Earlier this year I attempted to launch the first book by the Wicked Problems Collaborative, and I admittedly did a poor job on multiple fronts. First, I set a release date that I thought I would reasonably give me enough time to complete the manuscript and “whatever else” needed to be done, without giving too much consideration to what “whatever else” was. (When you’re flying by the seat of your pants, it’s tough to look past the end of your nose.) So as the time drew close for the launch, the book came into shape nicely, but I had little time left for the other stuff, which ended up being some important stuff. That came down to things like having the time needed for formatting other versions (You can have our book in any format you like, as long as it’s Kindle…), and the sort of marketing build up that’s necessary to get the word out. And as a new, independent publishing house (with a severely strained marketing budget) getting the word out is hard. It’s really, really, ridiculously hard. So to make a long story short, we basically fell a great tree in a forest with few around to take notice.

Mea culpa.

I obviously made a huge mistake with this, and it’s been a hard-learned lesson. I had been fortunate enough to assemble an incredible group for the effort, who have all been extremely patiently with me as I figured this all out. And I think we offer the reader a load of interesting, thoughtful material to chew on. But that doesn’t matter all that much if the books sit on shelves (servers?) for want of eyes. To add to this, while I was in the midst of this do-over, I had to hold off on starting Book 2 for an extra six months. (Imagine reaching the finish line of a marathon {a personal best!} and happily starting to look forward to the next…before being told you needed to go back and make up the five miles you had missed if you ever wanted to race again. — Oh crap.)

When it took me a couple of months to get the book converted* from e-book to physical format (It’s complicated. The story, behind this, not the process.), I decided to pull the existing version and do a bit of retooling before relaunching it in the fall. Labor Day seemed a fitting target given the topic.

(* Here’s my “not yet a pro” tip: Having tried this both ways, it seems it’s a lot easier to start with the physical format and then convert to e-book formats from there. This may seem obvious to others, but some of us have to learn things the hard way.)

I spent the summer doing that work, getting out advance review copies, updating the artwork, and whatnot. The time has passed quickly and now we’re ready to give it another whirl. I hope you’ll give it a serious look, and if you do decide to read it, we’d love to hear your thoughts. A handful of honest reviews on Amazon or Goodreads might go a long way for folks that are on the fence. If you have any thoughts you’d like to share directly, I’d be happy to hear from you. Please do drop me a line at chris (at) wickedproblemscollaborative (dot) com. And if you could share this post on Facebook, Twitter, or any other online haunts, I’d greatly appreciate it!

Thanks for reading.

-Chris

“What do we do about inequality?” is now available in paperback and Kindle formats. Please have a look. People may not be talking about the topic as much as they were last year, but the problems sure haven’t gone away. If anything, I’d say we’re a little further out on the same plank.

WPC Book 1’s chapter list, with contributor names, is available at the bottom of this page.

Side note: The book was written to be accessible for a general readership, but it is intended to be used as a reader for the social sciences. College-level educators who would like to check it out can request a review copy here.

Up Next

Now that Book 1 is finally out the door, I get to start shifting my focus to the fun part, making the next one. WPC Book 2: What do we do with technology?, will look at the promise and peril afforded by tech’s accelerating encroachment into our lives from largely ethical/moral perspectives. The goal of that effort will be to help the reader consider circumstances and trends in looking for opportunities for a brighter future, as well as potential pitfalls we might look to avoid.

WPC Book 1: What do we do about inequality?

Now available in paperback and Kindle formats.

