I’ve been blogging since 1999. The goal was to learn how to navigate the web, tell people about myself, and practice my writing skills. I used different platforms, whatever the style was at the time. The oldest version of my blog is still out there: Karin’s Adventures
After a few years of happily blogging away, just for my own entertainment, I realized that this wealth of personal history, adorned with lots of pictures I had taken, was totally dependent on somebody else’s hardware for its existence. What if that platform seized to exist? All my posts would be gone!
So, in 2007 I decided to go through that entire blog and copy every single post with all the attached photos into a word document. I was going to just print that out, put it in a binder, and keep it on my bookshelf. But then I thought about the time that would take, and the ink it would need, and the not so impressive looking result that would sit on my shelf, collecting dust. After a little bit of online research I discovered the concept of self-published books. The one provider that I liked the best is Lulu.
Every time I posted a new entry to my blog I also added a page to my book. Once in a while I would order a printed copy of the blog-book and give it to somebody – mostly just family – for a present. I really didn’t think anybody outside of my immediate family would spend money on something they could read online for free. Especially for content that was just personal thoughts, or experiences, of mine. Who would be interested in that?
Well, never say never……. today Lulu notified me of a payment they made to my Paypal account. On April 4th a person in the US bought a paperback copy of volume 2 of my adventures.
After production cost and tax had been deducted, I ended up earning $7.12 – way more than I had ever expected. I don’t know who the buyer was. I’m thinking it must have been someone who knows me personally from somewhere. Makes me feel special. Thank you, unknown reader.