The other day, when someone asked me this question, I was surprised to see that half-a-dozen of my books will soon be available in bookshops (or by post or by internet) and that about a dozen more are waiting patiently (some for twenty to forty years) to be edited and published.

Having been so slow to get these books out I think it is time for me to make their existence known to those who may have wondered what I have been doing since 1974 (when I resigned from academia and became less active in design methods, though I am still teaching them and writing about them occasionally).

I wrote this announcement to by-pass the difficulty of finding these writings, most of which are invisible or inaccessible via commercial channels, for instance BOOKS IN PRINT. I hope that it will be useful to librarians, at least, and perhaps interesting in itself?

Firstly, the six books that are available now, or soon will be, via commercial publishers or non-commercial small presses:

1. The second edition of DESIGN METHODS (which includes new material very different in character from the original) was published in 1992 by Van Nostrand Reinhold, ISBN 0-442-01182-2. It was re-published in 1998 by John Wiley and Sons, (who published the first edition in 1970). The new ISBN is 0-471-28496-3. (lxiv and 407 pages).

2. WRITINGS REMEMBERED, 1976: chance samples and memories of writings from 1950 to 1975, with bibliography. Microfiche edition, 1978, available by post: cheques of 10.00 (or the equivalent of 13.00 sterling in other currencies) made out to john chris jones, 118 Bridgeman Road, London, N1 -1BN, Britain. (196 pages: two microfiches)

3. ESSAYS IN DESIGN 1984, (John Wiley and Sons) was republished (with new material) as DESIGNING DESIGNING by ADT press in 1991 and later by Phaidon Press. It is temporarily out of print but is to be republished by ellipsis, London. (xlv and 335 pages)

4. TECHNOLOGY CHANGES, 1984: sixty-four pieces on technology and modern life, following the structure of the I Ching. Available by post from Princelet Editions, 25 Princelet Street, London E1 6QH, UK. ISBN 0-86298.010-0. (397 pages)

5. A new book NOTES AND PLAYS 1998: a result of questioning theatrical and cinematic realism, with design plays and other performances including puppet plays and a new version of Anton Chekhov's UNCLE VANYA. Available by post from Paul Green, 83(b) London Road, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE2 9BS, England . Cheques of 8.00 (or the equivalent in other currencies of 11.00 sterling) made out to Paul Green. ISBN 0 946904 87 1 (136 pages)

6. Another new book, THE INTERNET AND EVERYONE: thoughts about the internet, its precedents, such as the phone, and its possibilities for despecialisation and 'creative democracy'. Some of it is fictional and some of it is in Welsh. To be published by ellipsis, London, early in 1999 with a co-publisher in the USA. Parts of it are visible at www.ellipsis.com/i+e. ISBN 1 899858 20 2. (589 pages)

That last book includes extracts from the books listed below most of which were written a long time ago but have not yet been made ready for publication in print... ('making ready' for printed publication takes me as long, sometimes much longer, than does 'writing the book'! ).

7. ACTIVITIES ARTIFACTS AND CONCEPTS ,1955-57: notes and theories about automation, education, art, religion, and other 'singularities' of modern life. (146 pages of typescript)

8. LETTERS IN COMMUNICATION ,1972-3: thirty-two weekly letters, re theories of communication, between Edwin Schlossberg and myself). (about 200 pages of manuscript and typescript)

9. DEAR ARCHITECTS (1974-5): letters to sixteen teachers and students of architecture at Virginia Polytechnic Institute about their own questions and projects. The topics vary from software and hierarchy to do-it-yourself architecture and the design of toys. (200 pages)

10. FOLLOWING GIRALDUS (1979): travel notes as I followed the JOURNEY THROUGH WALES of Giraldus Cambrensis in 1188. It includes a tape of about thirty people speaking Giraldus' descriptions (in English and in Welsh) of the places where they stood. Also tapes to and from Edwin Schlossberg. His tapes and my travel notes emphasise the quality of people and of life in places remote from power centres. (333 pages of manuscript) (This has recently been made into a computer typeset edition of three copies, awaiting whoever may want to print it in larger numbers).

11. 25 VILLAGES (1980): people of various ages speak of the past present and future of the declining villages in which they were born. In English and Welsh. (about 100 pages)

12-18. THE ELECTRIC BOOK, (1985-91): a fiction of j-921, a second earth, with historical characters and imaginary ones. In seven volumes, each of four parts and sixteen (or seventeen) chapters. (about 900 pages of typescript)

19. THE EDUCATION OF EVERYONE, (started 1994): another fiction, following the structure of the classical Chinese novel THE STORY OF THE STONE and involving non-dualism and 'the imaginary rock foundation' upon which everyone is an artist and is responsible for everything. (two chapters written so far)

I don't know if all of these will get into print but I do hope to make them accessible in an archive on the internet. This announcement could be the beginning of that.

The nucleus of this archive exists in a collection of my writings by C Thomas Mitchell at the Center for Design Process, Memorial Hall room 224, at Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA, and a bibliography by Claire and Tom Mitchell.

Tom Mitchell has also written a book length interview with myself (1989) which is as yet unpublished. Another unpublished interview, the three-day book, was written by Chris Crickmay about 1974.

Enquiries should be addressed to Tom Mitchell at the above address or at MITCHELC at ucs.indiana.edu or to me at jcj at softopia.ellipsis.co.uk

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Now that it is possible for anyone to write publicly via the net I think it is timely to make announcements like this as a recognised part of the new medium - which enables anyone to publish thoughts and make them known without the need to invest in a print run. A step towards what I like to call creative democracy and an end to the monopoly of printed books, much as we like them.