Not an encouraging notice, is it? Have you ever had the "Backorder Blues"? You know, when you get excited about picking up a new book only to find that it is on backorder via your favourite store, or is entirely unavailable? It's hard to be motivated to actually complete your order, isn't it. Having to "wait and see" isn't much incentive for a willing buyer.

I've had a few books like this over the years, but I never expected it to be my own book! That's a wound that cuts twice for any author.

Alas, only two years after it's first printing, O'Reilly has run out of copies of my book. If you are ordering online you'll see the above message about being on backorder. At first when I saw long wait times appearing on Amazon or Chapter's websites, I thought perhaps they were just waiting for more shipments of stock. But then when I realised the publisher itself had run out of copies, I was really at a loss - especially because I wanted to give away some copies at the FOSS4G conference but was unable to.

Only after a few willing buyers emailed me did I discover it was truly out of print and that O'Reilly didn't have any clear plan for reprints. The only facts I know are that the initial print run wasn't enough to keep up with the demand. Call me naive (or at least cynical), but I thought the purpose of publishers was to print and sell books they hold copyright to. Several more emails later and I realise more than a few other interested readers are left with few choices.

Still want a copy? Here are your choices:

• Wait for reprints - to happen "sometime" in the next couple of months. Unfortunately, as an author I don't have any information about plans at that level, so sorry to those of you who are writing and asking me when it will be reprinted. I really don't know :(
• Buy Pseudo-used - you've probably seen Amazon (and other) sites that list "New & Used" options to buy a book. There are at least a few places holding copies of my book that I assume have never been opened. Unfortunately, they've realised they are a collector's item (ha ha) and the price is four times the original, at least on Amazon! Are these the kinds of sellers who buy books on spec? Really, even I believe that no one should ever pay $119 for my book.
• Go electronic - there are PDF's available for purchase on O'Reilly's site still. It is also available via your Safari bookshelf, if you have one. You can even purchase individual chapters of interest. While I can appreciate this option being available, it doesn't really help the majority of readers I talk to, who want to use it as training material during off-line time or as a resource to share with others (e.g. students or coworkers). I also hear complaints that the cost is so near the print cost that it is not as attractive.

For those of you who wrote and asked about it - I hope the above options help in some way.

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In my short stint as an author, I've been surprised to find many disillusioned authors (and readers) frustrated by the processes of several different publishers. Is there a bigger problem that needs addressing?

A few people who wrote me brought up some good questions that I've been looking into. I am curious to hear your thoughts about the future of publishing and how it affects delivery of information, fairness to authors, meeting reader demands, etc. Here is some food for thought:

Does my scenario sound familiar to you? Is this a way of maximising internal revenue vs. sales to 3rd party retailers (read: buy the PDF from us, not the expense-laden print from Amazon)? Do authors tend to get the short end of the stick when publishers sell electronically, with the same royalty rate yet no print-related production costs? And, finally, when can a book be considered officially out of print, so the author can take over the copyright and work with another publisher to print it (as demanded by readers)? Should electronic copies count as being in print?

These are the kinds of questions going through my mind over the past few months. I hope it gives a bit of background and doesn't sound too introspective, but I am curious about other authors and their experiences. If you've been frustrated by not finding a copy of the book, please let me know so I can gauge ongoing interest and keep pushing for a reprint soon.

The good news, however, is that a German translation of the book is in the works, including updated and new material.

Tyler Mitchell
5-Nov-2007