Longtime Leaving Work Behind readers will know that I’ve been working on a book/books for a long time. With that in mind, today I am excited to announce that the first book in an ongoing series will be available to my LWB Book Club members in just seven days.
But that’s not all: they will be able to pay what they want for the book.
I’ve placed the value proposition in hands and trust in the LWB community to reward me appropriately for the quality of my work.
In this post I’m going to introduce you to the upcoming book series, explain why I have chosen a pay what you want model and also give you an opportunity to sign up for the LWB Book Club (it’s completely free to do so).
Belief and Beyond
The first book in my upcoming series is entitled Belief. As you might guess, it’s all about self-belief and confidence in oneself. It is intended to become an invaluable lifeline for those who doubt their abilities to create a life worth living.
I couldn’t put it better than I did in the book itself:
Belief creates the environment within which you can fulfill your greatest potential. It provides you with the mindset, motivation and passion to create a truly rewarding and remarkable life.
Belief is the first in a series of special books – my attempt to bring something new to the “self-development” table. Having read many such books myself, I have become disillusioned by vague writing, constant repetition and worthless fluff within their pages.
I want to do something completely different.
Each book in my series will be concise and actionable; made up of a collection of essays, each of which has a clear takeaway. No vagueness, no repetition, and no worthless fluff.
This is self-development for people who want to take action.
And because of the pay what you want model, I put the choice in your hands to determine my books’ value.
Future titles include Doing, Perspective, Preparation, Environment and Maintenance. Each of which focuses on a specific area that can help you to quit your job and build a better life, which is ultimately what Leaving Work Behind is all about.
Why Pay What You Want?
Pay what you want is something I’ve wanted to experiment with for a long time, and this book series strikes me as the perfect opportunity.
Put simply, I’d far rather you determine what my product is worth rather than me stick a finger in the air and slap a price sticker on the cover. I want to trust in your judgment and believe in the general goodness of most people in choosing to pay for something that they believe provides value.
On the flip side, if someone feels that my book provides no value, they can choose to pay nothing (although I’d question why they’d be reading it in the first place ;-)).
I’m not going to judge people for paying $x or $y – I’m simply going to put my work out there and let you decide its worth. To do so feels highly liberating to me.
When it came to implementing a pay what you want model, I owe a lot to Tom Morkes. He’s a bit of a pay what you want guru, having experimented with the pricing model plenty himself and written a guide on the subject. He was kind enough to talk to my personally about my plans and advise me on the best course of action.
My plan at this stage is to use Gumroad payment processing service, as it is extremely slick and offers a simple pay what you want interface.
Want to Become a Member of the LWB Book Club?
If you’re interested in my upcoming book series, I recommend that you join the LWB Book Club. It’s totally free to join and will grant you exclusive advance access to all books in the series, starting next Monday.
Just enter your email address below and hit “Sign Me Up!”
I’ll be in touch on Monday 21st April, when you’ll be able to grab yourself a copy of my first book, Belief.
If you have any questions, please fire away in the comments section below!
Tom says
Tom – thanks for the shout out man. Truly humbled by it.
Can’t wait to join the club and looking forward to the books!
Tom Ewer says
It’s the least I can do Tom!
jamie says
Hi Tom
It’s refreshing to see what can be achieved by working hard and giving back to people – what you have already been doing on your blog for what is it now, 3 years!
I remember reading LWB when you were building little niche sites looking for the Smart Passive Income dream and watched you go from strength to strength, writing, testing, tweaking, reassessing and expanding ideas to the success you have today. Self belief in the face of setback after setback carried your through when others have faltered.
To anyone new here – Tom walks the walk – the is a man worth listening to when it comes to self belief and speaks from honesty and authenticity.
I have read hundreds of blog over the years and Toms is the one I always come back to because he proves consistently that it really is possible to create a productive and lucrative life from the internet…
Tom Ewer says
Wow, thank you Jamie! You’ve truly made my day 🙂
Donnie Law says
I’d love to hear about your results with the PWYW pricing.
I agree that Tom’s guide on the subject is fantastic. I’m planning on using a PWYW pricing model when my wife launches her first product in June.
Tom Ewer says
You’ll be hearing all about it soon enough Donnie 🙂
Daryl says
Hey Tom,
Great idea in putting forward this model to your readers. I’m really interested to see what the results are going to be!
Tom Ewer says
Stay tuned Daryl!
Zoe Uwem [FreelanceWritingHQ.com] says
Hey Tom,
It’s nice to see you move a step forward again, and giving back to the community.
I’ve sign up already and I’m waiting for the release.
But Tom, don’t you think people might want to pay ‘lower than the real worth’ with this model?
Tom Ewer says
That depends on your definition of “real worth” Zoe. In this case, the “real worth” will be whatever people choose to pay for it. I’d like to think that only a small minority of people will think that the book is worth something but still pay nothing.
Jo Davies says
Very excited for these books to touch down!! A sneak peek I saw was great stuff for people! Also love that you are shining some light on the PWYW strategy and very interested to see how things go! Join the Book Club and you will not be disappointed LWB community!
Naomi@business start ups says
Hi Tom,
I read the results first which is why I came back to read the original post.
I love meeting people who are giving back and not just taking in life. Great idea!
Naomi
Tom Ewer says
Thanks Naomi 🙂