Writing books is not really a good idea • Hacker News Board

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#141

Post by HumblyTossed » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:13 PM UTC

sidibe wrote: post #62

AS_of wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As you get older, you should read fewer new books, and revisit the ones that have you the most joy. Vacation sounds like a great place for that! Edit: why? Because you believe in the leverage algorithms can provide https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Live-Computer-Science-Deci... There are probably a lot of single people here that would benefit from that book as well (the stopping problem) We all "know" the algos. But…

I'm always surprised when people talk about rereading books. I get absolutely nothing out of books I've already read. Do you also rewatch TV series?

I'm the same for fiction; I can't read a fiction book twice. My SO can re-read the same fiction over and over. I just don't get it. Now, there are some movies I can watch again. But only once or twice and then I'm done for a very long time.

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#142

Post by ghaff » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:13 PM UTC

kpwagner wrote: post #99

In the month it will take me to finish reading Storm of Swords, I will watch ~10 movies. Plus, I'm reading Storm of Swords, which needs no additional support from readers to be discovered or validated--though I still want to read it. Plus, I digitally loaned it from my local library. I own a number of books (~200) and have probably owned x4 that total in my lifetime. Maybe 1/3 of those I paid full price for new. The…

While there are some that make meaningful amounts of money, all my experience suggests that writing non-fiction tech books for example, is overwhelmingly reputational.

I certainly still own--though I've gotten rid of a fair number--a lot of books but, no, I don't read a lot any longer. Maybe about 10 a year which is probably 20% of what I once did.

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#143

Post by ellegriffin » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:13 PM UTC

asgraham wrote: post #129

These are two completely different statistics: 1) last year, new releases sold poorly, perhaps unexpectedly (NYT article's claim); 2) last year, a relatively small portion of all currently released titles sold a lot of books, and most titles sold few books (linked article's data). Pulling from the central table, last year: one title sold over 1 million copies; ten titles sold a collective 5-10 million copies; 267 tit…

Hmmmm, I think you're looking at that table wrong. Ten titles sold between 500,000 and one million copies (not 5-10 million copies). And 267 titles sold between 100,000 and 500,000 copies, (not in the millions). That top line is the highest one.

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#144

Post by pier25 » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:13 PM UTC

tarr11 wrote: post #23

I used to read a lot more books 10-20 years ago. Now, I mostly read books on vacation. I think I have an unspoken budget of “words read daily” that is consumed by work and my mobile devices.

> I think I have an unspoken budget of “words read daily” that is consumed by work and my mobile devices.

I agree. Considering word count, I read more now than ever but I read a fraction of the books I used to read 15-20 years ago.

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#145

Post by phillc73 » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:14 PM UTC

ellegriffin wrote: post #61

phillc73 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was surprised by how low the reported total number of books is. Then I realised they're only reporting online book sales. However, the number still seems quite low.

Yes, it's only online book sales. NPD book wouldn't give me numbers on print sales. Though I learned in a previous article that print sales tend to be less than online sales.

I see now from up thread, this is 2.6 million individual titles, not actual book sales. To me, this still seems low. Unfortunately, the bookstat website linked in the article won't load for me, but I wonder if that is only the total number of English language titles (sold online).

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#146

Post by asgraham » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:17 PM UTC

ellegriffin wrote: post #143

asgraham wrote: post #129

These are two completely different statistics: 1) last year, new releases sold poorly, perhaps unexpectedly (NYT article's claim); 2) last year, a relatively small portion of all currently released titles sold a lot of books, and most titles sold few books (linked article's data). Pulling from the central table, last year: one title sold over 1 million copies; ten titles sold a collective 5-10 million copies; 267 tit…

Hmmmm, I think you're looking at that table wrong. Ten titles sold between 500,000 and one million copies (not 5-10 million copies). And 267 titles sold between 100,000 and 500,000 copies, (not in the millions). That top line is the highest one.

Isn't it saying that ten titles each sold between 500,000 and one million copies? So collectively they sold 5-10 million copies?

(I really enjoyed the article, by the way, once it was past claims about this data-- the points about fanfic and story monetization are important ones)

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#147

Post by sandyarmstrong » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:17 PM UTC

sidibe wrote: post #62

AS_of wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As you get older, you should read fewer new books, and revisit the ones that have you the most joy. Vacation sounds like a great place for that! Edit: why? Because you believe in the leverage algorithms can provide https://www.amazon.com/Algorithms-Live-Computer-Science-Deci... There are probably a lot of single people here that would benefit from that book as well (the stopping problem) We all "know" the algos. But…

I'm always surprised when people talk about rereading books. I get absolutely nothing out of books I've already read. Do you also rewatch TV series?

Books, TV series, movies, music...if I make some emotional connection while experiencing it, I'm likely to want to repeat that experience later.

When I buy a book (or in the olden days, a DVD/etc), I'm factoring rereadings into the value proposition. If I don't think I'm going to want to reread, I'll prefer to get it from the library.

So, most content in my personal library is there because I expect to experience it repeatedly. And I'll tell you, it can be fascinating to take some experience you treasured as as preteen, and then experience it anew from the perspective of a parent. It's pretty funny relating more to the dopey dad and less to the hero.

But not everything is about getting a different take on repeat experiences. Sometimes I just want another hit of whatever that piece of media made me feel.

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#148

Post by bombcar » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:18 PM UTC

asgraham wrote: post #129

These are two completely different statistics: 1) last year, new releases sold poorly, perhaps unexpectedly (NYT article's claim); 2) last year, a relatively small portion of all currently released titles sold a lot of books, and most titles sold few books (linked article's data). Pulling from the central table, last year: one title sold over 1 million copies; ten titles sold a collective 5-10 million copies; 267 tit…

I feel if you're including digital copies you need something to correct - I've received a number of kindle e-books for free that I've never even downloaded. There's no harm in adding to a collection when it's digital, whereas I am much more picky over free physical books.

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#149

Post by sltkr » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:19 PM UTC

> There are thousands of paid fiction authors on Patreon but only 25 earn more than $1,000/month, only six earn more than $2,000/month, and only one earns more than the $5,000/month (and she’s already a bestselling author).

I think she missed a few authors in other categories. Examples:

  - https://www.patreon.com/Wildbow (over $6,000/month)
  - https://www.patreon.com/user?u=3814558 ($8,203 per chapter, roughly 1 chapter/month)
  - https://www.patreon.com/pirateaba (no dollar amount, but 4,345 patrons and a $1/month minimum tier should translate to roughly $8000/month)

etc. None of these are conventionally established authors as far as I can tell.

Re: Writing books is not really a good idea

#150

Post by ghaff » Mon, May 10, 2021, 4:20 PM UTC

TchoBeer wrote: post #113

ghaff wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Did it used to be easier to make a living as an author? My assumption is almost certainly yes-- provided you made it through the big publisher gatekeepers. (And were able to parlay that into shelf space at the store.) - People probably read more books. There were fewer other demands on attention, whether YouTube, social media, online content generally, etc. I certainly read books far less than I used to. - There was…

>People probably read more books. There were fewer other demands on attention, whether YouTube, social media, online content generally, etc. I certainly read books far less than I used to. I'd imagine the number of books sold per year is strictly increasing.

This suggests otherwise. (Although this is obviously not a complete set of data. I'd actually probably have expected a bigger falloff but maybe ease of acquisition leads to more people buying books they don't end up reading.)

https://ideas.bkconnection.com/10-awful-truths-about-publish...