Organization Theory Book Now for Sale at Amazon
Organization Theory: A Libertarian Perspective
It's been almost four years work. I hope you like it. Thanks to Gary Chartier for the excellent job preparing the pdf for the publisher and designing the cover.
It's been almost four years work. I hope you like it. Thanks to Gary Chartier for the excellent job preparing the pdf for the publisher and designing the cover.
posted by Kevin Carson | 9:14 AM
30 Comments:
Congratulations Kevin! I'm sure the book will have a huge impact and will be a libertarian and anarchist classic for years to come.
I know that I haven't offered you much feedback on the draft chapters and other stuff, but I have been reading them and will be doing my best to promote the book.
Thanks for all your hard work Kevin. I'll be ordering it today!
Kevin, is there any difference from the pdf drafts and the published version? thanks
I hate the cover. Makes the work, which is great, look amateurish.
Thanks a lot, Joel and Anon 1.
Rafael: The pdfs are several weeks earlier than the final version of the text that went to the publisher. I edited out maybe 15-20% of the material to meet BookSurge's length restrictions.
Anon 2: Thanks for the feedback. All I can say is, the first time I saw that picture I seized on it as perfect for the message I was trying to convey in the book, and have visualized it on the front cover ever since. I'd like to think it appeals to people who've worked for pointy-haired bosses and suspected that pose was second nature to many of the the people running their organizations.
Are you a reader of the OrgTheory blog? I'm dismissive of sociology, but it can be interesting.
I'm subscribed to it, as well as Peter Klein's Organizations and Markets blog. I highly recommend both.
Congrats! Thank you Kevin!
Re anonymous, I dislike the cover too, but the way I see it there'll be plenty of time to rectify this for the AK Press edition and finally the Prentice-Hall edition.
Oh, and a note for everyone visiting:
Remember that you can fill out request forms at your local library and have a very good chance of seeing them purchase it.
See http://www.crimethinc.com/books/intolibraries.html for advice.
Very much looking forward to reading this!
Although I also would like to express dissatisfaction with the cover. It's extremely silly, and actually pretty gross; amateurish. Possibly worse, I can imagine how easily it might be misinterpreted: how many people will glance at that cover and connect the image to the title in a way where it appears that the book is bashing libertarian organization theory rather than promoting it?
"Heheh, yeah - those libertarians really got their heads up their asses don't they?"
Excellent, I look forward to reading.
"I edited out maybe 15-20% of the material to meet BookSurge's length restrictions."
Just wondering, will there be a version released with this material that was edited out?
rj: I doubt there will be an alternative print version any time soon (and anyway, a lot of the culled material was bloat), but the online pdfs contain a fairly recent version before I pruned the text.
Great, congrats Kevin!
Do you know if there's any chance that Amazon.de is going to sell your book? That way, I would save a bunch of shipping costs.
I love the cover. It draws attention, can imagine people checking it out who normally would pass right by that kind of material. That gonna be on any shelves, or is it web sales only?
Did my comment from a couple of days ago get lost in the system, or what?
Congrats, Kevin! I'm looking forward to reading it. I wish you great success.
Sheldon
Matt: I don't know about Amazon.de. I'll check with Booksurge.
b-psycho: It's nice to finally get some positive feedback on the cover. Of course being a self-styled Big Angry Negro, you've probably got some marketing problems of your own.
PML: I've published your comment on the C4SS paper, and your response to Iain. Was there another one since?
Sheldon: Thanks a lot!
Regarding the cover, there are worse things in this world than looking "amateurish." And besides, isn't the cult of "professionalism" part of the enemy? Let's deschool society already, people.
Also, even if it seems a little crude or blunt, it is a pretty apt image for the book's subject matter.
Finally, "Organization Theory" isn't exactly the snappiest title, so the cover might clue people in that they're about to read a visceral critique of modern managerial society, and not a mountain of sociological postmodern blather about interstitial lacunae and shit.
Can't wait to read the whole thing, btw. I've skimmed the pdfs but I just can't look at a computer screen for that long.
I posted on this thread, basically asking if there was a practical way to get the book and/or anything else of yours for cash here in Melbourne (Australia), maybe through a book shop, also asking about pricing etc. and suggesting that your publisher might have that information. On line methods aren't realistic for me as I have a conscientious objection to credit cards (there is a Tragedy of the Commons in their typical fee structure).
I can't wait to read your book. I'm a huge fan of organization theory, specifically around non-profit issues.
Congrats.
I'm excited that your new book is out and I hope that it has a strong enough reception that you will consider a second printing with a traditional publisher! As a worker-owner in a cooperative bookstore, it is disappointing that we cannot stock your work. BookSurge does not make wholesale titles available at a reasonable price (5% off cover instead of the industry standard of 40%).
The picture might work better if you had it redone by an artist in the style of a 19th century political cartoon, or maybe an old hand-drawn diagram. Label the guy "Standard Business Practice" or something. Just a thought.
PML: Do you have any objection to using a debit card?
Matt: Amazon.co.uk now lists the book, so I assume it's eventually to be listed on other national subsidiaries. If not, ordering it from the UK should lower the shipping charges considerably, shouldn't it?
Kevin: Thanks for the pointer. I'll wait a bit longer to see if Amazon.de is going to list it too or else I'm going to order it through Amazon.co.uk.
Josh: if "deschooling society" and challenging the "cult of 'professionalism'" means ending the publik skool monopoly and eliminating the various professional licensing cartels, I'm all for it. But you can oppose these monopolies, can't you, while also valuing standards of quality. Just because professions aren't protected by a state monopoly doesn't mean everyone's an amateur or a generalist: I benefit because there are people who care about the craft involved in beautiful design work, for instance, and I don't want the difference between their work and that of people who think owning a desktop publishing program and a laser printer makes you a designer. Can't we move beyond the monopolies and cartels and still find ways of supporting and affirming quality work?
From wikipedia on debit cards, "...the merchant may have to pay a fixed amount to the bank... Visa and MasterCard, for instance, prohibit minimum and maximum purchase sizes, surcharges [emphasis added], and arbitrary security procedures on the part of merchants". So yes, the same problem occurs with debit cards, and it would be prohibitively difficult for me to find one that didn't have it. The problem that comes up is that fees are spread among users independently of usage, and even onto non-users - and it is represented as a benefit.
I suppose it's a bit late, but you might find this article and book on perversion in corporate culture interesting:
http://business.theage.com.au/business/blame-perversity-for-the-meltdown-20081029-5bi2.html
Congratulations, Kevin. I will be looking forward to reading it!
Any chance that you'll make this available for the Kindle?
Unfortunately, conversion to Kindle costs money and I don't know if there'd be enough sales in that format to pay back the outlay.
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