One of the hard things to come up with is a plan that breaks things into manageable steps.

Right now you and your team have done a number of steps and you see many steps ahead of you.

It would be good to list the steps you've taken--lol I know that you don't have too much time to spend on the Internet. One good thing about posting on the Internet is what you write and put up gets saved. And with a little organization it's easy to get into taking steps that build things.

On the first matter of steps you've already taken it seems to me that you've mentioned you have created a manuscript, but it's been difficult to publish this manuscript so far.

I wonder how is this manuscript kept now? Is it hand or typewritten? Is it in a digital format like Microsoft Word? If it is a digital file then there are options about editing it and formatting it for print. There are so many print methods too. So I would be very interested in learning a bit more about this text. You don't have to tell me all at once, but more information would be very helpful to me.

The second project you have do is to actually go out into schools and do some science instruction. This part may not seem really important to your book publishing plans, but I think that it actually is very important. It's a concrete example of something members of this team have done. It's worth studying this part and sharing it. The story of your teaching is one that will be useful to craft carefully.

On the second matter of all the steps you see in front of you makes me think that saying "steps" isn't really the right way of saying it. Actually it's not clear what the next thing to do is, and then the thing after that, the next thing after that, and so on. That's where some planning and decision making comes into play.

Experts are good, but most people have more expertise than we are given credit from. When collaborating online, ordinary people are often the most helpful. It is good often time to look for the right people, but it's not always clear at the beginning who those people are. Right now you've got the interest of some people here at Ned. You can look at profiles and if you do you'll discover that people here are expert at some of the skills that will make this project go. The important thing to remember is that everyone has something to offer and when they offer it's a gift.

That last part is a bit funny. Some people are very fond of the idea of making gifts of themselves. There are some sort of unwritten rules, for example people like to be appreciated when they give gifts, and they want to give their gifts on their own terms. Really there are lots of rules and some people imagine that there are so many rule that hardly anything will get done by people giving gifts. But I know that much can be done this way, but most people really aren't so good at figuring out the rules. So it takes some time to experiment and a willingness to be open to learning how.

I see lots of things that need to be done to get this project running. And I also know that you all are still in school. That's the most important thing to concentrate on now. But I also know that because you are leaving school soon that you feel some urgency to get things done. Something I'm almost 100% sure of is that money will not fall out of the sky to provide all of the things you need. I'm also sure that with work and good planning that much can be done to make your goals.

Please don't think that planning takes too much time, because planning--making a good plan--really is doing the good work you want to do. Nothing with happen faster because you don't take time to plan, in fact things will only happen as a result of good planning.

Thank you John for your good comments. I will start with the manuscript we have, it is type written and it is digital in microsoft word.The manuscript is kept in soft copy on a removable disc . Now below are the list of activities we are to do as a team: -Identify project team structure:who will be the team leader for the project? who will do what and when? Departments that need supervision?

• Identify resources needed in a project:what resources do we have? which authorities will fund the project?How will we present our proposal to relevant funding authorities? How can the smooth flow of fund be assured? what aspects of project will be monitored and who will monitor them? How will the monitoring activities be organised and when will they take place?

• Identify target groups to include as part of project team.

-To set up cantact categories for the project team -Send initial notice and invitation to project team? -Manage contact list through out the project -Set up meeting for the internal project team. - Which target group should we begin with; primary, secondary or others? which subjects to start with sciences or arts? -Where are we going to put our headquarters ( location )? -How are we going to conduct our voluntary teaching services? which level to begin with; primary or secondary? -How are we going to print our books; which method to use? -How are we going to distribute our books; how will the books reach the users? -How and when are we going to archieve other goals of the project like building schools for poor students.

Those are some the questions we need to answer before we begin. Any comments are welcome. Thanks

I made a plan space for you and put your list over there, Kasinja.

I think that things might happen a bit quicker if you focus a bit. You can not do everything at once.

If you want to distribute books to poor students, I would suggest that you talk to teachers and find out exactly what they need. Do a survey. Once you know what texts are needed, you can work on writing them. Once they are written, they will need to be tested.

There is little sense in focusing your time on publishing techniques, and office space and distribution techniques before you have publishable material. With a master plan though, you can whittle away at the later things in the plan but still not get totally distracted from the task at hand.

Start small. Start simple. Worry about functional and quality content and not about gold edged leather bindings (I am exaggerating....) I wrote a text for a course entitled "Technological Change and the Environment" last year. I found someone to master how to print double sided for a book (not an easy task and it certainly wasn't me who took the time to do that!) We printed one copy and then photo-copied and bound with BIG staples and tape and plastic. It was great and the cost was like $2.

