So I have a unique asset, 50 IFRS accounting workbooks in English and Russian that are out of date, with no site to host them. I cannot sell them, so is it going to be worth continuing my quest?
My former colleague had left me with one signpost that pushed me to continue:
the earlier edition was on the Ministry of Finance website – 50 of my books in Russian. This was another unique aspect of the books: nobody else (Russian nor foreign) had so many books on its site.
The first thought of how to monetise the books came to me – they could be my visiting card to help me find work training IFRS accounting. I was providing various accounting courses, both professional business and university courses, but looking for more.
I was looking for a site to host the books, as a new site would not attract many readers. Also, site costs in 2010 were considerably more than today, especially taking into account design costs.
Also, I found that I needed 8 new books in each language for the new edition, plus other updates.
From a course in my project days (2003-9) came the answer to the hosting: bankir.ru
This site is the first choice of bank accountants, as well as accountants in other sectors.
One of the course delegates, Marina Korf, gave me the contact. Also, Adel Valeev offered to help update
the Russian books. Gulnara Makhmutova, an experienced bank financial controller from Ufa, also known through my earlier courses, completed the team and continues today as the primary Russian writer.
Russians are very kind and helpful people and Gulnara and Adel moved mountains to complete the new edition. The books were loaded on the site and the new Russian edition was proudly loaded on the site of the Ministry of Finance. These were proud moments for us all, but how could we transform a hobby into a job and generate an income? It was clear that we would need to update the books annually.
I had talked to a publisher before about the books, but made no concrete progress. In Russia, books are cheap and many are pirated, so I realised that publication was not a profitable way forward.
Then, it occurred to me that there is a hierarchy of returns: on the base level is publication and royalties; on the next (middle) level is securing courses – one or two additional courses generated by the books would yield more than publication royalties.
The top level of the hierarchy was securing a consultancy project, which would yield more than the courses.
The net result is that the books have helped me secure more courses, mostly in Moscow universities and two World Bank projects in Mongolia (with PwC) and Tanzania central banks based on IFRS.
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