UMI Dissertation Publishing,

I just learned my dissertation is available for public consumption.  Imagine my surprise when my colleague googled me and discovered my dissertation available for purchase at several sites.

I’m excited.  Very excited.  To see something I wrote in a format that people can buy is really pretty cool.  I’m surprised at how cool it feels, actually.  So thank you for that.

But I have questions, so many questions.  Why wasn’t I part of the decision to sell my dissertation?  Why didn’t you notify me?  Did you contact me at my now defunct university email address that you knew I wasn’t going to check?  Do I get royalties?  Who are you marketing it to anyway?  I have yet to meet someone who wants to read a dissertation.  As I finished school and signed away my life (and gave away a lot of money) on several forms connected to the copyrighting of my dissertation, did I sign away all of my rights to my own work?  I bet I did.  I recall reading the forms, but I sure don’t remember what they said.  Was my first act as a doctor to sign away my rights?  That’s just sad.

So thank you for making my words available to the public.  And feel free to send royalty checks my way.

Checking the mail daily,