1. TO ADDRESS INEQUALITY, THINK GLOBAL | Dylan Matthews – Vox
2. THE IDEOLOGICAL STRAITJACKET | Sean McElwee – Demos
3. WHAT DOES EQUIPOTENTIALITY BRING TO THE TABLE IN TERMS OF EQUALITY? | Michel Bauwens – p2p Foundation
4. INEQUALITY, UNCOUNTED | Alex Cobham – Tax Justice Network
5. THE INEFFICIENCY OF INEQUALITY | Daniel Altman – NYU Stern
6. IS CAPITALISM UNFAIR? | Chris MacDonald – Ryerson University
7. THE PROBLEM OF INEQUALITY | Kevin Carson – Center for a Stateless Society
8. TOWARDS RENOUNCING PERSONAL PRIVATIZATION | Nicholas Archer – Middlesex County College
9. THE INEQUALITY OF WILDNESS AND THE NECESSITY OF WILDNESS FOR EQUALITY | Megan Hollingsworth – Extinction Witness
10. THE STICKINESS OF INJUSTICE | Jennifer Reft – reftpt
11. NOBLE FICTIONS AND SACRED TEXTS | Paul Fidalgo – Center for Inquiry
12. THE VOICES THAT ARE NOT YOUR OWN: MAINTAINING CHOICE IN THE AGE OF THE ALGORITHM | John C. Havens – johnchavens.com
13. THE EMPATHY DEFICIT: WHY THE INEQUALITY CRISIS IS ALSO A CRISIS OF EMPATHY | Robin Cangie– robinoula
14. BILLIONAIRES WITH DRONES: FROM OLIGARCHY TO NEOMEDIEVALISM | Frank A. Pasquale –University of Maryland
15. WHAT SHOULD THE WORLD LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF INEQUALITY IN LATIN AMERICA? | Patrick Iber – University of Texas at El Paso
16. OCCUPY SANDY AND THE FUTURE OF SOCIALISM | Sam Knight – The District Sentinel
17. THE “PLACE OF BIRTH” LOTTERY | David Kaib – American University & Chris Oestereich – WPC
18. INEQUALITY AND THE BASIC INCOME GUARANTEE | Scott Santens – scottsantens.com
19. THE AGE OF INEQUALITY: CAUSES, DISCONTENTS, AND A RADICAL WAY FORWARD | Jason Hickel –LSE & Alnoor Ladha – The Rules
20. TWENTIETH CENTURY SOLUTIONS WON’T WORK FOR TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY INEQUALITY | David O. Atkins – Washington Monthly
21. THE STATE OF AFFAIRS: HEADING FROM BAD TO WORSE | Adnan Al-Daini – Foreign Policy Journal
22. THE TRAGEDY OF OUR MIDDLE CLASS | Peter Barnes – peter-barnes.org
23. POST-SCARCITY ECONOMICS: WHY ARE SOME PUNDITS AND ECONOMISTS STILL ENAMORED OF AUSTERITY? | Tom Streithorst – LARB
24. INCOME INEQUALITY: WHAT’S WRONG WITH IT, AND WHAT’S NOT | F. Spagnoli – Cosmologically Insignificant
25. TURMOIL & TRANSITION | Harold Jarche– jarche.com
26. KNOWLEDGE, POWER, AND A POTENTIAL SHIFT IN SYSTEMIC INEQUALITY | Jon Husband– Wirearchy
27. THE QUESTION OF INEQUALITY: A VIEW FROM INDIA | Akhila Vijayaraghavan – The Green Den
28. WHAT YOU KNOW IS BASED ON WHO YOU KNOW | Deborah Mills-Scofield– mills-scofield.com
29. INEQUALITY IS ABOUT THE POOR, NOT ABOUT THE RICH | Miles Kimball– University of Michigan
30. TO TACKLE EXTREME POVERTY, WE MUST TAKE ON EXTREME INEQUALITY | Nick Galasso – Oxfam & Gawain Kripke – Oxfam
31. ADDRESSING WEALTH EQUALITY WITH INVESTING SOLUTIONS FROM NATURE, NURTURE, AND SCIENCE | Rosalinda Sanquiche –Ethical Markets
32. THE LOGIC OF STUPID POOR PEOPLE: STATUS, POVERTY AND GATEKEEPING | Tressie McMillan Cottom – Virginia Commonwealth University
33. POOR CHOICES | Melonie Fullick – York University
34. THE PARTICIPATION GAP | Devin Stewart – Carnegie Council
35. GETTING THE FRAME RIGHT | KoAnn Skrzyniarz – Sustainable Brands
36. THE FIRST JOB CREATOR | Adam Kotsko – Shimer College
37. LIFE IN THE TREETOPS: A CHOICE OF CHASTENING PRIVATION OR DEBASING PROSPERITY | Chris Oestereich – WPC