emmajane.net

Several weeks ago I decided it was time to delegate some of my work. I needed a set of notes from one of the classes I taught converted into an eBook. I knew that I wanted to be able to edit the material myself and that I wanted everything to be done in an open source tool. "Easy," I thought. "I'll just hire a F/LOSS person to do this for me." It turns out: not so easy after all. I asked my network of people if they knew any graphic designers who did book layout and worked in open source tools. What came back was the sound of crickets. Inconceivable! How could there be no one who did this sort of thing?

A colleague of mine told me that he often uses online "freelance" networks to job out some of his tasks. He recommended both Elance and oDesk. I decided to give them a try. My job description was short:

Yesterday I gave out over 300 copies of my new eBook: Theming Drupal: A first timer's guide. What a great response! Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I'm looking forward to hearing about the new successes you have because of the ebook. And a special thank you to those who emailed me personally, tweeted and commented to thank me for this free gift.

I was a little bit shocked, however, some of the incredibly negative emails I got from people who felt I was being "unreasonable" for ending the promotion before they had downloaded their free ebook. Everyone who emailed after the end of the promotion and nicely asked for their copy was given a coupon for the shop (hint: there was more than one). And everyone who subscribed to the list after the end of the deadline, and is still on the mailing list, will be entered into a draw to receive a free copy of the eBook on the next mailing.

I'm pretty sure that I really hate being pranked on. So this year to celebrate everyone who got pwned, I'm giving away a free copy of my latest eBook. It's based on the 5-week course: Design to Theme in Five. Twenty nine pages of Drupal intro theming goodness. Make that twenty nine FREE pages of Drupal intro theming goodness. Of course there's a catch: to get your copy you need to sign up for the (also free) Design to Theme mailing list. Don't be a sucker. Don't believe anything else you read on the Internet today. And don't forget to sign-up and get your free eBook. Even if the rest of the world is out to get us, you'll have a free eBook to read while you hide from the shame of being caught in a prank.