Book Thoughts

As sales of my books continue to be strong (even the 1st Edition continues to sell!), it's left me with some thoughts on where to go next.

Finishing the 2nd Edition was a huge undertaking for me, especially as I was doing it all in my spare time. Consider the fact that I am married, have 4 children, a stressful and busy job, and a long commute to and from work each day, and you'll understand when I say that it put quite a lot of stress on me and my family. This is especially due to the fact that I was doing it for free (ie no one was paying me to write this book), and the money I make from sales just about goes to cover my costs for all of the printing, postage, etc.

Another factor was timing. The problem I ran into with the first book in 2009 is that I was constantly getting new material to add to the book, and could have postponed the publication indefinitely in order to include everything. This is what eventually led to the 2nd Edition. For the 2nd book, I set myself a hard and fast deadline (which in and of itself added more stress when I fell behind and had to push myself to eventually meet it!). Of course, right after I published the book, Blur announced their raft of 2013 and 2014 shows. Add to this the fact that I've gotten many recordings of these 2013 shows and you'll see that there *could* be the possibility for yet another book.

However, I think publishing a third book , so soon after the 2nd book, would not be prudent. Remember, there were 3+ years between the 1st and 2nd Editions. Also, I'm not sure how interesting reviews of 2013 (and beyond) shows that have set lists identical to the 2012 shows (included in the 2nd Edition) would be...certainly not enough to entice anyone to buy another book so soon after the last one.

This brings me to my thought...what if I write an addendum to the 2nd book, reviewing these 2013 shows and any other stray shows that didn't make it into the 2nd Edition, and offer it as a PDF? It would be very inexpensive (~$3) and basically an add-on to the 2nd Edition for anyone who has purchased it. That way, it wouldn't necessitate a completely new book, unless people think an "updated 2nd Edition" (would this be the 2nd and 1/2 Edition?) hard copy book would be a better idea?

I'll turn it over to you, my readers and customers...what do you think? Which would you rather have?