While delving into the archives (aka a huge pile of shoe boxes and the like) I came across the article pictured above. That handsome chap is yours truly, proudly clutching a manual I’d written. The article appeared in the local newspaper. (Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to find out which one, or if it even exists now.)

The manual was for a word processing program called Write On. I used the program itself to create the manual (apart from the screenshots). Here is a sample page, followed by the front cover:

As the article stated, I wrote the manual in two months, testing it on the kids and staff as I went. The school had a reprographics department, so I asked them to run off a few hundred copies, and collate and bind them. Each department had to pay for their reprographics, so I paid a couple of hundred pounds for this work.

Bearing in mind this was pre-web days (apart from CompuServe and a tv-based bulletin board system), one couldn’t just create a website and start selling from there. I sent copies of the manual to lots of computer magazines for them to review it, and told the local press (hence that article).

Selling was done by post, with payment made with cheques. Altogether, we made around £700, meaning £500 profit. Those figures equate to around £1500 and £1000 today, although I don’t think the comparison is very meaningful. Everything was much more expensive in those days. To give you an idea, one of the things I did with the profit was to buy a scanner, which cost around £400, for the school.

The proceeds enabled me to buy hardware and software that I regarded as very important, but not important enough for me to justify blowing my annual departmental allowance on them. The scanner, and the other items I bought, were able to be used by all staff and pupils — and they were used, so it was money well-spent.

In retrospect, it was a great way of generating income for technology, without a huge amount of extra effort. I would have written the manual anyway (just as I wrote the spreadsheet manual I featured in an article I wrote about documentation).

So, was it worth the effort? Yes, for the following reasons:

Firstly, as I said, I was going to write the manual anyway. Fortunately, as the program concerned was used outside education, I realised it had potential to make money.

Secondly, the profit I generated was equivalent to half of my annual departmental allowance. That’s quite substantial when you think about it.

Thirdly, it was good, positive publicity for the school.

Finally, I think it provided a good example to the students: if you want something (in my case I wanted a scanner for the school), don’t whinge and moan: find a way of getting it (legally, I hasten to add!).

If you have it in mind to do something similar for your school, I suggest considering the following:

Think about the product you wish to create. For example, if I were doing this today I’d create a pdf version of the manual, thereby avoiding the huge outlay on printing. Also, I enjoy writing. If making videos is your thing, consider doing something in that regard.
Also, try to do something that you would have done anyway, so that the marginal cost in terms of time is not too high.
Get permission from the senior leadership, because they might not want the school to be seen as a commercial enterprise.
If you do get the go-ahead, establish how much of the money generated you will be able to keep (not you personally, of course, but your department or area).
Establish how the money will be handled. I think it’s wise to avoid dealing with the money except for keeping records of orders received and that sort of thing. (Otherwise some people might think you’re lining your own pockets.)

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