency Order No.26, banning all personal electronic devices while on duty. So there is one reason. Another is the fact that there are some people who don't have eReaders yet. Technically, even I don't. I just have a couple apps on my android tablet. Offering only an eVersion of my book would preclude many people, including many garden railroaders who only log onto the net reluctantly. Finally, there are some of us, me included, who just like the feel of having a real paper book in my hands. So, for an assortment of reasons, I decided that I will offer the book in a physical version.
Unfortunately, there is a downside to a physical book. The drawback is the same things that are bonuses in the eBook format: publication costs. In this case, if I wanted to go the traditional route, there would be a couple thousand dollars up front plus the cost of printing books. Further I'd have to order a bunch at once and then store them until they sold... one by one, here and there. Not gonna happen in my house with five kids. There is an alternative: print-on-demand. Currently I have resources with the outfit of CafePress. In addition to books, they offer all sorts of products with custom graphics and I have gotten many items for myself over the years. This does mean that the base costs is higher. A single printing of a unqiue item has a tremendous upfront setup cost, which they have to pass onto the buyer. Because of this, I only specify a markup of ?2 dollars on top of their costs. While I feel the story is worth at least five dollars, I recognize the fact that you have already spent serious money on the printing.
Purchase the Book Unfortunately, the printed book is not available at this time. Like the ebook version, I could offer some techno-gibberish of why it is not my fault, but it is. The truth is that the book isn't done yet. Everytime I think I have finsihed it, something comes up that generates a new idea and... well you get the idea. Right now I'm integrating the ideas for the Appalachia Great Eastern Rwy. Once thats done, I should be ready to publish... I hope. Check back, you never know what you might find.
FCR RailShop @ CafePress On the other hand, if you want, you can jump over to the Freedom Central's eStore at CafePress to see what other items we have for sale. All proceeds benefit the Freedom Central's Research & Development budget... we all thank you for that :-) !
