| |
BookWriter™ Professional Bookselling Software
STATUS UPDATE FROM THOMAS A. SAWYER, DEVELOPER: SEPTEMBER 26, 2008
A long time has passed and BookWriter Pro still has not been released. Far too much time has elapsed and everyone deserves to know what is going on. At this point, I feel it is better to be direct and take it on the chin than remain silent and "hope" for a solution.
BookWriter Professional was in development for several years. During that time, I worked long hours to add features I felt were essential to booksellers. I performed substantial testing to insure stability on all platforms. I went heavily into debt to perform the development myself. Despite this gamble, all was looking good and prospects were bright — when several things happened...
The first was a mistake that was entirely my fault. I hired a programmer with strong referral credentials to perform work on the code. During a two-month period, he effectively altered much of what had been done in such a way as to introduce core elements I had deliberately avoided (we'll simply call it "Microsoft Baggage"). This served not only to bloat the program to enormous size, but caused it to run poorly and unreliably. I did not realize this at first because of my unfamiliarity with the new remote-access software I was using. Subsequently, I accidentally transferred his work on top of my own and did not discover the true nature of his changes until it was too late. His work was completely unacceptable and I had to revert to a much earlier archive. I spent a long period undoing the damage he had done, and did so successfully, but I also lost a lot of time and money. Lesson learned...
The second was Alibris, which I co-founded and with whom I had parted company in 2001. In mid-2006 my wife Niki and I received a FedEx package, which informed us that the company was being sold. Hallelujah! At last our 1/2-million shares of common stock could be converted into cash! We had gambled against the value of that stock, and now it looked like it would finally happen after all those years. Alas, it was not to be. Thanks to the manipulations of the CEO, the preferred shareholders received substantial payouts, the CEO himself pocketed well over a million dollars (as a "finders fee"), and we and all the other common stockholders were informed that our stock had been "retired" at a value of $0.00. Apparently this was all perfectly legal. I still do not understand it all, but suffice to say it took the wind out of our sails and left us in a bad position.
Then, on Christmas Eve 2006, Niki passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. I admit it took a long time for me to pull myself up from that hit. It was as if I had lost a substantial part of myself. But, as time passed, I regained some sense of focus and direction. Unfortunately, the debts and her estate have still not been settled as of this writing, since Niki left no will and New York State law is rather unfavorable to the husband in such circumstances.
Since then, I have been working to carry on as best I can, pay off obligations, help my family, and try to make good things happen. While I have made progress, it is nevertheless a process, not an event. On the positive side, there are some good prospects on the horizon. I have my health, my enthusiasm for this project, and my belief that everything happens for a reason.
There is one important point I want to be clearly understood by all: My disclosure of the above IN NO WAY constitutes a bid for sympathy. I absolutely believe that in this life, we are all responsible for our own decisions and accountable for our choices. I made some poor ones. True, there were circumstances that amplified those choices and have made it difficult to continue — but I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP AND HAVE NO INTENTION OF DOING SO. "Better late than never" may sound lame, but it is the plain truth.
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
One of the things that has strengthened my resolve has been the stream of messages from booksellers who continue to offer their support. It warms my heart to know that so many good people are out there. They have waited patiently for such a long time. There have been some refund requests from booksellers who pre-ordered, and I have honored every request, even if it took a while. But, these have been few and the silent majority continues its vigil.
It is my plan to change that as quickly as possible.
I am keenly aware of the changes that have taken place in the bookselling landscape, particularly with regard to Amazon and ABE. I am aggressively pursuing new funding opportunities to get BookWriter Pro back on track, finalize the coding, and get this puppy out the door. I believe it is not only a practical necessity, but a point of honor. Whereas I'm sure there are those who will smirk at such a statement, call me old-fashioned — I absolutely believe it.
It has been many months since I made any changes to this web page. I am very sorry for that, I should have been more communicative. But, the fact is that one of the funding ventures I have been counting on to jump-start this final effort has now stretched out to nearly 6 months! I never imagined it would take this long. And, I admit, it has been difficult to stay focused when merely making it through another day becomes the paramount accomplishment.
So, I'll simply say this: This project has not been abandoned. There has been no attempt at subterfuge. The delay in releasing the software has been MY FAULT. NO ONE ELSE'S.