Consider setting up a google account and try out google documents. It allows for editing word docs by multiple editors at the same time. Keeps a revision history as well, kind of like a wiki.

Kasinja I see that you have a talent for planning. I'm not so good at it myself, I tend to have a hard time picking from my ideas. Your list from planning is a good beginning. It is helpful that Linda made a planning workspace too.

Among the things to do is:

Identify project team structure

Now imagine yourself say five years down the line as owner of a publishing company. The company plans to take on a new and ambitious project and will need to hire five or six new employees. As owner of the company what are some of the things you'd want to know about candidates who apply for the job?

I think that something you would want from each applicant is a resume or curriculum vita.

This seems incredibly boring, and I can't tell you how much I hate the prospects of writing one myself. But I still think that all of you working to make a CV is a good first step. This experience will be useful no matter what comes along in the near future. It's valuable because it's a way to list your individual strengths and see how they fit into your plan; just as you would find such documents useful in determining who to hire when you are the business owner.

Another reason I like the idea of working on a CV or resume is because in order to get support for this project, you'll have to present not only the project but yourselves. Working on presentation skills is important because it takes many, many connections with others in order to find the connections which will make a difference for you.

Linda's suggestion of a Google account is a very good one. Google provides many tools which you may find handy. The thing to do is to set up an email account--I don't think you need an invitation any more, but if you do I have plenty of invitations left, so just PM me with your email address. I have a friend in Iganga and Google works well for him. But a friend in Kampala find that it often doesn't load for him. That's why I say to make an email account and see if it reliable. If it is that's great, because in addition to google documents there are some other really useful tools.

Thank you Linda and John powers for the faburous comments. They are really wonderful.

John powers, i think a CV for each member will be very important as it will tell us who is capable of taking a role in a project. We are to look at that soon. I have a google account and it is working well for me. So i will give it a try on what you have told me. Otherwise thanks for your effort.

It's and old joke to note the hypocritical: "Do as I say, not as I do!" That's why I pointed out that I hate making CV's and generally avoid doing what I hate. Part of why I mention that it's a good thing to do has to do with telling others about yourselves, some might say marketing. That's something I'm not good at either, but important for the success of this project.

It is very good to have an organization and a government registration of the organization. This is a step that take a lot of work and planning.

Something that I think about that is coming up with a name something more general than Books for Poor Students in Uganda, or Uganda Books. I guess when I'm thinking more generally, I'm thinking of many other ways of sharing information with students, for example the many ways of sharing digital files. The reason I think this view is important is because the capital costs to start up a printing and publishing operation are fairly large. And mostly organizations grow by building upon small successes that cost very little money to start.

Getting back to the issue of telling others about yourselves, there are many ways to use the Internet to do that. While, I understand the problem that most rural schools don't have access to the Internet, it still seems important for the principals of this project to find ways to use the Internet effectively to further your purposes. Part of being a publisher is being good at marketing your products. Just as marketing is important to sell books, marketing can be important to receive the kind of support this project needs. And now the most important part to market is yourselves.

Whenever you publish something here at Ned, many people see it. You are contributing to your Web presence. I have a pretty common name so if you search John Powers, you won't see me in the top searches. However if you search Bazungu Bucks--the name of a blog I write but don't post to enough--then I'll come up and not just my blog but all sorts of places the name Bazungu Bucks has appeared. One thing about your Ugandan names is there's not so much competition. So as you put things up on the Internet, your name will be high on search results. I searched Kasinja's name and found mostly comments here at Ned, but also a proposal at Give Meaning.

So part of the reason that I think CV's are important is because in the back of my mind I'm interested in the ways people can use the Internet to build connections to make good things happen. Some people aren't like me and actually think about such things and plan. With a little planning and work the ways you all are seen on the Internet can be made more or less effective. I'm betting that you want to be effective. So it's fun to think of ways to do that.

Hi John, thank you for the nice suggestion. I deed but you may not believe it that the idea of changing the organisation name and registeration was the one i wanted to put forward today but if you have thought about that it sounds good. Nevertheless, this is what i had: I thought of a name which could encompass other activities like supplying exercise books, pens, pencils, chalk, furniture and computers to these schools for the students to learn in better conditions. With another goal of building new schools or improving the existing schools. I would suggest that we begin as a community based organisation ( CBO) as this will help us in the beginning to evaluate our perfomance. I was looking through district profiles in Uganda and i learnt about Rakai District which has been affect by AIDS.Many students here are orphans, they can not afford to buy even a pen for them selves, so if we put our focus on one of the sub-counties in Rakai district and with time we cover the District, with the perfomance of the project we shall be able to extend to other districts in order to cover the whole country, may be then we can extend the project to other developing countries as Linda suggested. So we need a constitution of the organisation before we register it as a CBO, but points to consider now are: Where is the Cbo be based in USA, UK or Uganda? How are going to govern it? Are we gonna have coordinators in respective countries? ANY WAY SUGGEST! thank you.

