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I have published my own book, and know quite a bit about the industry. Self-publishing has many pluses, but it also has many disadvantages relative to working w

I have published my own book, and know quite a bit about the industry. Self-publishing has many pluses, but it also has many disadvantages relative to working with a large publisher, the largest being (for an unknown): building demand in the absence of brand and network. While O'Reilly may have made some mistakes in this case (I have no idea), the author is unnecessarily personalizing and complicating what appears to have been a normal business transaction, with bumps in the road for both sides. You can't succeed in business by being this high maintenance.

mikecane 14y ago
>>>You can't succeed in business by being this high maintenance. Since when is holding a publisher to contract terms it agreed to abide by "high-maintenance"?
- auctiontheory 14y ago
  Going public with a dispute is high maintenance. For right or wrong, it has the effect of making everyone less willing to do business with you, because they don't want to take the risk that any dispute they might have with you will also be publicly aired. And the thing is, in business, misunderstandings and contract disputes (and flat out mistakes) happen all the time. And, speaking from my own experience, typically neither side is 100% blameless. The solution is, if you believe the other party is acting in good faith (even when they mess up), you try to work within the framework of a relationship, rather than calling out the lawyers.
  - mikecane 14y ago
    >>>Going public with a dispute is high maintenance. Sometimes that's the only way to effect change. And the only way to warn others who might see you as an example and want to follow your lead into the same damn trap.