This year's titles have been exciting to work on, especially This Fragile Planet: His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Environment.
I've been able to support Buddhist charities with almost $5000 as part of the larger pool of royalties that Sumeru books have generated for their authors.
All Sumeru books sold on this site have lower prices for 2022. Why, you ask? There are essentially two reasons:
- These are great books by dedicated authors with something important to add to public discourse, and I'd like to see them in the hands of more readers.
- I'd rather readers purchase the books directly from me or through a small, local bookseller because Amazon doesn't need our money, doesn't control scammers who offer Sumeru books at ridiculous prices, and has a corporate growth and consolidation model that seems entirely counter to the kind of economy our world needs to survive.
There are lots of books in our backlist, so have a look. Start here:
https://sumeru-books.com/collections/buddhist-books
Of course, global distribution and our wholesale prices to more than 35,000 booksellers remain unchanged, so if you want to buy a Sumeru book anywhere, you can. I'm just saying it will be cheaper for you if you buy it from me.
Expenses have increased. This should be no surprise to anyone. Paper costs have risen about 6%, delivery charges are also up. Nevertheless, in order to hold the line on costs to you, Sumeru is reducing its retail margins and rolling back prices. Hopefully, increased sales will justify that strategy.
What's ahead for 2022?
- I've established relationships with three publicists, each with unique skills, to help get the word out about Sumeru books.
- Working on several books for May launch.
- Cooking up some other interesting community development projects too.
- Should be an interesting year...