5 ms·

>For technical books today, they expect the author to bring the audience. So what's the point to go with them? We all can save it as a pdf and upload to Gumroa

• munificent 6y ago
  > So what's the point to go with them? Good question. :) It depends a lot on what the author wants to get out of it and what they want to do themselves. Going with a traditional publisher gives you: * The prestige of your book coming out of a well-known publisher. If your goal is mostly to boost your resume or public speaking fees, then having an O'Reilly animal on the cover of your book can be very valuable. * They provide developmental editors, line editors, copy editors, illustrators, and typesetters for you. If you don't want to do that yourself or find freelancers, that saves you from the headache. * Likewise, they deal with the administrivia and legal stuff around distribution, translations, ISBN numbers, licensing, etc. I imagine they might provide some legal cover for you if you, say, defame someone in your text or use a copyright image. * Your editor will create a timetable and some urgency for you to get the book done. That can be really helpful for people who have trouble summoning the discipline and structure to complete a book. All of that stuff is valuable. The question is whether it's valuable enough for them to take the lion's share of the profit that the book generates.