I'll be blunt: This is a time of crisis. It is going to take a few more steps to get to the place where the funding issues are resolved, development is back on track, and BookWriter Pro is ready to roll out. I am approaching the next crossroad and I promise faithfully to KEEP EVERYONE INFORMED of events as they develop.
To those who have been waiting patiently for so long, I can only offer my humble thanks and a pledge not to let you down. You may be tired of hearing this (perhaps you've even gotten cynical about it), but I'm going to say it anyway: I remain committed to an early rollout and will continue to work to the very best of my ability to bring it about. I honestly do not know what is going to happen next — but my commitment to completing this project and putting a finished BookWriter Pro into people's hands remains undeterred.
Sincerely,
Thomas A. Sawyer
|
|
|
|
GENERAL INFORMATION
|
|
FULL SCREEN DISPLAYS
|
BookWriter Professional is a complete bookselling environment, taking booksellers to the next level of productivity. The program offers inventory, database and contact management, wants, accounting, composition and upload features for the professional book seller. Nearly four years in the making, BwPro is a next-generation, multi-purpose tool combining the best features of our legacy software, plus input from book sellers around the world. It offers a host of innovative new capabilities targeted specifically at reducing the number of steps required to accomplish critical business tasks. Major features include:
- Fully-integrated Inventory management with image support.
- Configurable ISBN Lookup capability for rapid data entry.
- Price Comparison feature for competitive sales management.
- Fully-integrated Contact management with USPS-address validation.
- Multiple-database capability allows multiple-business uses.
- Advanced data entry capabilities reduce steps, save time.
- Integrated Invoicing, Purchase Orders and Custom Reporting.
- Upload-on-Demand© sends records to multiple destinations.
- Dozens of utilities including integrated Backup/Restore.
- Integrates with BookWriter Web™, automatically updates web site.
- Imports records directly from Homebase™ and other databases.
- Built-in support for Book Prices Realized™
|
BwPro can be configured in a variety of ways and the desktop area can be customized. You can have as many or as few windows open at once as you like. Here are just a few samples:
|
BookWriter Professional provides the freedom to conduct your book selling activities however you choose. Aside from its extensive Inventory, Wants, Contact Management and Accounting features, BwPro manipulates data in ways that are very difficult or even impossible to accomplish with other software — particularly in one program.
A good example is BwPro's Upload-on-Demand© system. When uploading to multiple locations, BwPro not only handles the login, FTP upload and logout for each location, but it also automatically formats each upload file according to the individual requirements of each destination. This means that each file is as each location expects and needs it to be — data integrity is assured. You can combine, substitute and/or intelligently truncate records fields as needed. Send a UIEE file to Alibris, a delimited file to Amazon, and a new batch of composed web pages and images to your own web site -- all with a single click.
|
|
|
VERSATILE, EASY TO USE, SCALABLE
|
|
There are several core design elements that set BwPro apart from other online selling programs. One of these is its multiple-database capability. As many databases can be created as you like. Within each database, you can set up an individual set of field names and define personal & business identities, custom reporting and all other fundamental components that comprise a business. Inventory, Contacts, Wants and Accounting are all handled on a per-database basis. Thus, you can use one program to sell books, antiques, stamps, beanie babies, industrial equipment — whatever you like, in multiple locations!
|
|
A great deal of effort has gone into organizing BwPro such that the controls most likely to be used in any area are readily available. You seldom have to hunt and peck through menus to find what you need. We've found through trial-and-error with real booksellers that imposing the least possible number of steps is by far the most productive way to get things done. This may seem obvious, but it's surprising how few programs take this into account during user interface design.
|
|
|
|
EMPOWERMENT MEANS FREEDOM
|
For many sellers, listing their inventory through multiple sales venues like Amazon, Alibris, AbeBooks and others means an ever-increasing burden of fees, restrictions and competition. Booksellers are frequently required to jump through a myriad of hoops to service their sales venues, often using programs not well-suited to the tasks. And, an increasing number of sellers are offering their books both directly to their own customers and through their own independent web sites — which must also be serviced and maintained. Needless to say, these activities can eat up time quickly, sometimes leaving the seller feeling frustrated and exhausted.
Your time is your most precious commodity. Ultimately, the value of any sales venue must be measured by the revenue derived for the resources expended to service it. Doing this effectively means having the right tools for the job at your fingertips.
