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My book is one of the case studies (Mastering Modern Payments). If anyone has any questions fire away!

by zrail 13y ago

onion2k 13y ago
$15,000 from 150 hours work is very good, especially as (presumably) you learnt a great deal from the process and established yourself as a domain expert at the same time. That's brilliant. I don't have a question, just congratulations.
- zrail 13y ago
  Thanks so much! I really did learn a lot about marketing and launching products, as well as how to structure my time such that I can actually achieve a goal like that.
- patio11 13y ago
  Somewhat surprisingly to me before I did it: if you control the marketing/sales channel, then it is rather substantially a better deal that you might think it is after the launch window. The reason is that the book remains in the market after being written (like a software product and unlike, say, a consulting gig), and you can structure your affairs such that people are routinely exposed to it and you get decent residual income from it. e.g. From my video course that launched last September-ish: http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/power-of-residuals.png http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/power-of-... My ballpark estimate for total sales was in the $20k to $40k region, which I would have allocated 95%+ to the initial launch window. Surprise x2: a) I underestimated how much it would sell and b) I greatly underestimated the residual value of the project. (Incidentally: The long-term marketing/sales channels are partially ranking #1 for [lifecycle emails], a subject of interest to many marketers which honestly I should not be #1 on the Internet for, and also having a brief in-text commercial in one of the emails that people get a few weeks after they sign up for my email list. Most of y'all can execute on these, particularly the autoresponders for new signups for the email list.)
  - pchristensen 13y ago
    Looks like you're #1 and #2 for [lifecycle emails]
TBInman 13y ago
Hi, thanks for making yourself available to questions (and congrats, of course)! I wanted to ask you about (for want of a better phrase) softer metrics and your experience of writing a book. How has your new status as author impacted on those?
- zrail 13y ago
  Not a huge amount yet. I haven't been invited to any conferences yet, if that's what you're asking :) I have noticed that friends who are implementing Stripe will come to me with questions and usually I can answer them right away, which is a nice feeling.
tessierashpool 13y ago
just wanted to say I recommend your book in my own latest ebook, which I used Docverter to build. I freaking love Docverter btw. (my latest ebook = http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-ebook-software-as-disservice-fixing.html http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-ebook-software-...)
- zrail 13y ago
  Awesome! Thanks! Edit: Purchased! FYI if you want to crib off of the stylesheet for MMP it's in here: https://github.com/peterkeen/mmp-builder/blob/master/template.erb https://github.com/peterkeen/mmp-builder/blob/master/templat... You should be able to grab the CSS out of there and set include it in your Docverter call with other_files[]=@filename and css=filename, assuming you're pushing Markdown. If you're pushing HTML just drop the styles you want directly in the header.
- joelhooks 13y ago
  I used a bit of the RailsApp when I was learning Rails to build a subscription site. Luckily I met Pete and was able to use his book when I actually got to the subscription impl. I KNOW my app as a whole is shitty, so I just bought yours to see how I can unfuck ^^ Your books are always fun. Looking forward to it!
mathattack 13y ago
150 hours seems very little for a book. (3 weeks of intense focus) Any idea on how you got to be so efficient? Were there hours hidden in other activities? Or had you done all the thinking in advance, and it was just putting pen to paper? Or did you just have a very fast routine? Thanks for sharing your experience, and for your participation in the original article.
- zrail 13y ago
  That number is a little bit misleading. First, because it's a rather concise guide (there's only 120 pages), and second, because that time was actually spread out across about double that number of weeks, including weekends. Additionally, it's a topic that's near and dear to my heart so I was pretty familiar with what I wanted to cover. I tried to stick with 500 words per day when I was actively writing and a chapter a day when I was actively editing, but that 150 hours also includes quite a bit of time working on the example application.
  - mathattack 13y ago
    Thanks! Even at 120 pages you crammed a lot of information into a short amount of time and pages. I appreciate what you're doing.
- ssttoo 13y ago
  I've written a few technical books and my personal most optimistic estimate is 1h/page writing first draft and 2hr/page editing. This when I know exactly what I want to say (no more research, code usually done) and have a plan (headings ready, just filling the blanks) But English is not my first language, can't a/b test for this variable. With first drafts I don't stop to edit - just let it out on paper as fast as possible.

