7 ms·

> I think people severely, severely underestimate the amount you can make self-publishing. I think you really should qualify this for the sake of all of us ama

> I think people severely, severely underestimate the amount you can make self-publishing. I think you really should qualify this for the sake of all of us amateur writers out there. I would've said "people severely, severely overestimate the amount you can make self-publishing." Most of us don't have a book idea worth writing about or are really bad at writing, or both. It's also really hard for a lot of us to realize which group we're in. You say "I raked in $TONS for a $40 non-fiction book that helps folks with business development" but I think the rest of us should recognize those details when we see your numbers. If I want to write a book about the subtle great things about unit tests, python, or the great American novel, I should tread with caution. My boring story will probably not make $TONS. > very best authors they published would sell 10,000 books. Their cut was something like $2/book, they'd pull in $20k. This is a more interesting part of your post, and worth highlighting. Self-publishing can net you a LOT more than working with a publisher. But for sure you've got to start with an idea that people think is worth buying.

austenallred 10y ago
The most important part of self-publishing is finding the right niche. Basically: You want to find a niche where people need what you're selling, and charge a lot for it.
- mooreds 10y ago
  > You want to find a niche where people need what you're selling, and charge a lot for it. And (see my other comment) where you want to stick around.
mooreds 10y ago
I made ~$500 on my book about a niche tool for a niche product: http://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/1339 http://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/1339 And then I never revised it because I was sick of the tech, and had moved on. Still glad I did it, but I'd spend a lot of time thinking about the product category before I'd write another book.
- taude 10y ago
  That's the hard part, finding something 1) you're passionate about enough to suffer through the writing 2) has value to people to buy it.
ghaff 10y ago
Honestly, for most tech people, the value in either publishing or self-publishing a book is mostly in the resume value. I don't necessarily mean that literally but now your bio includes "published author" and, in my experience, that opens up speaking opportunities and other doors--which open more doors etc. Most authors won't make a lot of money but, for many types of jobs, published books can support a lot of other things even if they're not some definitive best seller.
- ktRolster 10y ago
  You'd think so, but writing a book only impresses recruiters. Other programmers either give you a confused look, try to argue with you, or ask you to write FizzBuzz like this: http://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in-tensorflow/ http://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in-tensorflow/
  - jaggederest 10y ago
    I must admit having made a valiant attempt at writing fizzbuzz in brainfuck as a lark, once upon a whiteboarding session. Ran out of space and/or ink, if I remember correctly.
    - ktRolster 10y ago
      At a recent job interview, I started answering questions in APL. Didn't quite make it through. In retrospect, it didn't matter as long as I could explain it to the reviewer, because he couldn't read APL anyway.
    - OJFord 10y ago
      Do it in whitespace, easy.
  - ghaff 10y ago
    I'm not a programmer professionally. I basically do technology/developer/etc. evangelism of various sorts. In outbound roles where your reputation is a big part of what you're selling, it definitely makes a difference.
Swizec 10y ago
I'm self-publishing a book on combining React and D3. Talk about niche. So far (over 2 years), it's resulted in about $50,000 of revenue. Probably going to breach $100,000 lifetime revenue by the end of this year.
- JoelSanchez 10y ago
  How's the book called? I'm interested, I want to use D3's force layout efficiently using React. So far, react-vis-force[1] seems to do the trick. [1] https://github.com/uber/react-vis-force https://github.com/uber/react-vis-force
  - Swizec 10y ago
    It's literally called React+D3 :) Here's a preorder link for the new edition (you already get 180 pages): https://gumroad.com/l/mTWg https://gumroad.com/l/mTWg
    - ekiara 10y ago
      The date for completion on your book is December 25th. Is that DEC25 2017 or was the slated date DEC25 2016 and things have slipped a little?
      - Swizec 10y ago
        Things have slipped as things do. :) I should update that, but I've been busy improving the content and building better examples and learning how to do better video so I can do justice to the planned upgrades.
mnutt 10y ago
What about shopping your book concept around to publishers, validating that there's interest (and that they think you're capable), then if there is, self-publishing?
- ekiara 10y ago
  Do publishers act as a reliable source for validating your idea? or do you rely purely on your audience, if you can validate your audience directly then you'll be able to get a far more accurate prediction of demand for a book than from the opinions of a publisher's agents.

austenallred 10y ago

The most important part of self-publishing is finding the right niche. Basically: You want to find a niche where people need what you're selling, and charge a lot for it.

mooreds 10y ago
> You want to find a niche where people need what you're selling, and charge a lot for it. And (see my other comment) where you want to stick around.

mooreds 10y ago

I made ~$500 on my book about a niche tool for a niche product: http://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/1339 http://www.mooreds.com/wordpress/archives/1339 And then I never revised it because I was sick of the tech, and had moved on. Still glad I did it, but I'd spend a lot of time thinking about the product category before I'd write another book.

taude 10y ago
That's the hard part, finding something 1) you're passionate about enough to suffer through the writing 2) has value to people to buy it.

ghaff 10y ago

Honestly, for most tech people, the value in either publishing or self-publishing a book is mostly in the resume value. I don't necessarily mean that literally but now your bio includes "published author" and, in my experience, that opens up speaking opportunities and other doors--which open more doors etc. Most authors won't make a lot of money but, for many types of jobs, published books can support a lot of other things even if they're not some definitive best seller.

ktRolster 10y ago
You'd think so, but writing a book only impresses recruiters. Other programmers either give you a confused look, try to argue with you, or ask you to write FizzBuzz like this: http://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in-tensorflow/ http://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in-tensorflow/
- jaggederest 10y ago
  I must admit having made a valiant attempt at writing fizzbuzz in brainfuck as a lark, once upon a whiteboarding session. Ran out of space and/or ink, if I remember correctly.
  - ktRolster 10y ago
    At a recent job interview, I started answering questions in APL. Didn't quite make it through. In retrospect, it didn't matter as long as I could explain it to the reviewer, because he couldn't read APL anyway.
  - OJFord 10y ago
    Do it in whitespace, easy.
- ghaff 10y ago
  I'm not a programmer professionally. I basically do technology/developer/etc. evangelism of various sorts. In outbound roles where your reputation is a big part of what you're selling, it definitely makes a difference.

Swizec 10y ago

I'm self-publishing a book on combining React and D3. Talk about niche. So far (over 2 years), it's resulted in about $50,000 of revenue. Probably going to breach $100,000 lifetime revenue by the end of this year.

JoelSanchez 10y ago
How's the book called? I'm interested, I want to use D3's force layout efficiently using React. So far, react-vis-force[1] seems to do the trick. [1] https://github.com/uber/react-vis-force https://github.com/uber/react-vis-force
- Swizec 10y ago
  It's literally called React+D3 :) Here's a preorder link for the new edition (you already get 180 pages): https://gumroad.com/l/mTWg https://gumroad.com/l/mTWg
  - ekiara 10y ago
    The date for completion on your book is December 25th. Is that DEC25 2017 or was the slated date DEC25 2016 and things have slipped a little?
    - Swizec 10y ago
      Things have slipped as things do. :) I should update that, but I've been busy improving the content and building better examples and learning how to do better video so I can do justice to the planned upgrades.

mnutt 10y ago

What about shopping your book concept around to publishers, validating that there's interest (and that they think you're capable), then if there is, self-publishing?

ekiara 10y ago
Do publishers act as a reliable source for validating your idea? or do you rely purely on your audience, if you can validate your audience directly then you'll be able to get a far more accurate prediction of demand for a book than from the opinions of a publisher's agents.