Janie Sullivan and Norma A. Boeckler always humor me when I aim at publishing on the cutting edge of media. This was a big project, starting with:
- Warren Malach asking for the three-volume Postils set,
- Alec Satin getting the basic text together, a major task,
- Virginia Roberts helping with editing and the Treasures,
- Norma A. Boeckler illustrating all four volumes in color and designing the covers,
- Janie Sullivan drawing it together for print, Kindle, and free PDFs, and
- HAL at Amazon finishing the work and approving.
As the educational expert from the Left Coast wrote, "The day may come when we will have much more suppression of materials. It is good to have them distributed in advance, in many places." (paraphrased) Various experiences led to making everything from here public domain and non-profit (not that much profit ever piled up). Alec Satin does this with free eBooks (Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry) and low cost printed books (Lutheran Librarian).
Some were not able to read all eight volumes of
Luther's Sermons merged on Kindle (though Janie and others could), but I found this
House Postils set plus the Treasures could be read easily as one unit on my version of Kindle. That means 1,000 pages of Luther's household sermons, plus some of the best passages from those sermons.
Why Spend Money To Publish and Make No Money on Kindle?
First of all, I am appalled at those who rob fellow Lutherans by charging outrageous prices for their Kindle versions. They could make a modest profit and facilitate an enormous interest in Luther and other great authors. We are publishing at the lowest price possible, sending books out at the author's price (no profit and a much lower price than Amazon's set amount) - and also for free. Yes, we gladly send out free books.
And if we want to read their own hateful bilge, like David Scaer's
Surviving the Storm, we would not have to miss a meal to read it on Kindle. (Waldo Werning's niece asked WW before he died, "Are you training someone to take your place?") We have the answer - Yes, David Scaer - Waldo reborn - from
The Fort, sometimes pronounced with the St. Louis Irish dialect.
The main reason for Kindle, now that I have had some fun - is the world-wide distribution. We heard from Africa, "Your PDF does not open on my cell phone." This made Mrs. Ichabod laugh, because we only have a flip phone. As digital devices get cheaper and more widely used in the Third World, Kindle is the natural bridge to those people.
The Treasures from Luther's House Postils - Full Color - Print, Kindle, and free PDF
This volume had to come at the end, after the three volumes of sermons were published. The quotations cite the page number and volume of each one of the selected passages from Luther. The idea is to provide a lot more reading of Luther rather than quips snatched out of the air and left without a source. ("I dunno. I heard that he said that.")
