Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#21

Post by spdustin » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 1:35 AM UTC

calcsam wrote: post #12

Most technical authors don't write a book for the money -- they write a book for the prestige (and proportionally higher consulting rates).

This is likely to be the more useful answer here. The biggest benefit comes from listing "author of [book you can buy at bookstore]" on your CV or web site. The marketing power of your name being seen by potential employers (or their employees who point to you as the domain expert of a topic). Not from actual royalties past the royalty advance which, as others have mentioned, would be rare.

Of course, the value of that would depend on if you trade on your name; e.g. if you're a freelance consultant.

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#22

Post by joelhooks » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 1:48 AM UTC

I've published two books through publishers and the actual writing experience was very similar to the book that I self-published.

For the self-published book I followed he basic path set forth in Nathan Barry's Authority[0]. Financially speaking it was definitely more lucrative to self-publish, but I've got access to a large audience to sell to.

There is another approach that I've seen that I find interesting and that is of the "open source" variety where the book is given freely and later published by a major publishing house. You Don't Know JS is a recent example.

My personal experience with OReilly was a good one. They send you a framed cover and it was a decent experience. We got no advance and the pay was peanuts, but it served to get me recognized at the time in a specific space.

Sure, money isn't the only motivator when setting out to write a book, but it's definitely a motivator!

[0] http://nathanbarry.com/authority/

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#23

Post by MarcScott » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 1:55 AM UTC

I wrote a kids programming book. £1.5k advance and 8% royalties if I remember correctly.

My biggest takeaway, is forget your tool chain. I wrote it in org mode, and exported to Libre Office and then Word. As soon as the first draft was returned I ended up battling with Word the whole time, for edits and redrafts.

Also, designers don't read code like programmers. Indentation was often messed up, incorrect quotes used and line breaks added to suit formatting. One particularly badly formatted piece of code had me ripping my hair out. Everything beneath the first line was messed up. The designer came back to me a bit confused, saying the only problem he could see was the first line of code was 4 spaces too far to the left. Being accustomed to an absolute left limit on code, defined by the first line, it hadn't occurred to me to view it like this.

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#24

Post by muktabh » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 2:00 AM UTC

I have been asked to write books too, but I go with a no response always. My reasoning is generally that my I have read free books and learnt a lot of what I have ( was not really rich to buy all trendy books being a middle class Indian student) , my book whenever it is written would be open and free access. That will be my way to pay back. If I have to make money , I will rather do it through my work, not letting publishers have control over the knowledge source I write.

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#25

Post by lenepp » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 2:14 AM UTC

garysieling wrote: post #9

It seems like the people who are making money at this are the ones that have a following and sell PDFs of the books + addons (video training, a product) on their own. Manning and Leanpub are built around being able to ship chapters as you write them - I think the feedback while working would be a huge help for motivation. If you were choosing a publisher, I'd consider what the association with the publishers says abo…

I'm a Leanpub cofounder and just wanted to mention here that self-publishing a book while you're writing it is not necessarily incompatible with eventually going with a conventional publisher (though if you have a publisher in mind, you might want to ask them first if this would be acceptable to them). Publishing your book while you write it can help with motivation and the feedback you get from early adopter readers can be really valuable and make the book better in the end.

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#26

Post by parisidau » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 2:36 AM UTC

I've written 10+ books for O'Reilly, and one for Wiley/For Dummies, back in the day. It's a great experience, and I'm still writing for them now. We really enjoy it, and gain credibility, clients, and speaking opportunities from it. The money is fine, but the opportunities are great. Once you've done one or two, it gets easier and quicker.

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#27

Post by baudehlo » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 2:42 AM UTC

patio11 wrote: post #14

What is a fair, market-rate deal for a first-time technical author writing about a popular subject? You're going to be shocked and dismayed by the offer they give you. Let's get that out of the way now. This is the model: they'll tell you to not do it for the money, in exactly those words, prior to explaining to you terms which imply that they're not doing it for ~92.5% of the money. You will likely be offered someth…

I'd be shocked if anyone got a 4 figure advance. I got a few hundred dollars for an XML book in the height of the XML times. Ultimately the book never got finished but everyone I know who has written a tech book (unless it's a huge seller) says expect nothing more than lunch money from it, plus the employment opportunities.

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#28

Post by julllord » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 2:44 AM UTC

parisidau wrote: post #26

I've written 10+ books for O'Reilly, and one for Wiley/For Dummies, back in the day. It's a great experience, and I'm still writing for them now. We really enjoy it, and gain credibility, clients, and speaking opportunities from it. The money is fine, but the opportunities are great. Once you've done one or two, it gets easier and quicker.

Did you really write 10 books? Sounds fake.

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#29

Post by simonsarris » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 2:49 AM UTC

I did this with Pearson (SAMS imprint) and wrote HTML5 Unleashed. My first time = $10K advance and 12.5% (I think, forget) royalty rate. I'd gladly answer any questions.

> what else should I be thinking about?

Time. I spent a better part of a year of my free time researching and writing the book. Its almost like I skipped a year-ish of life. Of course, the next time I write a book will be a lot quicker.

In terms of hours worked, its not a lot of money. If you like writing (and I do), it may still be worth it. Like most projects, the second one you do will probably be much quicker and feel a lot better than the first!

By the way everyone I worked with at Pearson was an A+ friendly, helpful person. I have a much less favorable impression of Packt, but never wrote for them.

Re: Ask HN: Considerations when asked to write a book?

#30

Post by jonshariat » Tue, Jul 19, 2016, 2:52 AM UTC

I'm currently an author with O'Reilly, writing about the design space. (http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920038887.do)

I am in the final stages after over a year and half. I was in your position not too long ago and researched as much as I could before accepting, so I will skip things you will find in a quick Google search.

Negotiating:

1. Everything is negotiable, remember that

2. Under promise on #pages, they ask you for an estimate but lowball it because thats how they price it and then will ask you to fill it.

3. Get in writing what they will be contributing.

Choosing the topic:

1. Choose a topic you are passionate about

2. Choose a topic you know a lot about

3. Choose a topic you can write a lot about

4. Don't be afraid to tweak the topic half way in.

5. Choose a topic that will sell in a year and half.

Writing the book:

1. Write an outline, write the first chapter, throw it away, and rewrite the outline agin.

2. Its better to lose work than to keep going in a direction that isn't working

3. You'll be busy but be reading other books as much as you are writing.

4. Wake up early or stay up late, 0 distractions is the best for writing

5. Talk out loud, like youre presenting to an audience to get unstuck from writers block.

6. Get feedback as soon as possible.

Marketing the book:

1. If you can, get in writing what marketing they will do for the book.

2. Negotiate on how many free books you can get to give away

3. Sales on Amazon are important, direct sales there, esp on launch day.

4. Start a newsletter (yay more writing!)

Other:

1. This is a second job

2. It does open a lot of doors

3. Consider a co-author for your first book. I added one towards the end and wish I had done it sooner. Its easier to collaborate and bounce ideas off each other and keep each other accountable.