I really don't have a thought about the organization's name. Really what I've been thinking about is to keep options open. Publishing is an odd business. My sense is that in actually getting to the making of books a for-profit business may make the most sense.

Cassava Republic is a Nigerian Press and on that page you'll see they call themselves a "social enterprise." Social Enterprises are something that get a lot of discussion here.

At some point it will be good for you guys to register as a CBO. That will be an important first step in getting grant money and also collaborating with non-profits outside Uganda. But those things take some time in getting together, as you outline in your post.

Something that I think is very important to pay attention to is the composition of the Board of Directors of even a CBO.

But the point is to keep things a bit on track in the present term. You will be finishing up your term this semester. When will you graduate? How about others in the project, when will they graduate? I guess I'm wondering if you'll all be around in Kampala? And I ask that in terms of your thinking about sub-counties in Rakai. Where things happen really, it seems to me, depends on where you and the others will be.

There are so many pieces to fit together. Something I hope you understand is that everybody here at Ned understands the importance of keeping life and limb together while we move on with goals. So don't hesitate to talk about ways you imagine making money to live.

One of my big questions is about you. I know that you want to continue your education in water engineering. You can be sure too that many people here are very concerned about water issues and know the need for trained people like you. So my question really is about your relationship to this project of education. It maybe that you'll want to be a part time volunteer or consultant. Figuring out which way to go is hard. Making all sorts of decisions is why leaving school is so hard. We want to help you reach your goals, Kasinja, certainly I do. LOL how to do that is another matter, but at least you should know we are interested.

Thank you John for your comments. We would like to include 3 people from outside uganda and 2 from uganda on the board of Directors. So any body interested should show up early. 5 of us are finishing school at the end of may this year, its only Teddy still at university and we are to graduate next year in january.All of us hope to be in kampala after school, so we hope to focus on Rakai district when the project gets started. Yes i would like to do a post graduate degree in water resource but not sooner than after 3 years. Well am interested in water but the point of education in uganda comes a priority to me. I do not want other students to pass through what i have passed in like other members so am dedicated to first see that this project moves and then i think about my career in water. Yes a friend of mine earlier showed me 'givemeaning.com' and i posted my proposal but i assure you John powers my first interest is Book project for poor students in Uganda because far we have came thinking about it and i would love to see it suceeding to turn my dream of seeing Poor students in uganda suceeding in education. I want to be a full time volunteer in this project until it produces positive results in uganda and other developing countries. Thank you for your efforts, please let us continue to make this project a sucess. Thank you

I really don't think it's important to include people outside Uganda on the CBO Board. You many want to have a board of advisers, people who help with the organization which includes people outside the country.

In getting ready to register a CBO you mentioned you'll have to make a constitution. Right now the group has enthusiastic principals--you, but when you make a constitution you are trying to make an organization which can live without the principals involved. You are trying to make something bigger than just you. Realistically no organization ever succeeds without having dedicated founders. But things happen in life. There might be a girl friend who comes on in a leadership position, but then the relationship ends. Someone is put in charge of money and the money disappears. Favors are given to a member of the organization and then things go bad. I'm not being very creative in making examples, but the point is that over time things change and sometimes these changes can really get an organization into trouble. The purpose of a good board of directors is to have independent, but interested, observers who can warn of trouble and settle disputes. A good board of directors can help to make sure an organization is well-managed and looking forward.

The goals and objectives of the project are:

GOAL 1: To reduce illiteracy level in ugandan communities.

Objective 1.1 - To improve the physical state of existing third world schools and poor students by providing textbooks, exercise books, pens , pencils, duplicating papers, chalk and furniture.

Objective 1.2: - To provide a wide range of books and information resources to enhance education and learning and meet the needs of poor students and third world schools.

Objective 1.3: -To work to create networks of solidarity among people working in our sector, by bringing together the communities with others in Uganda who wish to improve the standards of education, and with volunteers and other interested people elsewhere in the world who wish to get involved. Objective 1.4 : -To Maintain stocks of all our publications all the time in order to satisfy our clients quantity demands and to Use local authors so as to produce books which the students can easily identify with.

