Start the week with Andrew Marr
May 8th, 2006Last year, I sent a copy of our book to the respected jounalist and broadcaster Andrew Marr at Start the week.
My letter said
Dear Andrew,
I am writing to you because I wanted to send you a copy of my recently published book entitled Communities Dominate Brands, which, as a co-author, I believe would be of interest to you and the Start the week team.
I would imagine that working at the BBC you have a unique and enviable view of the media and technology landscape not just in the UK, but on a global basis as well. I am sure your understanding of the wholesale unbundling of mass media ? the threat to traditional commercial broadcast models ? ?ber-connected online and mobile communities exploding, a migration of mass media to social media and the inexorable rise of the consumption and constant redistribution of digital content is second to none.
You cannot open a newspaper, or read a blog it seems at the moment without the word ?community? jumping out at you. Communities Dominates Brands is the ?rst book to describe in detail, the issues surrounding the changing nature of consumption, business and society, driven by digitalisation that has structural effects on businesses, governments and institutions.
Anyway, we never got a response. And I thought that was the last of the matter.
On Friday, I had lunch with a friend of mine in Cambridge. James produced a copy of my book and asked me to open it.
Much to my amazement, inside was the letter I had sent to Andrew and the Start the Week team.
James explained he had bought the book, second hand, from Amazon.
Naturally I was touched that my friend had made the effort to buy our book, but was flabbergasted that his copy had been resold to a second hand bookseller, by the BBC.
For a non-commercial operation, it did seem bizarre to me. And to leave my letter inside… well, what do you say.
So perhaps someone from Start the Week might like to get in touch and let Tomi and I know how exactly our free copy sent to them was resold on Amazon. And, where the money went. Did it go to charity or is someone making money by reselling all books to second hand book dealers. I am just curious to know 
The fact that my friend James bought that very copy is almost beyond belief.
Yours bemusedly
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One Response to “Start the week with Andrew Marr”
By Ian Wood on May 8, 2006
Alan,
A few years ago the BBC started to used Amazon and eBAY to sell review copies for both books and CDs, the proceeds were donated to Children in Need. It still goes on as far as I know, I guess you book was one of those.
Look on the bright side the BBC London team just pass on there free copies to the Oxfam shop oposite in Marylebone.