6 ms·

Ask HN: Marketing and Pricing Advice for Self-Published eBook

27 points by maguay 16y ago

If you were writing a technology centric eBook, would you publish it free online and sell a digital eBook (PDF/ePUB/etc.) and Print on Demand version, or just have it for sell with a free sample chapter like most traditional publishers? I'm noticing many online eBooks that are available fully free online but with for pay extras, http://railstutorial.org being a good example. The free content would obviously be a great way for people to discover your writing, but also lowers the likelihood of them paying. Then again, a for-pay eBook that no one knows of won't get sold either. Most of all, there's no reason we need to stick with only the most traditional sales methods with eBooks. What's your feelings about each method, and which would you choose? I've almost decided what I want to do, but would be interested to see the general thoughts on both models Note: This is a repost of http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2042898, as the original post didn't get any response.

revorad 16y ago
I just finished writing a programming book (an R graphs cookbook), in the traditional way, so here are my thoughts. I had a print publisher, who did all the administrative and editorial work on the book. I just had to do the writing. Because of the publishing house's work, my job was easy. But I don't think I will ever do it this way again. Why? Because publishing books, especially programming books, in the traditional way just feels completely out of sync with the times. If I had to write a book now, I'd rather blook it. Blog every day and then compile and edit the blog posts into a book. It's the only way that makes sense to me now, especially for programming books because they need to be live, fresh and up-to-date documents, not works of art frozen in time (unless that's what you are aiming for). So I would give away the whole thing for free in the form of blog posts and also sell it in various convenient ebook formats. That's my opinion based on very limited experience. Here are some more qualified opinions: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/12/you-should-self-publis.. http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/12/you-should-self-publis.... http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/ http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/ http://ejohn.org/blog/online-book-vs-ebook/ http://ejohn.org/blog/online-book-vs-ebook/
- maguay 16y ago
  Thank you very much! Lots of great food for thought here. I'm thinking the same as you; I'm planning on writing tech-centric books, aimed at a general audience but with eBooks that are priced much better than the average tech eBook for normal readers. At any rate, at least for my first one, I really think blogging the book a chapter at a time (or hey, parts of a chapter at a time) would be a good way to do it. Thanks again for your time, thoughts, and info! Greatly appreciated :)
  - revorad 16y ago
    I just bought a Kindle and noticed that Amazon sells subscriptions to blogs ($1-$2). If you can get your blog on that, it would be a great marketing/advertising platform, if not money maker.
    - maguay 16y ago
      That might be a great idea. I've never thought my blog would actually be something someone would subscribe to on Kindle, but you never know. Plus, that'd be a great idea for syndicating a blogged book and making a little extra revenue while it's in writing. Definitely something to keep in mine. Thanks!
- flog 16y ago
  I've just finished co-writing my first book too, but with a publisher who hasn't helped out as much with the editing phase. This part sucks, and would be the main detractor for the go-it-yourself route (imho). If you're self-publishing you'll have to deal with indexing, editing, and proofing yourself.
  - revorad 16y ago
    Doesn't search take care of indexing? A good blog audience can help with the editing and proofing. I wonder if one could also outsource those tasks to professional freelancers, who I'd hope to see more of in the new publishing landscape.
J3L2404 16y ago
Cory Doctorow has some thoughts and numbers: http://craphound.com/walh/about/the-process http://craphound.com/walh/about/the-process http://craphound.com/walh/2010/10/monthly-financials http://craphound.com/walh/2010/10/monthly-financials
jasonfried 16y ago
When we published Getting Real (http://gettingreal.37signals.com http://gettingreal.37signals.com) we only offered it in two flavors: $19 for a personal-use PDF, and $49 for a you-can-share-it-with-10-friends/colleagues PDF. We didn't offer a free version. A few years later, we offered a free version in HTML online. Sales of the PDF plummeted. That was fine with us - we'd already pulled in ~$500k on the PDF. At that point we just wanted to spread the Getting Real word as far and wide as we can. The free HTML version helped do that. But the lesson is: If it's pay only, people will buy it. If it's pay and free, you'll lose a ton of potential buyers. Id start with pay only (starting at $19) and then phase in a free version down the road once you're happy with the money you've already made.
- revorad 16y ago
  When you made the book free, did you not get any backlash from people who'd already bought it? Any thoughts on how a similar strategy would work for software?
  - jasonfried 16y ago
    Maybe some people, but you can't worry about those people.
- maguay 16y ago
  I didn't realize Getting Real wasn't always available free, but then I only discovered it last year. Very interesting; I assumed the free online book was designed to drive sales of the for-pay PDF. (As a side note, thanks for the great info offered in Getting Real; it's a book I recommend often!). I was actually planning to price my eBooks very low, even undercutting the industry average $9.99 just to try to gain traction. Would you still start at a high price even as a new book author? I have a fair online audience from various blogs I write for, but really am virtually unknown in tech writing. I know 37signals always advocates charging higher prices for products, but would you feel the same starting out fresh without an already strong readership and support? Thanks so much for your advice; I really appreciate you taking time to reply!

