Patch testing third edition
Self-published by acdegroot publishing
In the meantime my wife Janny and I had moved to Wapserveen and it dawned on me that I couldn't completely leave dermatology behind. The renovation of the new house was mostly done and the garden laid out and I was starting to have a little too much time. That is why I contacted Marcel Jonkman, professor of Dermatology in Groningen, to ask if I could do some volunteer work for the clinic. In 2007 this resulted in a part-time (20%) unpaid appointment at the University Medical Center Groningen as 'Advisor' of the dermatology department. It came down to teaching junior interns for 1.5 hours every 6 weeks.
I don't think I made a business case, but decided to produce the book myself, for which acdegroot publishing was founded. Of course I couldn't just write the book (well, I could) and publish it (not that), after all, the copyright rested with Elsevier. The fact that they did not want to publish a new edition did not change that. So I asked the publisher to transfer the rights to me. That all had to be formal and legal, but in the end they didn't make it difficult and I got the copyright back without incurring any costs.
In 2008, the third edition of Patch testing was published, self-published (acdegroot publishing) and produced by Giethoorn Ten Brinke printing company in Meppel. It looked beautiful. I did a lot of advertising by e-mailing as many members of the European Society of Contact Dermatitis and the American Contact Dermatitis Society as possible, sending them a pdf table of contents, parts of the relevant sections of the book, and, of course, how they could order a copy.
Naturally, I have sent copies of the book to all major dermatological journals with the kind request that they do a book review on it. I had planned to write a digital update on a regular basis to give free to those who bought the book. Indeed, I wrote 4 'digital booklets' with updates on the periods 2008-2010, 2008-2012, 2008-2015 and 2018-2022, the last one as an update to the 4th edition. I quickly decided to make them available to everyone through the Researchgate.net website and, of course, used them as advertisements in my emails. This always resulted in a number of extra book orders.
This edition again received a large number of favorable book reviews (see below). In the end, I sold about 530 copies of this third edition in 10 years, while the financial break-even point was about 150. The gamble to self-publish the book had worked out very well!
Book reviews of the third edition of Patch testing (selection)
Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Dermatologie en Venereologie 2008;18:417
Het boek voorziet in de testconcentraties en het geschikte vehikel van meer dan 4300 chemicaliën. Deze informatie is essentieel om het epicutaan allergologisch onderzoek (plakproeven) betrouwbaar en veilig te kunnen uitvoeren. Deze informatie is via andere bronnen beschikbaar, echter dit boek voorziet in een up-to-date, gerubriceerd en goed toegankelijk overzicht en maakt een vaak lastige zoektocht naar de juiste concentratie en/of vehikel overbodig ……… Het goed geprijsde boek is enig in zijn soort en onmisbaar voor de dermatoloog met een interesse in omgevings- en arbeidsdermatologie, verder reikend dan het verrichten van plakproeven met standaardmaterialen.
PIETER VAN DER VALK
Australasian Journal of Dermatology 2010;51:154
…….The third and latest edition of this book has long been awaited by the international patch-test fraternity and it certainly does not disappoint. It provides up-to-date information on recommended patch-test concentrations and vehicles for 4350 chemicals, an addition of 675 new allergens reported since the publication of the previous edition in 1994. If you can’t find the chemical in de Groot’s book, you probably can’t find it anywhere! …….Unequivocally, this information-packed, user-friendly book remains the most comprehensive and reliable guide to performing safe patch testing, and is an essential requirement for every patch-test clinic.
ROSEMARY NIXON
Contact Dermatitis 2009;60:120
Dermatitis 2010;21:336
American Journal of Clinical Dermatology 2008;9:418
…..… I cannot imagine anyone with a serious interest in allergic contact dermatitis who will not have this on his or her bookshelf rapidly.
HOWARD MAIBACH
Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology March 2009;530
Aktuelle Dermatologie ‘BBS981’, 14.10.08
…….Nach der ersten Auflage 1986 und der Zweiten 1994 liefert Herr Professor de Groot nun eine noch reichere, aktualisierte Auflage mit Bezug zu zeitgenössischen Literaturquellen. ……. Um 650 neue Testallergene erweitert, enthält die jetzige Auflage eine Fülle an schnell nachschlagbaren, wertvollen Informationen zur Kontaktdermatitis. Sie ist jedem allergologisch tätigen Dermatologen unbedingt zu empfehlen und eine gute Investition, nicht zuletzt weil die Suche nach entsprechenden Testkonzentrationen und Vehikeln enorm erleichtert wird. Dem Autor gebührt grosser Dank für dieses Werk.
HANAN ADIB-TEZER