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> And it seems to me a course or ebook might be much simpler to create than a good app. Citation needed. I think you are seriously underestimating the difficul

by ayrx 12y ago

> And it seems to me a course or ebook might be much simpler to create than a good app. Citation needed. I think you are seriously underestimating the difficulty of creating a course or ebook worth paying money for.

facepalm 12y ago
I'm sure it is some effort, but so is writing a good app. And I remember the quote from the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" author: "I'm a bestselling author, not best writing author". Anyway, I will try in November. If it is something like "Introduction to JavaScript" I think it might almost write itself. One could even take the structure from some book that already exists.
- ayrx 12y ago
  Sure, but why would anyone in the world buy your version of "Introduction to Javascript" over the hundreds I'm sure already exist? Or the many freely available tutorials online? Just do a quick Google search and you can find many anecdotes about how writing a book is not even close to a good way of spending your time if your goal is to make money. And that's for authors with an established reputation in the field. It's not impossible but it's really really difficult.
  - TheOtherHobbes 12y ago
    Video courses != books. For whatever reason, people seem more willing to pay for video courses and hands-on instruction. Books are indeed a tough sell, but that's partly because if you publish with a traditional publisher you'll be lucky to get more $10k advance for a developer reference and $20k for a mainstream Windows/OS X book, and even luckier - like lottery-winner lucky - if that advance ever earns out and you see some royalties. That's the high end. The low end is somewhere between zero and not much. But if you can find an empty-ish niche and self-publish, your chances of a reasonable income are much higher. And if you can support that with live classes, sample code, a forum, and video content, I'd say the chances of making reasonable money are much better than in the crapshoot that is self-funded app development.
    - ayrx 12y ago
      Sure, but producing quality video content and code samples in addition to a quality book adds even more time to an already long process. A discussion forum or mailing list implies continuous effort in engaging with your audience. Not quite the passive income the original poster wants. That's not even taking into account the fact that to produce such content the person has to be a (recognized especially if you don't have the marketing budget of large publishers) expert in a niche area. Such a person can presumably already make decent money as a consultant. Being a consultant and a content producer is not mutually exclusive of course, but it's not quite the easy income I sense the original poster is looking for.
      - derefr 12y ago
        You hit the nail on the head here. We're not really talking about random people being capable of writing profitable books; we're talking about expert consultants having the ability to productize their consulting into info-products to provide them with recurring revenue. It's somewhat the same idea as an expert engineer inventing and patenting a machine design, then licensing it: they take a bunch of knowledge they would have sold once, and make it into something they can sell over and over.
- Hates_ 12y ago
  Thinking back to some example eBooks that have been popular and have done well are those that are quite niche. Off the top of my head some that I can think of are "Working with Unix Processes" and "Mastering Modern Payments". I don't think writing another intro to Javascript would be a good idea.
  - facepalm 12y ago
    I think somebody wrote on HN a while ago that if a book for 50$ solves an urgent problem, it's a nobrainer for a company to buy it. So I can imagine how "Mastering Modern Payments" could have become a hit. I was surprised that JavaScript courses are not that popular (or so it seems), and the most popular I have seen so far are Python courses (in terms of general programming courses - not sure what the most successful courses are overall). I've seen a Python course with 40K viewers, at 99$ a pop.
- danmaz74 12y ago
  If you want do create a course, my suggestion is: Treat it as any other product. Make your market research. How big is the market for the subject you want to teach about? What is already out there? What will differentiate your course from the other ones already out there, and how are you going to promote it? https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=javascript https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=javascript
  - facepalm 12y ago
    Of course - actually there are even Udemy courses on how to create successful Udemy courses :-) I think I'll try it and there will be things to learn that are useful anyway, like how to make a good video presentation. That can come in handy even if I want to sell an app next.
- marveller 12y ago
  > And I remember the quote from the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" author: "I'm a bestselling author, not best writing author". "The Rich Dad, Poor Dad" targeted a huge generic market vs nich tech market for "Javascript" (very tough market). Your book will also be competing with Video tutors like: http://www.lynda.com/search?q=javascript http://www.lynda.com/search?q=javascript For only $25/mo, you can have access to all the courses in their library.
hackerboos 12y ago
I won't name names but there's a lot of crap out there that people pay money for.

