I try to enhance my State Pension by selling books and running the occasional bread course. It’s hard work.
Most of my encounters with other people in this regard are pretty positive and a good experience.
However, every now and again …
Last week on 06 January I get an email from my blog from a woman in Texas. Let’s call her “S”.
S 06.01 Comment: “I don’t see any clear information on how I can buy a pdf version of your books; please advise. 🙂 Thank you.”
Mick 06.01: “Hi S, It’s very straightforward. You tell me which books you are interested in (Sourdough Made Simple – £10.00; Microbakin’ – £12.00). I send you a Paypal Payment Request for the correct amount. As soon as payment is confirmed I email the pdf(s) to you.”
Didn’t hear anything back so on 13.01 I email her back:
Mick 13.01 “Hi S, Did you want to go ahead with ordering pdf’s or has the moment passed?”
Later that day she responds:
S 13.01 “Hi Mick your letter came in about 7 hours ahead of time since I live in Texas. Since I’m Welsh I’d love to buy a PDF. Today I’m determining what and when to buy. You know those English are all over the place with micro bakeries as well. They’re supposed to be sending a teacher to our area this spring and they have an online support network for women bakers. But that doest mean your books aren’t better advicewise or anything else. I’ve been trying to choose a naturopathic doctor as well the past few days and there ate a lot of charletains around here in Texas so that’s been an ordeal since this weekend slowing me down. After I get off of Skype this afternoon I’ll give things a bit more attention. We all know Weslh bread is better than English bread ;)”
Then later that day:
S 13.01 “Dear Mick: I would like to see myself earning an extra $500 a month with a good business plan. Since I don’t know if I will be offering sourdough, and because I do think that at least 1/2 of my sales will be geared towards “alternative” breads that can’t raise themselves without baking powder (rice, pea, millet, sweet potato starch, quinoa, amaranth, soy, buckwheat and corn, please tell me a little more about your Microbakin’ book. :)”
There comes a point when your time is costing more than the £12.00 (minus Paypal’s cut) you are going to get for the book. So I truthfully say:
Mick 14.01 “Hi S, Pretty accurate description here: http://thepartisanpress.me/microbakin/”
What do I get back?
S 14.01 “Well let’s cut to the chase since this other Baker stood me up and never called me yesterday while she was in Toronto. I think you said at highest capacity you mixed 60 k of dough. Did you get anywhere near baking 200 loaves a month? ( at $3 per liaf as a starter this is what my goal would be.) Or how many was it really? How much time were you putting in weekly at highest capacity? Facts please – and thank you hope you’re still at the PC when this arrives. I waited for a consultation from the other baker for a month now and still haven’t gotten one!”
So, People, you know me. I can be prone to responding inappropriately especially when it comes to Tossers. Should I leave it alone, or, if I respond, what should my approach be?
The PArtisan Baker 
And I thought there were only two things that came out of Texas….
I think you’d better tell off-line, Big Man, so I don’t lose my Texan customers. But we all know that Texas is a state of mind …
If it was me, I would cut the connection in the kindest way possible. People who ask those kind of questions are time wasters and often have different connections to reality than most other people.
I would simply say that I did not have time available to answer questions and if she wanted to pursue ordering a book, perhaps she could have a friend interpret the ordering instructions for her.
Good suggestion, Charles, but I think I’ll ignore her. That will give her the satisfaction of thinking she’s been stood up by two bakers.
Best wishes
Time is money….tosser she is..