Genesis of Man no longer available via book stores

Eight years ago this week (yesterday in fact), I published my first and so far only book, Genesis of Man. The arrival of the paper proof was eagerly anticipated after five long years of writing, and when it was finally unwrapped I cried for 10 minutes such was the emotional attachment. A year later, a second updated version was released with brand new cover (this was of course the version that should have been published all along), and sales finally began to take off. Genesis of Man became one of the few (at that time) print on demand titles to be available through Gardner's, Britain's largest book wholesaler, as a stocked item, after I telephoned every branch of Waterstones and most British libraries in turn, persuading more than 100 to stock it.

Times though change - the sales have now dwindled to an extent that it is no longer viable to pay the bi annual print free, so as from today Genesis of Man is unofficially out of print. I say unofficially because all that has really changed is that you will no longer be able to order it via book stores and online retailers. Anyone who wants a paper copy will have to order it direct from me, via my own website, or from the publisher, Authors OnLine Ltd.

It is better this way, as I can control the price and earn more money - those annoying discounters who pop up on Amazon offering "used" copies, which in reality are brand new, for ridiculous prices as a loss leader, will be taken out of the equation. If you want a paper copy you will then have to pay full price. This is only fair considering that I did all the work of writing and promoting it, using my money - not anyone else's but mine.

The Kindle version, which I uploaded some time ago, will of course still be available, which is also better for me, since I earn more again (70 percent of the selling price as opposed to about 15 percent for the paper version when ordered via publisher, even without the wholesalers), and I can make as many changes to the text as I want without incurring extra fees. I intend to do a re-write at some point, as much of the information has changed, such as the discovery of Akhenaten's mummy, not to mention my own views, which have mellowed over the years. I also hope to issue four smaller books - publishing each of the four sections as a book in its own right, giving people the option of reading it in smaller chunks. My writing buddy Tracy always said she thought it was really two books after all.

This is though for me the end of an era. When I think back to how I felt the first time I held a printed copy (I cried for about 10 minutes) in my hands, it is strange that I feel so little at its almost demise. I have to remind myself though that it not the end, and it does not mean that Genesis of Man is dead, for I doubt that it ever will be. The technology though has changed, and with it all that publishing is about - I then need to change with it and this I have done.