27 points by maguay 16y ago

revorad 16y ago

I just finished writing a programming book (an R graphs cookbook), in the traditional way, so here are my thoughts. I had a print publisher, who did all the administrative and editorial work on the book. I just had to do the writing. Because of the publishing house's work, my job was easy. But I don't think I will ever do it this way again. Why? Because publishing books, especially programming books, in the traditional way just feels completely out of sync with the times. If I had to write a book now, I'd rather blook it. Blog every day and then compile and edit the blog posts into a book. It's the only way that makes sense to me now, especially for programming books because they need to be live, fresh and up-to-date documents, not works of art frozen in time (unless that's what you are aiming for). So I would give away the whole thing for free in the form of blog posts and also sell it in various convenient ebook formats. That's my opinion based on very limited experience. Here are some more qualified opinions: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/12/you-should-self-publis.. http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2010/12/you-should-self-publis.... http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/ http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/ http://ejohn.org/blog/online-book-vs-ebook/ http://ejohn.org/blog/online-book-vs-ebook/

maguay 16y ago
Thank you very much! Lots of great food for thought here. I'm thinking the same as you; I'm planning on writing tech-centric books, aimed at a general audience but with eBooks that are priced much better than the average tech eBook for normal readers. At any rate, at least for my first one, I really think blogging the book a chapter at a time (or hey, parts of a chapter at a time) would be a good way to do it. Thanks again for your time, thoughts, and info! Greatly appreciated :)
- revorad 16y ago
  I just bought a Kindle and noticed that Amazon sells subscriptions to blogs ($1-$2). If you can get your blog on that, it would be a great marketing/advertising platform, if not money maker.
  - maguay 16y ago
    That might be a great idea. I've never thought my blog would actually be something someone would subscribe to on Kindle, but you never know. Plus, that'd be a great idea for syndicating a blogged book and making a little extra revenue while it's in writing. Definitely something to keep in mine. Thanks!
flog 16y ago
I've just finished co-writing my first book too, but with a publisher who hasn't helped out as much with the editing phase. This part sucks, and would be the main detractor for the go-it-yourself route (imho). If you're self-publishing you'll have to deal with indexing, editing, and proofing yourself.
- revorad 16y ago
  Doesn't search take care of indexing? A good blog audience can help with the editing and proofing. I wonder if one could also outsource those tasks to professional freelancers, who I'd hope to see more of in the new publishing landscape.

J3L2404 16y ago

Cory Doctorow has some thoughts and numbers: http://craphound.com/walh/about/the-process http://craphound.com/walh/about/the-process http://craphound.com/walh/2010/10/monthly-financials http://craphound.com/walh/2010/10/monthly-financials

jasonfried 16y ago

When we published Getting Real (http://gettingreal.37signals.com http://gettingreal.37signals.com) we only offered it in two flavors: $19 for a personal-use PDF, and $49 for a you-can-share-it-with-10-friends/colleagues PDF. We didn't offer a free version. A few years later, we offered a free version in HTML online. Sales of the PDF plummeted. That was fine with us - we'd already pulled in ~$500k on the PDF. At that point we just wanted to spread the Getting Real word as far and wide as we can. The free HTML version helped do that. But the lesson is: If it's pay only, people will buy it. If it's pay and free, you'll lose a ton of potential buyers. Id start with pay only (starting at $19) and then phase in a free version down the road once you're happy with the money you've already made.

revorad 16y ago
When you made the book free, did you not get any backlash from people who'd already bought it? Any thoughts on how a similar strategy would work for software?
- jasonfried 16y ago
  Maybe some people, but you can't worry about those people.
maguay 16y ago
I didn't realize Getting Real wasn't always available free, but then I only discovered it last year. Very interesting; I assumed the free online book was designed to drive sales of the for-pay PDF. (As a side note, thanks for the great info offered in Getting Real; it's a book I recommend often!). I was actually planning to price my eBooks very low, even undercutting the industry average $9.99 just to try to gain traction. Would you still start at a high price even as a new book author? I have a fair online audience from various blogs I write for, but really am virtually unknown in tech writing. I know 37signals always advocates charging higher prices for products, but would you feel the same starting out fresh without an already strong readership and support? Thanks so much for your advice; I really appreciate you taking time to reply!