5 ms·

With the amount of time invested into writing the book it would be interesting to see what type of financial return he was able to get for it. Certainly I would

by kenrikm 11y ago

With the amount of time invested into writing the book it would be interesting to see what type of financial return he was able to get for it. Certainly I would hope he was able to make as much as if he were working in private industry for the same amount of time. (though somehow I doubt this is the case)

bluedino 11y ago
Being an author of a well regarded programming book has plenty of benefits that don't involve book royalties. You're considered an industry expert and can make money on speaking and consulting gigs.
watmough 11y ago
John Resig may be a bigger name, and he didn't make much from publishing. http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/ http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/ It doesn't seem like the reward is primarily financial, though I'm incredibly glad of both Scott's C++ books, and Resig's Javascript books.
InclinedPlane 11y ago
To within a disturbingly accurate margin of error I can tell you right now his financial return for this book: zero dollars. There isn't enough money in tech books for writers to rely on it as a day job. At best it'll get you noticed and make other jobs or speaking engagements easier to get.
- ipsin 11y ago
  I am inclined to disbelieve you. I could agree that tech writing in general doesn't pay well, but this is an author who has sold over 150,000 physical copies, in addition to whatever virtual sales (like mine) he's had. Even if his take is 10% for a $30 book, that's still respectable income.
  - InclinedPlane 11y ago
    I had no idea where you came up with the "150,000 copies" figure but then I ended up seeing the same thing listed on a page about "More Effective C++", which has been in print for 2 decades. Even if he received $3-4 per copy sold for all those books, that's over a 20 year timespan, that only works out to $20k or so a year, although he does have other books. It's possible that Scott Meyers might be a sufficiently popular author to be able to support himself just on book income at a level comparable to having a decent day job, but at best it's a very close thing and even so he would be one of the extremely rare few who could do so.
- sytelus 11y ago
  Actually book writing is booming business these days as long as books are meant for general audience. Tim Ferriss, for example, has made more than $3M from his books. E L James reportedly made $100 million from Fifty Shades of Grey. There are many other authors in the millionair list purely from writing books. The reason this is happening now more than before is because of cheap electronic version of book that can be downloaded on phones and tablets on more than 150M devices in US alone. Previously carrying around hard copies meant you need to be serious book lover. Now all the friction and weight is gone and books are more in line with TV entertainment instead of something meant for people wearing glasses. In addition publishers and authors are figuring out how to make books viral. If your book indeed gets viral, you can bet 1% of this population to buy it which immediately translates to $1M-3M. Adding translated editions and international markets would double your revenues. However this generally doesn't apply to tech books because number of programmers are just around 10 million and if you estimate 1% will buy your book (best case) you will still top out $300K range @ 10% royalty. Even worse, technology will change in next 2-3 years and your royalties would dry up quickly. Most "full time" tech book writers run training consulting business and do conferences as main source of income.
  - TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
    E L James is primarily a marketer. Reddit had a very interesting comment from someone who knew the backstory about her relationship to the Twilight fanfic scene. Let's just say people still remember her there, but perhaps not very fondly. The Amazon gold rush for new authors is pretty much over. That's mostly a good thing. The people who stick with it now will be talented and/or persistent, and quality is going to start increasing. As for tech - book sales are actually incredibly low. The general audience "How to use an iPhone" guides can sell very well, but titles on specific niche developer subjects rarely sell more than a few K copies. A title on - say - JavaScript that racked up sales of 10K would be considered a run-away best seller. Also royalties are closer to 5%, because they're usually calculated from net publisher income, which is around half the jacket cost. Publishers sell tech books because many authors accept very low advances, so the numbers still work out. But to some extent it's a legacy industry. It was big in the 80s, peaked in the 90s and 00s, but has been in decline ever. There is so much excellent free training/example content online that it's making less and less sense to package it up in book form.

by kenrikm 11y ago

bluedino 11y ago

Being an author of a well regarded programming book has plenty of benefits that don't involve book royalties. You're considered an industry expert and can make money on speaking and consulting gigs.

watmough 11y ago

John Resig may be a bigger name, and he didn't make much from publishing. http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/ http://ejohn.org/blog/programming-book-profits/ It doesn't seem like the reward is primarily financial, though I'm incredibly glad of both Scott's C++ books, and Resig's Javascript books.

InclinedPlane 11y ago

To within a disturbingly accurate margin of error I can tell you right now his financial return for this book: zero dollars. There isn't enough money in tech books for writers to rely on it as a day job. At best it'll get you noticed and make other jobs or speaking engagements easier to get.

ipsin 11y ago
I am inclined to disbelieve you. I could agree that tech writing in general doesn't pay well, but this is an author who has sold over 150,000 physical copies, in addition to whatever virtual sales (like mine) he's had. Even if his take is 10% for a $30 book, that's still respectable income.
- InclinedPlane 11y ago
  I had no idea where you came up with the "150,000 copies" figure but then I ended up seeing the same thing listed on a page about "More Effective C++", which has been in print for 2 decades. Even if he received $3-4 per copy sold for all those books, that's over a 20 year timespan, that only works out to $20k or so a year, although he does have other books. It's possible that Scott Meyers might be a sufficiently popular author to be able to support himself just on book income at a level comparable to having a decent day job, but at best it's a very close thing and even so he would be one of the extremely rare few who could do so.
sytelus 11y ago
Actually book writing is booming business these days as long as books are meant for general audience. Tim Ferriss, for example, has made more than $3M from his books. E L James reportedly made $100 million from Fifty Shades of Grey. There are many other authors in the millionair list purely from writing books. The reason this is happening now more than before is because of cheap electronic version of book that can be downloaded on phones and tablets on more than 150M devices in US alone. Previously carrying around hard copies meant you need to be serious book lover. Now all the friction and weight is gone and books are more in line with TV entertainment instead of something meant for people wearing glasses. In addition publishers and authors are figuring out how to make books viral. If your book indeed gets viral, you can bet 1% of this population to buy it which immediately translates to $1M-3M. Adding translated editions and international markets would double your revenues. However this generally doesn't apply to tech books because number of programmers are just around 10 million and if you estimate 1% will buy your book (best case) you will still top out $300K range @ 10% royalty. Even worse, technology will change in next 2-3 years and your royalties would dry up quickly. Most "full time" tech book writers run training consulting business and do conferences as main source of income.
- TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  E L James is primarily a marketer. Reddit had a very interesting comment from someone who knew the backstory about her relationship to the Twilight fanfic scene. Let's just say people still remember her there, but perhaps not very fondly. The Amazon gold rush for new authors is pretty much over. That's mostly a good thing. The people who stick with it now will be talented and/or persistent, and quality is going to start increasing. As for tech - book sales are actually incredibly low. The general audience "How to use an iPhone" guides can sell very well, but titles on specific niche developer subjects rarely sell more than a few K copies. A title on - say - JavaScript that racked up sales of 10K would be considered a run-away best seller. Also royalties are closer to 5%, because they're usually calculated from net publisher income, which is around half the jacket cost. Publishers sell tech books because many authors accept very low advances, so the numbers still work out. But to some extent it's a legacy industry. It was big in the 80s, peaked in the 90s and 00s, but has been in decline ever. There is so much excellent free training/example content online that it's making less and less sense to package it up in book form.