Gutenberg and
William Caxton pioneered the printing press in the West. China already had the technology.
The Reformation spread because of the uncomplicated spread of God's Word. Luther's works were copied and translated everywhere, almost instantly - for Medieval times, it was fast.
Let us compare the printing industry today. The denominations control their own publishing, whether books or their insipid Thrivent-enthralled magazines. If a book makes it past their watchful dragons on the appointed committee, the public may see the work about two years later. WELS approved my
Liberalism, Its Cause and Cure. They also approved
Catholic, Lutheran, Protestant, but the
OJists got it killed. That marked the day of my independence from the Lutheran Sanhedrin.
Print-on-demand books can be in the public eye much faster, in a matter of weeks after final editing. The market price is perhaps four times the author's price, and they are not selling the author's price at a loss.
Dr. Frank Fiorenza, now at Harvard Divinity School, reminded me as I drove him home from his Notre Dame class, "No matter how much you write, Greg, you need distribution. You cannot move books without distribution."
The Public Domain Revolution - Back to Our Lutheran Roots
Various frustrations made me want to stop printing (while still writing). But there is another way. Back to Luther! Forward with the Net!
The complications of managing titles post-mortem made me think of Luther's simple formula. He wrote, others printed. I could eliminate the issue of controlling the books by making them public domain and free, whether print or ebooks.
The Internet solves the distribution issue by making them available all over the world - if people know. That means one central location by many copycat locations, however they develop.
Modular Distribution - Not a Monopoly by Press Lords
If those most interested will accumulate titles and resources, stored at their cyber-locations, people will have Lutheran titles to use for generations to come (if God so wills).
Besides this blog, I have two Facebook pages for this.
Classic Lutheran Books
Free Books for Lutheran World Missions
Feel free to join either group or both groups. The second one is to share more information among Lutheran missions, which are always looking for materials to use. I already have someone donating 20
Gems from Luther's Sermons and some other print books, for a world mission. I can send out books at the lowest price, author's price, very easily.
A Little Cooperation and - Boom!
After I put up the Lenski and Luther ebooks for free, a Danish divinity student pointed out a bad link. I fixed it and said, "Someone wants Lutheran works in French. Do you know of any?" He gave me the link to a gigantic collection of Luther's works in many languages. Those works are now linked on the main page.
I see this happening in the decades to come. Some websites and links will decay, but others will still be storing and improving on the supply of free Lutheran materials.
People have done this with print books in the past. I donated rare books to ELDONA, but they kept a set of Gerhard that was only loaned to them. However, they do not share their publications - they only sell them for profit. No Kindles allowed? I have mine at the lowest price possible - 99 cents, $2.99 for big volumes. I do not see how Lutheran doctrine can spread if books are locked up like gold coins.
