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Why to Not Write a Book

gwern.net

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Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#161

Post by pc86 »

smikhanov wrote: post #81
mewse wrote: post #55

I can't stop thinking about this throwaway parenthetical at the start of the blog post: > [...] for many writers, writing a book is about the last thing they should do (unless they feel a book bursting out of them, much like a facehugger). Now, as we all know, the aliens that burst out of people in the Aliens franchise are called 'chestbursters'. "Facehuggers", by comparison, are hatched from alien eggs. So in this m…

Considering how tooth-achingly boring the original post is, this is the best kind of feedback for it.

First Gwern post I see.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#162

Post by ghaff »

skybrian wrote: post #16

Maybe there’s a similar post to be written about whether to start a blog and write essays? It works for some people, but for me, writing an an article that I think is good enough to publish (even on my obscure blog) takes all day and the extra effort doesn’t seem worthwhile, compared to writing comments and sharing links.

I have definitely shifted more to commenting here and there. I may get back to my blogs but I've sort of been faffing around since semi-retiring a few months back but maybe after I get back from my next trip and wrap up some home projects.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#163

Post by ghaff »

Einenlum wrote: post #47

Oh 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…

The advantage of a publisher like Apress or O'Reilly is a lot of people still attach probably excessive value to the publisher pedigree.

The downside, as you say, is that they control length, format, pricing, deadlines, etc.

I went through the publisher route once through two editions and, on net, I'm glad I did but I've also self-published in no small part because I'd rather write some more bite-size books on narrow topics and I want to be able to do whatever I want with the material on the schedule I choose.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#164

Post by ghaff »

achenet wrote: post #146
d--b wrote: post #49

Great 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 th…

I actually wrote a novella over the summer, using the "just write a bit every day and then go live your life method". It works quite well ^^

The 1 to 2 hours most days works for a lot of things. I was saying to a friend I've gotten so little done since semi-retiring a few months ago so I wrote out a list and they're "You've gotten a ton of stuff done!"

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#165

Post by NoMoreNicksLeft »

water-data-dude wrote: post #129
mewse wrote: post #55

I can't stop thinking about this throwaway parenthetical at the start of the blog post: > [...] for many writers, writing a book is about the last thing they should do (unless they feel a book bursting out of them, much like a facehugger). Now, as we all know, the aliens that burst out of people in the Aliens franchise are called 'chestbursters'. "Facehuggers", by comparison, are hatched from alien eggs. So in this m…

Are you saying everyone would be better off not reading my Starship Troopers fan fiction where they get it on with the Arachnids?

Everyone should read my science fiction novel, where a team of intrepid heroes travels in time to assassinate Marx and Engels, but returns to a future where things are worse because they should've focused on Hegel.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#166

Post by miranda-xyz »

asicsp wrote: post #24

On the flip side, converting my tutorials to ebooks saved me from having to look for a job again. Been selling them for 6 years (with the last two years spent just to update them to newer software versions, improve examples, new cover images, etc). Of course, I have the advantage of living in a developing country but selling to an international audience (just $200/month to pay my bills).

I immediately thought of your work when reading your comment... And it turns out It's actually you. Nice!

I'm currently going through the CLI tutorials. No ebooks for the time being, as I'm just broke right know. Thanks for all the content. Keep it up!

Edit: typo.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#167

Post by specialist »

ghaff wrote: post #149
tinybrain wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is my #1 gripe with non-fiction books. Way too wordy, too many anecdotes, just spit it out already. Please value my time as the reader. I read a lot of books, but I feel like I’m allocating more mental energy skimming half the content than I am absorbing knowledge. 37signals/Basecamp had some illuminating things to say about their book experiences. They kept fighting with the publisher to make their book short,…

Publishers in general want books that are 250+ pages. And that's probably too much for a lot of topics. The one time I went through a publisher I definitely felt I was padding things. The second edition was better. I took out some of the padding and I fleshed out other topics that deserved it. It still barely made it to the 250-ish page point though.

Do you know what the 250 page target is based on? Knowing the underlying assumptions, metrics, KPIs, or whatever, could be helpful.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#168

Post by bonoboTP »

hengheng wrote: post #52

I've once talked to a semi-successful author. His day job was Mechanical Engineering at the local university. He eventually quit once he had his formula worked out. He writes crime novels. Doesn't even like them, but if you want to sell, you either write smut (big gamble) or crime novels (less crowded). Anything you actually want to write about, you have to shoehorn into the crime novel. You also have to keep your pr…

Prolific professors who publish dozens of papers at scientific conferences year after year also have similar methods. There's a pattern, there's a method. There's always some novelty of course but it's a production line nevertheless. (I'm talking about real successful academics with real status in the community, not fakes).

It also reminds me of the MrBeast document from the other day.

Once you hit the formula, you keep grinding it. Consistent high performers almost all do it, no matter the field. Whether it's songs, books, YouTube videos, science papers, blog posts, paintings, consultants, etc.

Of course science papers are a team effort but so are novels and music and paintings. Hans Zimmer didn't single handedly compose his recent film scores, he has lots of people working for him on the project. Master painters used assistants. Stephen King isn't typing every character himself.

Amd then there are one hit wonders who are at the right place at the right time, saying what needed to be said in that moment, and then sink back into obscurity or become a parody/tribute of their own self as they try to milk that one insight from their 15 minutes of fame.

Outlier level work by one person that keeps being novel in truly surprising ways, on a consitent basis, is so rare that there are probably only a handful of instances.

Re: Why to Not Write a Book

#170

Post by tourmalinetaco »

Ekaros wrote: post #138
dayjaby wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of about every single Japanese web novel... "I've been killing slimes for 300 years and maxed out my level" "I'm a behemoth, an S-ranked monster, but mistaken for a cat, I live as an elf girl's pet" The list goes on with even longer titles.

Actually Japanese titles are explained by the reality that market is so crowded that no one reads the synopsis(backside) or even blurbs anymore. So putting it all in the title is best way to get enough information out to catch some attention.

Additionally, although this is potentially hearsay (IANAJCL), from my understanding Japanese copyright law is strict and names cannot be re-used, so to get around this they tack on a single sentence synopsis, so it’s incredibly difficult to run out of names.
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