5 ms·

Well the MEAP just started, 3 chapters are complete and the rest will follow probably next year. IMO it’s a bet: Zig stays stable enough and this will be _the_

Well the MEAP just started, 3 chapters are complete and the rest will follow probably next year. IMO it’s a bet: Zig stays stable enough and this will be _the_ Zig book for a while. Should the bet not pay off it still cements the author as an authority on the language and gets them a foot in the door.

mi_lk 1y ago
Looks like a win-win for the author? Why would the publisher take the bet
- bombcar 1y ago
  Manning does this all the time, I presume the cost-to-print is so low it doesn't hurt.
  - dom96 1y ago
    When I wrote Nim in Action[1] for Manning, it was prior to 1.0 as well. It was definitely a bit akward, but breaking changes to the stuff covered in the book was relatively minor. 1 - https://book.picheta.me/ https://book.picheta.me/
- mtlynch 1y ago
  Manning doesn't pay that much to first time authors, and it looks like it's the first book for the author, Garrison Hinson-Hasty. My guess is it's about $2k upfront and the author owes it back if they don't deliver. Teiva Harsanyi did a good writeup recently about working with Manning as a first-time author. He got $2k upfront and $2k after delivering the first 1/3rd.[0] [0] https://www.thecoder.cafe/p/100-go-mistakes https://www.thecoder.cafe/p/100-go-mistakes
  - rtfeldman 1y ago
    When I wrote Elm in Action for Manning, I talked with them explicitly about the language being pre-1.0 and what would happen if there were breaking changes. The short answer was that it was something they dealt with all the time; if there were small changes, we could issue errata online, and if there were sufficiently large changes, we could do a second edition. I did get an advance but I don't remember a clause about having to return any of it if I didn't earn it out. (I did earn it out, but I don't remember any expectation that I'd have to give them money back if I hadn't.) Also my memory was that it was more than $2k but it was about 10 years ago so I might be misremembering!
    - tasuki 1y ago
      > the language being pre-1.0 and what would happen if there were breaking changes. Fortunately, Elm has had no breaking changes for about six years!
- cultofmetatron 1y ago
  I bought a copy through my subscription. having read through a few of their books, Manning has a pretty good record of producing a lot of good content. nostarch an pragprog are arguably better in terms of writing quality (slightly) but they dont' publish nearly as many books. Pakt certainly has more books but the quality is absolute garbage. whenever a new language comes out, I usually take a weekend to at least dabble in it to see if its worth getting into. Most of the languages end up in my "cool story" bucket but its also how I found elixir and I've been working in it fulltime for the last 7 years every since. In the case of manning, they presell the pdf. that costs them nothing while expanding their catalog in a way that doesnt feel like a ripoff for the subscribers. I'm not expecting a MEAP title to have the same level of polish as a completed book. Rather, I appreciate having close to bleeding age info thats been somewhat curated for my consumption.

mi_lk 1y ago

Looks like a win-win for the author? Why would the publisher take the bet

bombcar 1y ago
Manning does this all the time, I presume the cost-to-print is so low it doesn't hurt.
- dom96 1y ago
  When I wrote Nim in Action[1] for Manning, it was prior to 1.0 as well. It was definitely a bit akward, but breaking changes to the stuff covered in the book was relatively minor. 1 - https://book.picheta.me/ https://book.picheta.me/
mtlynch 1y ago
Manning doesn't pay that much to first time authors, and it looks like it's the first book for the author, Garrison Hinson-Hasty. My guess is it's about $2k upfront and the author owes it back if they don't deliver. Teiva Harsanyi did a good writeup recently about working with Manning as a first-time author. He got $2k upfront and $2k after delivering the first 1/3rd.[0] [0] https://www.thecoder.cafe/p/100-go-mistakes https://www.thecoder.cafe/p/100-go-mistakes
- rtfeldman 1y ago
  When I wrote Elm in Action for Manning, I talked with them explicitly about the language being pre-1.0 and what would happen if there were breaking changes. The short answer was that it was something they dealt with all the time; if there were small changes, we could issue errata online, and if there were sufficiently large changes, we could do a second edition. I did get an advance but I don't remember a clause about having to return any of it if I didn't earn it out. (I did earn it out, but I don't remember any expectation that I'd have to give them money back if I hadn't.) Also my memory was that it was more than $2k but it was about 10 years ago so I might be misremembering!
  - tasuki 1y ago
    > the language being pre-1.0 and what would happen if there were breaking changes. Fortunately, Elm has had no breaking changes for about six years!
cultofmetatron 1y ago
I bought a copy through my subscription. having read through a few of their books, Manning has a pretty good record of producing a lot of good content. nostarch an pragprog are arguably better in terms of writing quality (slightly) but they dont' publish nearly as many books. Pakt certainly has more books but the quality is absolute garbage. whenever a new language comes out, I usually take a weekend to at least dabble in it to see if its worth getting into. Most of the languages end up in my "cool story" bucket but its also how I found elixir and I've been working in it fulltime for the last 7 years every since. In the case of manning, they presell the pdf. that costs them nothing while expanding their catalog in a way that doesnt feel like a ripoff for the subscribers. I'm not expecting a MEAP title to have the same level of polish as a completed book. Rather, I appreciate having close to bleeding age info thats been somewhat curated for my consumption.