In February 2021, I published the book Sustainable Web Design with the publisher A Book Apart. At that time, awareness of how environmental issues relate to the web design and wider digital sector was minimal and I hoped that a practical, easy to read book would help educate, inspire and encourage positive action. I also hoped that it would help put sustainability on the agenda alongside ethical factors in the digital space, such as privacy and accessibility as part of a more holistic conversation.
I’ve been pleased by the reaction to the book and the impact it seems to have had over the past three and a half years, working as one part of a wider tapestry of initiatives that have rapidly accelerated interest in web sustainability not just in the UK but internationally.
I have to give a big chunk of the credit for the success of the book to all of my colleagues and friends who made it possible by contributing knowledge and support, but I also must give much credit to the team at A Book Apart. Their fantastic house style that combines real life examples and stories with practical guidance, delivered in a format that is both concise and fun, not to mention having lots of pictures to bring it to life, is a big part of the appeal of every book they publish.
I received a huge amount of support from their team during the writing and editing process too. Yes, the editing process was painfully rigorous, but it made the book far more compelling and robust, as well as helping me to become a better writer. The fantastic print quality of the original paperback also made it a product that people treasured and passed on, and the publisher’s cult following definitely helped it to find a critical mass of readers who could then become advocates for sustainable practices within the digital sector.
The end of an era
After such a positive start, it was with great sadness that I received an email earlier this year from the team at A Book Apart informing me that they are ceasing publishing operations, and that I would need to republish the book if I wanted it to remain available for sale. From what I understood behind the scenes, the company had been having some financial challenges for a little while and over the past year they had therefore been making a series of tough decisions in an attempt to steady the ship. While I wasn’t over the moon about all of the changes, I felt that they were probably the necessary decisions to take in the context of the bigger picture.
However, many authors weren’t happy with these changes and wrote collectively to the publisher with their demands. While I understood the concerns being raised, I personally didn’t feel comfortable with the specifics of the demands or more importantly, the tone of the approach, so I quietly opted out of being involved. A majority of authors did sign the letter though, and as A Book Apart were unable to meet the demands, they instead decided to cease operations and return all book rights to their respective authors. Perhaps it just accelerated the inevitable, but to me it felt like the final nail in the coffin of a good company going through hard times.
Re-releasing the book
Anyway, the upshot of all this is that along with all other A Book Apart books, Sustainable Web Design would soon cease to be available unless I either found a new publisher or re-released it as a self published title. The A Book Apart team were extremely helpful in trying to make the process as easy as possible and after some deliberation, I decided that the path of least resistance would be to self publish it as a print on demand title using IngramSpark. In theory this would require relatively little work to set up and would then make the book available internationally via most booksellers, not just on Amazon.
It turned out that the process of reformatting the book and getting it distributed via IngramSpark was a huge amount of work and took far longer than anticipated. This was mainly due to the idiosyncrasies of the IngramSpark system and the slow response times of their support, but it’s done now and the book is once again available to buy.
So what’s the difference?
The re-released book is now available as both paperback and eBook, with a few key differences from the original as follows:
New cover design
The first difference is the cover design, which had to be changed to remove the A Book Apart branding. I designed an updated cover that echoes the original but has a bit more character, incorporating a graphic from my favourite classic Wholegrain Digital t-shirt of a laptop plugged into a cable running through a series of wind turbines as shown in the photo above.
A little additional content
After much deliberation, I decided not to rewrite the book as a true second edition because it would have been a significant project in it’s own right that I wasn’t in a position to undertake. However, I did want to acknowledge how much has changed in the world of sustainable web design since the book was first published just three and a half years ago. The updated book therefore now includes an Afterword with my reflections on how the field has changed and giving some pointers as to what the reader may want to explore beyond the content of the book.
Lower pricing
The main criticism of the book until now has been its high price. This was due to it being a low volume book from an independent publisher, but I had always wished that the pricing was more affordable. When republishing the book, I therefore reduced the price significantly. The price of the paperback has been reduced from approximately £27 to £18 in the UK and equivalent internationally, and I have also reduced the eBook price to £9.60. Furthermore, the global distribution system of Ingram’s print on demand service will also reduce shipping costs for people in many parts of the world.
Different print quality
I always loved the print quality of the original book and it was something of a hallmark of A Book Part. One of the changes that A Book Apart had made before ceasing operations was to move to IngramSpark’s print on demand service and I have to admit that I was disappointed with the quality.
When republishing it myself, I therefore upgraded to Ingram’s premium print quality option. It’s still not as good as the original paperback quality, but it is at least decent. The downside is that the high print cost combined with the reduced pricing of the book basically now wipes out any royalties that I would have got, so all the money from each copy goes to Ingram and to the bookseller such as Amazon (eek!). However, I’m lucky that I can afford to forgo royalties and I think that the lower price and higher quality print will help to maximize the reach and impact of the book.
What about the environmental impact?
The original book was printed in Germany by a company that clearly cared about it’s environmental impact and used 100% FSC Certified paper. The downside was that the books were then shipped to the publishers warehouse in the USA for distribution and posted from there to customers around the world.
Since the printing was moved over to the IngramSpark system, the environmental footprint has clearly changed. The clear upsides are that only the exact number of books needed are printed and that they are printed as close to the customer as possible, reducing the impact of shipping. IngramSpark also state that they use “paper that is high quality from sound suppliers primarily from SFI, FSC
or PEFC certified mills for the books we manufacture”. It’s better than nothing though their overall environmental policy is pretty meaningless and I can’t help but wonder exactly what they mean by ‘primarily’. How much of their paper is not SFI, FSC or PEFC Certified?
As always, the most environmentally friendly way to buy my Sustainable Web Design book is to buy the eBook, but of course there are many good reasons to have a hard copy and the paperback is there for those who want it.
Where can you buy it?
You can buy the updated book from your preferred bookseller using the following ISBN numbers.
- Paperback: ISBN 9781068759406
- eBook: ISBN 9781068759413
Due to the efficiency of the distribution systems it has showed up on Amazon first (paperback and eBook) but it is also available from others such as Waterstones and my favourite, Hive.co.uk. You could also keep your eye out for second hand copies.
And it’s still free for non-profits
If you work for a non-profit in the UK, we’re still offering free copies of the original book to help your team learn about and integrate sustainable web design practices in your organisation. Simply fill in the form on our website to request your copy.
