THE "PDF" SUBJECT
Dear all,
Your disappointment and the way in which you have expressed yourselves over the last two days are so upsetting and touching that you have no idea. It's hard to come here today with a light heart. But when life gives you lemons... make lemonade out of them. This weekend, rather than let myself be overwhelmed by an acid rain, I tried to find the right idea, to turn the problem every which way to come up with something positive, something sweet. I understand all the points of view and comments that have been written here and on social networks, I've read them all. Some are fair and sad, others virulent and disappointed. Some people understand our decision, while others feel betrayed, disgusted and, worst of all, disappointed. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing worse than anger is disappointment. So I don't want to go back on the increase in the price of the booklet, because that's not going to change, there are incompressible costs if you want to make Made in France, with quality materials, and pay the people working on this project what they're worth. But I confess I've never been comfortable with stopping pdf's either, as I've been telling you it's been a thorny issue for weeks and I think I should have listened to my intuition and found a solution just so I'd feel comfortable with these famous controversial pdf's.
When I read all your comments, I felt a wave of infinite sadness that made me write to you this morning. I'm well aware that this has been like a betrayal, a bit like being dumped without warning... And I'm terribly sorry about it, I even regret it, but it's a fact that there are always people behind the screen commenting and giving their opinion... So I've been thinking for the last two days and I want to find a solution that's favorable and above all fair for you and for us, because I think you have no idea of the little gray cloud you've put over 80 rue du faubourg Saint-Denis!
As I was saying, I didn't have a good feeling about the decision to stop the pdf, as I felt it would take us away from the original concept of Make My Lemonade: Sharing. But I'm also in charge of a team with a huge amount to do, and we had to make a choice to make time for it and preserve everyone's quality of life at work, because managing the pdf layout and after-sales service is a real job in its own right, one that doesn't pay anyone at the price of €2.99 per download. I've heard you, felt you so far from the other side of the screen. I'd like to reinvent the pdf, and I've got an idea in my head that I need to formalize, make some calculations to see if we could welcome a new person to do the job. But I have in mind a pdf subscription system where every month the new pattern would be added to the list of old ones in your customer area and at less than 10 euros I hope, and still the pdf pattern per unit but at a higher price than 2.99 euros. It's all a question of calculation now to establish the fairest possible price for you and for us. That would be my solution: to be a kind of "Netflix" of sewing, all things considered, but I think it could work. I'll have to talk it over with the people working on Wear Lemonade to see if it's technically quick and easy to do.
I'm really sorry to have disappointed you and I hope that despite this episode you'll stick around.
Love to you and I'll keep you posted here to see if it's all possible.
Lisa
PS: Luisa, Bianca and Rita's patterns are offline as they are being updated and translated and will be back on Make My Lemonade as soon as they are ready. And for those of you who bought the old pdf's and haven't had time to download them, you can write to Maya at [email protected] who will be able to send them back to you.