White Sox Outsider 2010 is on sale

In what is the most exhilarating and nerve-wracking day of my year, I have an announcement.

White Sox Outsider 2010 is available for sale!

Here’s what’s up:

And below is a brief sampling:

Now, a personal appeal.
Two of my co-workers told me the exact same thing when flipping through the proof: “You’re [forking] insane.”  I’ve heard at least a dozen other similar sentiments expressed over the past few months, using different and occasionally cleaner language.

White Sox Outsider 2010
Believe me, I understand where they’re coming from.  A couple months ago, I read a post on another baseball blog talking about a huge project that was time-consuming.  Sure enough, it was an annual, kind of like mine.
Except… it was 120 pages (White Sox Outsider 2010 checks in at 226).  And the work was split between 16 authors.  And a company handled the formatting and publishing.
If that’s time-consuming (and of course it is) … then, yes.  I suppose I am insane.
But I hope it’s looked at as more than a curiosity or strange feat of devotion if and when you read it.
For one, it’s fun for me.  Aside from waiting on the failed last-minute negotiations with Johnny Damon and the last-minute struggles with the PDF formatting, at least.  Writing is something I’ve grown up doing, and when I ended up in a non-writing journalism job (which I love), I started this site to keep exercising.  This book is an extension of that.
And also, I hope it’s a valuable resource.  I referred to White Sox Outsider 2009 over the course  of the season and while writing this book, and I think it holds up well.  There aren’t many sentences I’d take back.
That’s a big difference between the blog and White Sox Outsider 2010.  The blog is immediate, and the book allows for hindsight.  Going back and researching the original material (which I had to do plenty of thanks to the site dying in June) allows a better understanding of decisions and an ability to correct (or reaffirm) first impressions.
(And yes, the book is 98 percent new stuff, not seen here aside from the Jermaine Dye and Jose Contreras eulogies.)
And then there’s my friends and family, who edit the material and help me put it together.  And then there’s Carl, who made the book even better by infusing his creativity into the smorgasbord of facts.  Several people contribute way more manhours to the book than asked, and for their sake, I’d like to think they’re volunteering their time for something non-trivial.
Anyway, I understand the “insane” comments are mostly complimentary — I think — about the book.  But I hope by the time you get it, I hope that’s the fourth or fifth reaction for the reasons above.
One note about the shipping — I know the shipping charges are more than Amazon, but Lulu’s the best route for me to go through, with my lack of venture capital and lack of space to store pre-published books.  Treat it like a PBS donation or something.  The proceeds from the first book went to moving my site to a better server, and I have equipment upgrades planned for the upcoming season to further enhance the content.
Thanks for indulging me.  And, yes:

You can do so here.

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23 Comments
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jasonc23

Ordered. Thank you, Jim (and Carl!).

saltydog

Ordered. Those boxes better look right!

onlysoxfaninboston

Ordered. Looking forward to reading!

grinderintraining

Ordered, will go nicely next to my 2009 edition in the bookshelf. Looking forward to it.

K8T

Ordered, looking forward to reading it. Reading about renaissance europe and weather were getting quite boring at the gym.

marshlands

Purchased. Can’t wait.

jiminmaine

Ordered and looking forward to it! Really enjoyed your piece on Dye …

sophist

I’ve enjoyed your blog since being directed to it a few months back. Sometimes I agree, sometimes I (angrily) disagree, but I always learn something. So I just got my order in; looking forward to reading it while on Spring Break (my reward after grading 20 papers and 40 speeches next week).

conor

Just purchased the book. If it’s even half as good as the last one, I’ll be pleased as punch.

halfpint

Ordered. I’ve been lurking on the site since right after the site came back last summer and figured today was as good a day as any to thank you for providing the intelligent White Sox thoughts I’ve been able to find anywhere.
Thanks Jim. Keep up the good work!

oralsoxpodcast

Ordered and looking forward to reading it, Jim. The least I can do for all your hard work. Keep it up buddy.

3oooooooo

In for one. Hopefully it arrives as one after USPS gets their hands on it

stevepowa

Ordered. How much needs to be raised to send you to AZ?

mike42

Thanks, Jim. I just ordered.
If it’s possible, I’d to be able to buy the book for Kindle so I can have it when I travel.

mike42

Thanks, Jim!
If you can’t sell directly through Amazon for Kindle, I’d be happy to buy the PDF file. I can upload the file to Kindle to read.
Just a thought. I’m sure the market is bigger for you with printed books, but since you have a PDF file already selling it as an ebook may be another channel for you.

adrockski

Better to be insane than inane, and your writing is anything but. Just placed my order and looking forward to the read. Cheers.

fustercluck

Wrapping up Outsider ’09, just ordered ’10. Awesome book, great job!

fustercluck

Oh, and change your avatar. Get with the newness.