5 ms·

Thank you, this is very timely: recently I got a cold email from an acquisition editor too and been researching this fascinating topic of writing tech books. :)

Thank you, this is very timely: recently I got a cold email from an acquisition editor too and been researching this fascinating topic of writing tech books. :) Some more helpful resources I found: - Advice to Prospective Book Authors from Scott Meyers (of Effective C++ fame): https://www.aristeia.com/authorAdvice.html https://www.aristeia.com/authorAdvice.html - "I wrote a book" by Tryggvi Björgvinsson: https://dev.to/trickvi/i-wrote-a-book-lfg https://dev.to/trickvi/i-wrote-a-book-lfg - "Writing a technical book" by Ian Miell: https://zwischenzugs.com/2016/05/15/writing-a-technical-book/ https://zwischenzugs.com/2016/05/15/writing-a-technical-book... - Then there are some good discussion about this topic on HN. You can try searching by keywords like "ask hn + writing a book", e.g.: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14300932 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14300932

raboukhalil 7y ago
In case it helps you decide whether to go with a publisher or self-publish, I wrote down some thoughts about the self-publishing avenue: https://medium.com/@robaboukhalil/how-i-wrote-a-technical-book-in-under-200-hours-911d5e4f9e8c?source=friends_link&sk=13c5b15048cf1c8676d6e208181462b7 https://medium.com/@robaboukhalil/how-i-wrote-a-technical-bo... :)
- timClicks 7y ago
  Really curious how self-publishers market their material. Do you actively advertise?
  - zrail 7y ago
    Build an email list and sell into that list. Build the list by writing relevant helpful things and post them for free with a signup link.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    It may be worth noting that, while there's some built in marketing/advertising by going through a publisher, you probably shouldn't overestimate how much. You're still going to be doing most of the marketing, whether self-published or through a publisher. With me, plugging the book at conferences. Trying to get people I know who read it to put reviews on Amazon. (In my experience, lots more people say they will than actually do it.) I was able to arrange a book signing at one event. Email list/newsletter if you have one. Social media. Website/blog. Etc.
    - timClicks 7y ago
      Bootstrapping via conference/meetup talks seems like a good idea, thanks.
sytelus 7y ago
Was it from Packt? Me too :). I have been wondering if it is worth writing for Packt or find another publisher or even self-publish. I don't think Packt is bad publisher but I have no experience in book publishing and have no idea how much publisher really matter. I have used some excellent books from Packt and some not so. Almost all authors who have written for Packt who I found online have had good experience writing for Packt however few do consider them as "second tier" along with Apress while Manning sits in 1st tier [1]. Again I have no idea what this really means. [1] http://stevenrosenberg.net/blog/books/technology/2018_0207_pragprog_manning_no_starch_packt_apress_fill_oreily_gap http://stevenrosenberg.net/blog/books/technology/2018_0207_p...
- kubrickslair 7y ago
  Please don’t go ahead if it is for Packt. We had a horrible experience with them. After a bunch of hunt we moved to what is called a first tier publisher. And the difference is so massive. We are now restructuring and rewriting all chapters. Our reviewers think it can be a landmark book. None of it could have happened with Packt. I come from a startup world, and was partially able to stomach Packt at the start. But my co-authors have worked at Microsoft Research and Google AI. They just hated dealing with them. And in the end all of us decided we would rather self publish than go with them.
- TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
  Packt seem to be a quota publisher. They're more focussed on getting a steady stream of titles out of the door than making those titles definitive, and they tend to spam anyone who looks even slightly competent. I know a number of people who had offers from them, and they're invariably low-ball compared to other publishers. The top tier publishers pay an advance - which you probably won't ever make back, so you may as well consider it final payment for the book. O'Reilly like to pay nothing up front, so all you ever see are royalties. This can work well for a popular and timely topic. Niche titles won't pay much, although they can still be a good thing to have on a resume. The really big money used to be in the mainstream - how to use Windows, how to set up an iPhone - but that's less of a thing now that a lot of people Google for help. Sales figures for hardcore developer titles can be very low. Five figures for a developer title is a solid success. Six figures would be a wildly unexpected best seller, and seven figures a complete unicorn. Four figures are more typical, and high three figures can happen. The catch with royalties is whether they're a percentage of the cover price or the publisher income. Publisher income can be 50% or less of the cover price, so that's a thing to consider when working out if a book project is worth the time. With self-publishing, you keep a much higher proportion of the earnings. Anyone who is thinking about this should work some numbers through a spreadsheet. You'll find you can make the same money a publisher would pay with far fewer sales, and if you can get four or five figure sales - unlikely and very difficult, but not impossible - it's a nice alternative income stream. If you already have any kind of following, it's a no-brainer. If you don't, it's a huge marketing effort, but you still get to have final say on the timing of updates and revisions, which can keep a title earning longer than a publisher would keep it alive.

