To one and all, I am at a bit of a dilemma and need your help in deciding what to do. I feel obligated to send a Perrin Book Project update to the group in spite of the very vocal objection of one individual. His tone and wording was ugly, ugly, ugly! Believe it or not, I'm a rather sensitive fellow who doesn't do all that well when lamblasted. However, I do understand the fellow's genuine concern that our genealogy groups remain "non-commercial;" i.e., no selling of books for the sake of making a profit. Now, many of you know me well by now (though we may never have met in person) and understand that my motives for introducing this project were as white as the driven snow. I never intended, nor will I ever intend, to make a profit off of the group for the sake of making a profit. I took on this project because I wanted the Perrin book to come back into circulation. My reason for wanting the book back into circulation was practical and pragmatic. I tried purchasing the book through out-of-print booksellers and was told that the going price for the book was $395.00. Recently, one of our group was able to get an offer at $325.00--still WAY too expensive for the average buyer. I reasoned at the time that perhaps I could find a way to bring the book back into print at a reasonable price. I worked with a local book store owner in Paris, Kentucky, with the hopes that we could bring the book back into print through her. She called me after a couple of months and said that she would have to charge at least $65 for the book, not counting shipping costs and sales tax. She then offered to bow out of the deal and let me contact the publisher directly. We both reasoned that since I was not in the bookselling business, I could offer the book at a much cheaper rate. As it turned out, she was right. I guess I could have charged $65 for the book and reaped a nice profit from it, but making money was not my purpose for having the book published. The publisher was willing to do a reprint, however, his deal was that I had to purchase the books upfront. This meant that I had to pay the full amount for the books, including shipping, before he would even begin to print them. The cost was $6290.00 for 250 books. Now, that's a lot of money! At this juncture, I turned to you, my fellow genealogists, and asked if you were interested in helping make this dream an actuality--and you overwhelmingly responded YES. It was then and only then that I proceeded ahead. I did so NOT TO MAKE MONEY but to bring this great classic back into publication. Now, did I make a profit on it? Yep. I did. I guess our fellow would have been happier if I took a loss on it? Perhaps losing my shirt would somehow make me a less greedy fellow? What he is not taking into consideration is the time and energy that I have put into this project, not to mention the many long hours I have to look forward to when the shipment arrives. I will be up to my ears in Perrin books that I will have to box, label, and ship. I have had to buy supplies, sit down every night for a couple of hours at a stretch writing out mailing labels, not to mention maintaining the order list and making sure everything is accurate and everyone taken care of. So, tell me fellow genealogist, should I post the Perrin update to our lists or should you write to me to find out where you stand on the order? Help me out here, because frankly, I'm at a loss. I know what my friend Bill McCray and some others will say--Bob, don't worry about it! But sadly, it's in my nature to be liked and loved. Well, that's all folks. I would suggest that you respond to me privately because I know what happens in these situations. Folks sometimes go on a "flame-out" campaign. I don't want the fellow who sent the nasty gram to receive, in turn, nasty grams from any of you. That only purpetuates ugliness. Always, and at every moment, be kind and considerate. Thanks for your time. Bob The "nasty-gram" in all its ugly glory: > From: Donald L. Furnish <donlfurnish@copper.net> > To: Jo Thiessen <jog1@ix.netcom.com> > Cc: Bob Francis <darby@visi.net> > Subject: Francis & Perrins > Date: Tuesday, June 22, 1999 1:45 AM > > Ms. Thiessen, > I would hope that Bob Francis has abused his privileges enough by now. > Isn't his role at this site to help maintain the info instead of selling > it or has the Harrison-L gone commercial? > I need the info that is, or should I say was, available at this site, > but I do not need to see his Perrin sales or anything about it again. > I do not think that the charter for the Gen Web includes this or his way > of getting and maintaining the site info. > TWENTY-THREE messages are twenty-two too many! > He has his own web site, WHY ISN'T HE USING IT??? > > Don Furnish > Whose GGGGrandfather came to Harrison Co. in 1784. >