BookWriter Professional empowers booksellers by providing features designed specifically for booksellers. These include Hit List capabilities, Multi-Level Sorting, Global Editing, Instant Zip Code Lookups, Book Data Entry Wizard, a full-featured Document Editor, Invoices, Purchase Orders, Customized Reports, ISBN Lookup and Price Comparison features, Upload-On-Demand, extensive built-in context-sensitive Help with index and search capabilities — and more!
All of BookWriter Professional's features are intended to help improve productivity and make the most of your valuable time. You'll find ways of doing things you never imagined. You can implement your own simple procedures and follow them repetitively, or explore the full scope of possibilities. And, BwPro interacts seamlessly with all other BookWriter modules under development, including Auction Management, POS and BookWriter Web. This dynamic interaction provides unprecedented freedom to compose virtually any kind of file or document on demand, as well as manage your online inventory and offerings.
|
|
|
|
ADAPTABILITY YIELDS PRODUCTIVITY
|
The ability to adapt to different business requirements is a key design component. For example, BookWriter Pro is network-compatible right out of the box. This means you never need to worry about paying an inflated price for a network-compatible version — the same database can be shared by multiple users across a network (the database will be located in a folder designated as a shared resource in a designated host computer). One person can be doing data entry on a laptop, another can be composing and e-mailing catalogs, another can be performing accounting, and still another can be doing record maintenance and updating. Or, multiple users can be working in multiple databases. It all depends on your environment and your business needs.
BwPro contains special utilities which can potentially save thousands of hours of work. For instance, the ISBN Extractor tool scans all your records, locates and extracts any ISBN codes you've previously entered in other description fields, validates the ISBN's using Modulo-11 math, and populates the dedicated ISBN field in each record. Try doing that by hand! Still another utility converts HomeBase™ Tagged Data directly into UIEE format for distribution to multiple sales venues. Still another converts UIEE files into tab-delimited formats. Or, convert old BookMate™ Preview files into UIEE. You can also import and export data in multiple formats, at will.
On the technical side, all BookWriter software is designed to be as stable and reliable as possible. There are minimal dependencies on Microsoft and 3rd-party libraries. Downward compatibility is assured — you won't have to buy a new computer just to be able to run it. BookWriter is stable on everything from Windows 95 all the way through the latest Windows operating systems. Even Apple/Mac users can generally run BookWriter in O/Sx Windows Emulators without difficulty. And, BookWriter is designed to operate as a stand-alone program — this is not a "thin client" that relies on a full-time Internet connection and a distant server to perform its tasks. Your database records reside on your computer and YOU have control.
Users of our legacy software (BookMaster™, BookMate™, Record Manager™ and others) will happily discover that not only will all of their existing book data and accounting records be preserved, but no import is required to work with the new software — simply select the legacy database and BookWriter intelligently reads it and performs all transitions in the background, prompting you only when needed to make decisions. There is no loss of data and most field sizes have been expanded, offering a much broader range of data-manipulation and compositional capabilities.
Finally, BookWriter Professional interfaces seamlessly with BookWriter Web to compose documents, web pages or even a complete web site from your records. You can even update your site automatically as part of the upload process, or do it separately — whatever works best for you.
|
|
|
SCREEN SHOTS
|
Inventory Management
|
Contact Management
|
Wants Management
|
Accounting & Reports
|
|
|
Composition & Production
|
Uploading
|
Tools & Utilities
|
Help & Support
|
Click on any area above to see some sample dialogues. Please note these are PRELIMINARY views of portions of the entire program. Additional features are being added as each area is finalized.
|
|
|
|
TAKE THE TOUR
|
The fundamental premise driving BookWriter is that your time is valuable! A bookseller's day should not be squandered performing repetitive, tedious computer-related tasks mandated by selling venues, using programs not really designed for those tasks. We do not pretend that BookWriter Pro is a magic bullet solution to all conceivable issues you'll encounter in your online selling and in-store sales and marketing activities. But, we believe it will take you three giant steps closer to achieving real productivity — and maybe even make it enjoyable!
|
See for yourself how BookWriter Professional can address your needs in one, comprehensive, easy-to-use database & composition package...
|
|
|
|