raboukhalil 7y ago

In case it helps you decide whether to go with a publisher or self-publish, I wrote down some thoughts about the self-publishing avenue: https://medium.com/@robaboukhalil/how-i-wrote-a-technical-book-in-under-200-hours-911d5e4f9e8c?source=friends_link&sk=13c5b15048cf1c8676d6e208181462b7 https://medium.com/@robaboukhalil/how-i-wrote-a-technical-bo... :)

timClicks 7y ago
Really curious how self-publishers market their material. Do you actively advertise?
- zrail 7y ago
  Build an email list and sell into that list. Build the list by writing relevant helpful things and post them for free with a signup link.
- ghaff 7y ago
  It may be worth noting that, while there's some built in marketing/advertising by going through a publisher, you probably shouldn't overestimate how much. You're still going to be doing most of the marketing, whether self-published or through a publisher. With me, plugging the book at conferences. Trying to get people I know who read it to put reviews on Amazon. (In my experience, lots more people say they will than actually do it.) I was able to arrange a book signing at one event. Email list/newsletter if you have one. Social media. Website/blog. Etc.
  - timClicks 7y ago
    Bootstrapping via conference/meetup talks seems like a good idea, thanks.

sytelus 7y ago

Was it from Packt? Me too :). I have been wondering if it is worth writing for Packt or find another publisher or even self-publish. I don't think Packt is bad publisher but I have no experience in book publishing and have no idea how much publisher really matter. I have used some excellent books from Packt and some not so. Almost all authors who have written for Packt who I found online have had good experience writing for Packt however few do consider them as "second tier" along with Apress while Manning sits in 1st tier [1]. Again I have no idea what this really means. [1] http://stevenrosenberg.net/blog/books/technology/2018_0207_pragprog_manning_no_starch_packt_apress_fill_oreily_gap http://stevenrosenberg.net/blog/books/technology/2018_0207_p...

kubrickslair 7y ago
Please don’t go ahead if it is for Packt. We had a horrible experience with them. After a bunch of hunt we moved to what is called a first tier publisher. And the difference is so massive. We are now restructuring and rewriting all chapters. Our reviewers think it can be a landmark book. None of it could have happened with Packt. I come from a startup world, and was partially able to stomach Packt at the start. But my co-authors have worked at Microsoft Research and Google AI. They just hated dealing with them. And in the end all of us decided we would rather self publish than go with them.
TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
Packt seem to be a quota publisher. They're more focussed on getting a steady stream of titles out of the door than making those titles definitive, and they tend to spam anyone who looks even slightly competent. I know a number of people who had offers from them, and they're invariably low-ball compared to other publishers. The top tier publishers pay an advance - which you probably won't ever make back, so you may as well consider it final payment for the book. O'Reilly like to pay nothing up front, so all you ever see are royalties. This can work well for a popular and timely topic. Niche titles won't pay much, although they can still be a good thing to have on a resume. The really big money used to be in the mainstream - how to use Windows, how to set up an iPhone - but that's less of a thing now that a lot of people Google for help. Sales figures for hardcore developer titles can be very low. Five figures for a developer title is a solid success. Six figures would be a wildly unexpected best seller, and seven figures a complete unicorn. Four figures are more typical, and high three figures can happen. The catch with royalties is whether they're a percentage of the cover price or the publisher income. Publisher income can be 50% or less of the cover price, so that's a thing to consider when working out if a book project is worth the time. With self-publishing, you keep a much higher proportion of the earnings. Anyone who is thinking about this should work some numbers through a spreadsheet. You'll find you can make the same money a publisher would pay with far fewer sales, and if you can get four or five figure sales - unlikely and very difficult, but not impossible - it's a nice alternative income stream. If you already have any kind of following, it's a no-brainer. If you don't, it's a huge marketing effort, but you still get to have final say on the timing of updates and revisions, which can keep a title earning longer than a publisher would keep it alive.