6 ms·

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 ad

by 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.

by revorad 16y ago

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.