[flagged]
Why to Not Write a Book
41–50 of 215 posts
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#42[flagged]
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#43If you’re not completely driven to write a book, and there isn’t a book inside you that you just have to get out, then do not bother writing a book. Agents and publishers have nothing to do with it - you don’t need to ask for permission to write your book, it’s a piece of art. Agents and publishing come afterwards - and nobody is going to be interested really anyway, at least in the early stages. So if that is enough…
I've heard this many times before (I think Charles Bukowski used to preach this?), and I have to say I disagree. Famously Douglas Adams had to be forced to write every sentence in the Hitchhiker's Guide. He certainly didn't have a book inside him that had to get out, he had external deadlines and rent to pay. Can you imagine a world without HGTTG?
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#44I haven't blogged in a while, so i decided to write a blog post about my experience building a chatbot that was actually generating revenue and helping people. There is a lot of noise in this field, but at the same time no real information. The more I wrote the more i realized that I had a lot more to say than a 900 words article.
Next thing you know, I shared what I am doing in an HN comment and I was asked to provide a way for people to follow. I dumped what I had so far on github and it's now gonna be a book written in public. I'll probably turn it into a physical book eventually, but for now I got information to share and I'll type away until I'm done Sharing.
That's one reason to write.
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#45Sad. I did $403k last month as an independent writer. All analog publishing. None of it from KDP. Be careful what advice you listen to.
Don’t tell me, if I buy your book I can learn how to do it too?
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#46If you’re not completely driven to write a book, and there isn’t a book inside you that you just have to get out, then do not bother writing a book. Agents and publishers have nothing to do with it - you don’t need to ask for permission to write your book, it’s a piece of art. Agents and publishing come afterwards - and nobody is going to be interested really anyway, at least in the early stages. So if that is enough…
I've heard this many times before (I think Charles Bukowski used to preach this?), and I have to say I disagree. Famously Douglas Adams had to be forced to write every sentence in the Hitchhiker's Guide. He certainly didn't have a book inside him that had to get out, he had external deadlines and rent to pay. Can you imagine a world without HGTTG?
What happens when you walk up to a publishing agent and tell them you don’t have anything to show them, and they’ll need to force you to write every sentence but assure them it’ll be brilliant?
I think you’re also talking about one of Adams’ later books after HHGTG once his publisher was deep in hock for his advance.
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#47Oh boy.
I can relate so much to this article and everything said here. I published a book last year and it has been a long journey. It took me one year and a half to write it. But then when you think it's done, it's just a second challenge coming up. I wanted to write a book that was as straight-to-the-point as possible. The publisher I signed with didn't really understand my approach and wanted me to turn it into a random book ("less rough") where you would get the usual long and useless introductions that I hate. Took me a while to realise that if I signed with a publisher it was just to get this "I'm an author" recognition this article talks about. I realised I didn't even buy "regular" programming books and most of my library are self published books. I didn't want to publish a book I would have not read.
Ended up cancelling my contract and publishing it myself. I talk a bit about it in this article: https://www.einenlum.com/articles/my-book-from-php-to-python...
I sold like 50 of them but got great feedback. To anyone wondering if it's worth it financially, definitely NOT. Is it still worth it for other reasons? I would say I don't regret it but you first have to realise you'll go into a rabbit hole and experience the levels of stress the author of the article talks about.
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#48If you’re not completely driven to write a book, and there isn’t a book inside you that you just have to get out, then do not bother writing a book. Agents and publishers have nothing to do with it - you don’t need to ask for permission to write your book, it’s a piece of art. Agents and publishing come afterwards - and nobody is going to be interested really anyway, at least in the early stages. So if that is enough…
I've heard this many times before (I think Charles Bukowski used to preach this?), and I have to say I disagree. Famously Douglas Adams had to be forced to write every sentence in the Hitchhiker's Guide. He certainly didn't have a book inside him that had to get out, he had external deadlines and rent to pay. Can you imagine a world without HGTTG?
HHTG was an odd one since he was adapting existing material (the radio series) to a novel form.
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#49Great read and you could totally translate it to “Why to Not Write an App” almost verbatim. The following passage is I think the most interesting:
> Now of course, there is a second kind of author: authors who write books with little discernible impact on their newsletter or blog. They sit down for an hour (statistically, in the morning), pound out their quota, and turn to the next task. The book does not weigh on their minds, and they are confident that they will have it out, as usual, in 12 months. More power to them—but I also think that most would-be book authors already know if they are one of that latter kind of writers, or if they are the former kind I’ve been discussing.
Re: Why to Not Write a Book
#50Maybe it doesn't have to be complex. Gwern could just have a restructured text feature to their articles that auto-builds to a PDF that you can buy as an on-demand book or get it on kindle. I don't think it has to be on a single subject. Gwerns essays are interesting in their own right and would still make a fine book. Wasn't 'Hackers and Painters' in the same spirit?