My book is one of the case studies (Mastering Modern Payments). If anyone has any questions fire away!

by zrail 13y ago

My book is one of the case studies (Mastering Modern Payments). If anyone has any questions fire away!

$15,000 from 150 hours work is very good, especially as (presumably) you learnt a great deal from the process and established yourself as a domain expert at the same time. That's brilliant. I don't have a question, just congratulations.

zrail 13y ago
Thanks so much! I really did learn a lot about marketing and launching products, as well as how to structure my time such that I can actually achieve a goal like that.
patio11 13y ago
Somewhat surprisingly to me before I did it: if you control the marketing/sales channel, then it is rather substantially a better deal that you might think it is after the launch window. The reason is that the book remains in the market after being written (like a software product and unlike, say, a consulting gig), and you can structure your affairs such that people are routinely exposed to it and you get decent residual income from it. e.g. From my video course that launched last September-ish: http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/power-of-residuals.png http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/power-of-... My ballpark estimate for total sales was in the $20k to $40k region, which I would have allocated 95%+ to the initial launch window. Surprise x2: a) I underestimated how much it would sell and b) I greatly underestimated the residual value of the project. (Incidentally: The long-term marketing/sales channels are partially ranking #1 for [lifecycle emails], a subject of interest to many marketers which honestly I should not be #1 on the Internet for, and also having a brief in-text commercial in one of the emails that people get a few weeks after they sign up for my email list. Most of y'all can execute on these, particularly the autoresponders for new signups for the email list.)
- pchristensen 13y ago
  Looks like you're #1 and #2 for [lifecycle emails]

TBInman 13y ago

Hi, thanks for making yourself available to questions (and congrats, of course)! I wanted to ask you about (for want of a better phrase) softer metrics and your experience of writing a book. How has your new status as author impacted on those?

zrail 13y ago
Not a huge amount yet. I haven't been invited to any conferences yet, if that's what you're asking :) I have noticed that friends who are implementing Stripe will come to me with questions and usually I can answer them right away, which is a nice feeling.

tessierashpool 13y ago

just wanted to say I recommend your book in my own latest ebook, which I used Docverter to build. I freaking love Docverter btw. (my latest ebook = http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-ebook-software-as-disservice-fixing.html http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2013/10/new-ebook-software-...)

zrail 13y ago
Awesome! Thanks! Edit: Purchased! FYI if you want to crib off of the stylesheet for MMP it's in here: https://github.com/peterkeen/mmp-builder/blob/master/template.erb https://github.com/peterkeen/mmp-builder/blob/master/templat... You should be able to grab the CSS out of there and set include it in your Docverter call with other_files[]=@filename and css=filename, assuming you're pushing Markdown. If you're pushing HTML just drop the styles you want directly in the header.
joelhooks 13y ago
I used a bit of the RailsApp when I was learning Rails to build a subscription site. Luckily I met Pete and was able to use his book when I actually got to the subscription impl. I KNOW my app as a whole is shitty, so I just bought yours to see how I can unfuck ^^ Your books are always fun. Looking forward to it!

mathattack 13y ago

150 hours seems very little for a book. (3 weeks of intense focus) Any idea on how you got to be so efficient? Were there hours hidden in other activities? Or had you done all the thinking in advance, and it was just putting pen to paper? Or did you just have a very fast routine? Thanks for sharing your experience, and for your participation in the original article.

zrail 13y ago
That number is a little bit misleading. First, because it's a rather concise guide (there's only 120 pages), and second, because that time was actually spread out across about double that number of weeks, including weekends. Additionally, it's a topic that's near and dear to my heart so I was pretty familiar with what I wanted to cover. I tried to stick with 500 words per day when I was actively writing and a chapter a day when I was actively editing, but that 150 hours also includes quite a bit of time working on the example application.
- mathattack 13y ago
  Thanks! Even at 120 pages you crammed a lot of information into a short amount of time and pages. I appreciate what you're doing.
ssttoo 13y ago
I've written a few technical books and my personal most optimistic estimate is 1h/page writing first draft and 2hr/page editing. This when I know exactly what I want to say (no more research, code usually done) and have a plan (headings ready, just filling the blanks) But English is not my first language, can't a/b test for this variable. With first drafts I don't stop to edit - just let it out on paper as fast as possible.