by ayrx 12y ago

facepalm 12y ago

I'm sure it is some effort, but so is writing a good app. And I remember the quote from the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" author: "I'm a bestselling author, not best writing author". Anyway, I will try in November. If it is something like "Introduction to JavaScript" I think it might almost write itself. One could even take the structure from some book that already exists.

ayrx 12y ago
Sure, but why would anyone in the world buy your version of "Introduction to Javascript" over the hundreds I'm sure already exist? Or the many freely available tutorials online? Just do a quick Google search and you can find many anecdotes about how writing a book is not even close to a good way of spending your time if your goal is to make money. And that's for authors with an established reputation in the field. It's not impossible but it's really really difficult.
- TheOtherHobbes 12y ago
  Video courses != books. For whatever reason, people seem more willing to pay for video courses and hands-on instruction. Books are indeed a tough sell, but that's partly because if you publish with a traditional publisher you'll be lucky to get more $10k advance for a developer reference and $20k for a mainstream Windows/OS X book, and even luckier - like lottery-winner lucky - if that advance ever earns out and you see some royalties. That's the high end. The low end is somewhere between zero and not much. But if you can find an empty-ish niche and self-publish, your chances of a reasonable income are much higher. And if you can support that with live classes, sample code, a forum, and video content, I'd say the chances of making reasonable money are much better than in the crapshoot that is self-funded app development.
  - ayrx 12y ago
    Sure, but producing quality video content and code samples in addition to a quality book adds even more time to an already long process. A discussion forum or mailing list implies continuous effort in engaging with your audience. Not quite the passive income the original poster wants. That's not even taking into account the fact that to produce such content the person has to be a (recognized especially if you don't have the marketing budget of large publishers) expert in a niche area. Such a person can presumably already make decent money as a consultant. Being a consultant and a content producer is not mutually exclusive of course, but it's not quite the easy income I sense the original poster is looking for.
    - derefr 12y ago
      You hit the nail on the head here. We're not really talking about random people being capable of writing profitable books; we're talking about expert consultants having the ability to productize their consulting into info-products to provide them with recurring revenue. It's somewhat the same idea as an expert engineer inventing and patenting a machine design, then licensing it: they take a bunch of knowledge they would have sold once, and make it into something they can sell over and over.
Hates_ 12y ago
Thinking back to some example eBooks that have been popular and have done well are those that are quite niche. Off the top of my head some that I can think of are "Working with Unix Processes" and "Mastering Modern Payments". I don't think writing another intro to Javascript would be a good idea.
- facepalm 12y ago
  I think somebody wrote on HN a while ago that if a book for 50$ solves an urgent problem, it's a nobrainer for a company to buy it. So I can imagine how "Mastering Modern Payments" could have become a hit. I was surprised that JavaScript courses are not that popular (or so it seems), and the most popular I have seen so far are Python courses (in terms of general programming courses - not sure what the most successful courses are overall). I've seen a Python course with 40K viewers, at 99$ a pop.
danmaz74 12y ago
If you want do create a course, my suggestion is: Treat it as any other product. Make your market research. How big is the market for the subject you want to teach about? What is already out there? What will differentiate your course from the other ones already out there, and how are you going to promote it? https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=javascript https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=javascript
- facepalm 12y ago
  Of course - actually there are even Udemy courses on how to create successful Udemy courses :-) I think I'll try it and there will be things to learn that are useful anyway, like how to make a good video presentation. That can come in handy even if I want to sell an app next.
marveller 12y ago
> And I remember the quote from the "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" author: "I'm a bestselling author, not best writing author". "The Rich Dad, Poor Dad" targeted a huge generic market vs nich tech market for "Javascript" (very tough market). Your book will also be competing with Video tutors like: http://www.lynda.com/search?q=javascript http://www.lynda.com/search?q=javascript For only $25/mo, you can have access to all the courses in their library.

hackerboos 12y ago

I won't name names but there's a lot of crap out there that people pay money for.