Objective 1.5: To provide affordable education to poor students by providing them with school fees and building schools for poor students.

GOAL 2: To effectively use volunteers as a major factor in helping students to learn.

Objective 2.1:- To recruit teachers, Authors, Editors, designers,undergraduate students from Universities to become volunteers in the project.

Objective 2.2: - To provide a 4 week program to volunteers that covers (a) Publishing guidelines and techniques ( b) information on volunteering teaching methods

GOAL 3: To reduce poverty levels in ugandan communities

Objective 3.1: To provide small loans to the local people to start small businesses.

Objective 3.2: To create networks of solidarity among people working in our sector, by bringing together the communities with others in Uganda who wish to improve the standards of living, and with volunteers and other interested people elsewhere in the world who wish to get involved.

Those are our goals and objectives, any comment or suggestion is important to keep the project on track. Thanks

The name of the CBO:

We have thought of a name that encompasses all our programs and it is:

Community Development watch organisation ( CDWO) and it will have programs like:

-Book project for poor students: publishing and distribution of reading materials, distribution of exercise books, pens, pencils to students. -The school project: offering voluntary teaching services to schools, donation of furniture, computers, connecting schools to internet,chalk,textbooks,renovation of existing schools and constructing new schools for poor students. -Antipoverty program: Providing interest free loans to people in the community, provision of technical financial assistance to the community, creating partenerships with different organisations in the same cause.

Please you are welcome to comment. Thanks

It sounds like your organization is going to be much more about begging for money than publishing and distributing books.

As your company begins, I think you should focus, at least in your business plan, on your core value: publishing books for audiences that would not otherwise have access to them. Leave the distribution of pens, etc to your charitable activities once you have established income flows.

Also, I would strongly urge to you to cut the other programs that have nothing to do with book publishing. I can understand the urge to solve many problems at once, the reality is that you cannot.

Establish your press and its revenue model. Prove it can work. You will then be in a position to expand and attract the kind of funds necessary to support growth into the antipoverty programs, etc.

Lars has really smart ideas and you can see that in the work that he does.

I agree with his suggestion to pay close attention to the core value: publishing books for audiences that would not otherwise have them.

However, among all my confusing ideas, I keep mentioning the online world and the Internet. The reason I keep coming back to the Internet, is because it's a powerful tool for developing income flows. Perhaps the problem with thinking about the Internet is that books seem a very different medium from online publishing. Books certainly have qualities that can't be replaced by online text. But I don't believe that books and the Internet are at odds with each other.

So while I very much agree with Lars that it's important to define the core value of your enterprise, I still believe that developing a plan for your enterprise's online presence is important.

One question I have about the current manuscript you have:

Is the manuscript formated in such a way that a printer can print it in book form?

The reason I ask is formating for printing is a somewhat separate skill. I think this is one area where some specific advice can be given.

Thank you all for the wonderful suggestions and we are trying to respond to you all. John powers the manuscript is ready to be printed in book form.

Henry, are you able to produce a .pdf of the book file? if so i'd love to have a look at it so i can know your product better.

PDF is a very good format for documents. Generally it's best for the online book publishers to submit the file as a PDF. PDF also have the advantage of being able to be sold online. In the Workspace Books I linked to a book called Lost Crops of Africa. The publisher is National Academies Press, and it's probably worthwhile to look at the site with an eye towards their revenue model.

With the book I mentioned they sell it as a PDF, or as a paperback book. Almost certainly when they got the book ready to print they used the PDF format.

PDF files can be made using free and open source software. But there are some technicalities for printing. Sometimes a file that looks fine on the computer will not print properly. So if you are using PDF as a file for your publishing it's a good idea to allow a few people like Lars to check things out. People maybe able to help with details that aren't immediately obvious. If you are not using PDF files, it's a very good subject to investigate further because it is a most versatile document publishing format.

Thank you Lars and John powers, unfortunately i have never thought of pdf but i have the book in microsoft word. Let me try to seek help from any body who can tell me how to convert it to pdf.

Lars may you send me your email adress so that i can send the book to you. Thank you.

henry, you can email me at lars at mixedmedia dot us. word is not a good format to use for publishing and you will want to think about/solve the problem of preparing your document for press.

When the document is ready for the press run, both having been edited and designed to the point of sign-off, I can convert a Word doc to PDF.

Thanks mark

Henry, I received your word document of a sample chapter in biology. Thank you!

Can you tell me, what is the intended age level targeted for this text?

cheers,

lars

The intended age is between 17-20 years, in uganda we refer to them as Advanced level students( A'level). Thank you.