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Ask HN: Should I write for Packt?

Someone from Packt Publishing reached out to me today asking if I'd be interested in authoring a video course for them. The subject is a good fit for me and I'd stand to learn a lot by going through the process. But looking around on the web it seems that people have had wildly divergent experiences with this company. So for anyone out there who has written for Packt: what was the overall experience like? Is it compatible with a full-time job? Did they keep their promises regarding royalties, etc? Most importantly: would you write for them again?

dudul 11y ago
I wrote one book with them so I can share a little about the experience. Note that it was a book, not a video course. - in terms of money, they did keep their promise. The royalties were 16% which I think is decent in the industry. They did pay without problem. Note that if they approached you with the project it's because they've done their research and think that there is a significant market for the project. - it takes a lot of time. Seriously. I know every single guy who wrote a book will cry about how time consuming it is. But it is. I had a full time job and it was difficult to spend another 1 to 2 hours at the end of each day on it. - they had a set schedule for the book. Basically they will work out a timeline to deliver chap1 after a week, chap2 one week later, etc. I was not very happy to work like that (note that I worked with them on the timeline to push back a little). I would have liked having the option to go back to earlier chapters to edit them based on something I mention later on in the book. Their timeline was also very aggressive. They used an average of 2 pages/day, which is actually really high in real life. - the contact at packt who was working with me was very helpful. He was always providing feedback and asking me to weigh in. At the end of the day, I was able to write what I wanted. They never tried to influence the content (the form sometimes, since they know what looks good in their books and what doesn't, which is fair). - I didn't like that everything was done in a .doc file. It makes it difficult for me to keep track of versions, etc. I ended up working with markdown and then having to move everything over to their .doc file at the end of a chapter. Would I write for them again? At least not for my next project. I would try another publisher to get a different experience. Good luck.
- forrestbrazeal 11y ago
  Thanks for sharing your experience! That's very helpful.

dudul 11y ago

I wrote one book with them so I can share a little about the experience. Note that it was a book, not a video course. - in terms of money, they did keep their promise. The royalties were 16% which I think is decent in the industry. They did pay without problem. Note that if they approached you with the project it's because they've done their research and think that there is a significant market for the project. - it takes a lot of time. Seriously. I know every single guy who wrote a book will cry about how time consuming it is. But it is. I had a full time job and it was difficult to spend another 1 to 2 hours at the end of each day on it. - they had a set schedule for the book. Basically they will work out a timeline to deliver chap1 after a week, chap2 one week later, etc. I was not very happy to work like that (note that I worked with them on the timeline to push back a little). I would have liked having the option to go back to earlier chapters to edit them based on something I mention later on in the book. Their timeline was also very aggressive. They used an average of 2 pages/day, which is actually really high in real life. - the contact at packt who was working with me was very helpful. He was always providing feedback and asking me to weigh in. At the end of the day, I was able to write what I wanted. They never tried to influence the content (the form sometimes, since they know what looks good in their books and what doesn't, which is fair). - I didn't like that everything was done in a .doc file. It makes it difficult for me to keep track of versions, etc. I ended up working with markdown and then having to move everything over to their .doc file at the end of a chapter. Would I write for them again? At least not for my next project. I would try another publisher to get a different experience. Good luck.

forrestbrazeal 11y ago
Thanks for sharing your experience! That's very helpful.