Why Am I Giving the Book Away for Free?

Brian shares why he made the decision to give the PDF version book away for free…

Hi Harmonic Leaders,

Brian here… I’m so happy that you’ve chosen to download the book and join a group of leaders who share a goal of creating more harmonic organizations. There are many reasons that brought me to this point of deciding to offer the book for free, with the primary one being my simple desire to help as many people as possible. Here are some explanations as to my further reasoning.

Personal Mission:

My personal mission in life is to “Create more harmony in the world.” This is why I wrote the book. It wasn’t to make a lot of money. It wasn’t to become a well-known thought-leader. It was simply to help people to be more positive in their interactions with others (both at work and in personal life). So, if giving the book away for free will better help me fulfill my mission, it is the logical thing to do.

Wider Reach:

I’ve sold a reasonable number of copies and eBook downloads, but the reach will always be limited because I’m an independent author and don’t have the power of a large publisher to push the book. The most successful books are marketed to be successful by the publisher. Yes, they must be good, but it’s the marketers convincing people that it’s good that creates social trending. Instead of using marketing to try to convince people, I instead hope that people will find the book and discover the value on their own. Call me naive, but it is a strong hope. So, if you feel the book is helpful, please just tell a friend or two so they can benefit as well (and have them tell a friend or two).

Environmental:

Another reason to provide this free PDF is to help the environment. The printed book is 350 pages at full size 8.5”x11” paper, so it uses a lot of paper - some estimates place it as taking 1 mature pine tree to produce around 40 books of this size and length (and the paper manufacturing process contaminates a lot of water and is a major cause of air pollution). I prefer to save trees so they can help in the fight against climate change (absorbing the harmful Carbon Dioxide) and providing us with clean air to breath (and, of course, sharing their beauty for us to view).

Effectiveness:

The print-based version had to be printed in grayscale since a color-printing would have cost too much (and made the book price far too high). Many of the models and tools in the book greatly benefit from seeing the color of the graphics and text, so that is lost in the printed book. The eBook version does display the color-based graphics and text, but the formatting of the text is lost (much of the look and feel of the book is based on the text-formatting). And it’s hard to point to a specific concept in the eBook version since the page numbers vary based on viewer size and zoom settings (so I’m not able to say, turn to page 174 in the book).

Disrupting the Book Industry:

Most people aren’t aware of how the book industry works. It can be considered unfair to authors, and places the publishers and book-sellers as the primary beneficiaries. The average author only gets around 10% of the sale of the book. The publisher and book-seller get the rest. I personally consider it very unfair that the creator of the work is the one who least benefits (note: it’s much the same story in the music industry for the songwriter - actually much worse). The “Machine” of the book industry needs to be reexamined and fairness created for the creator. In giving this book away, it takes away some power from the machine (if only a very small amount to begin with). For those who feel that the book is greatly benefiting them and would like to offer a monetary contribution, there is a donation button in the members area where you can offer a small contribution - but please, only if you are in a sound financial place and truly feel moved enough by the content to do so.

Helping More People:

Ultimately, I just want this book to help more people - as many people as possible. The beauty of this book is that when a leader chooses to utilize the philosophy and the specific practices provided within the book, that person then positively affects all of those around them, both within their team and with every other person who they interact with (both in and out of the working environment). So, it has an exponentially positive effect in the world.

I sincerely hope that you find the book to be meaningful, to be helpful, and to be inspirational so you can make an even greater positive impact on the world.

Brian Lowell French