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Adventures in Self Publishing

petekeen.net

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Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#31

Post by Throwaway3rdSep »

eob wrote: post #25
Throwaway3rdSep wrote: post #11

I self-published a programming book a while ago, and it brings in about $700 per month. I didn't see the big initial spike the OP did (shame), but the money has been consistent, and I would expect it to continue for several years. Total start-up costs: $150 (proof copies etc.) We're lucky as programmers that we tend to be able to wrangle LaTeX, and some of us have taste in typography and an ability to write decent pr…

Does it sell more as a PDF (via web site), Kindle, or paper book on Amazon? I've done the traditional publishing route before, too, and agree that the advance is nice but the percentage cut of sales is miserable.

Copies sold 60/20/20 amazon/kindle/PDF

Profit per copy $21/$9/$14 amazon/kindle/PDF

Haven't done any real price experiments yet.

Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#32

Post by itengelhardt »

it_kraut wrote: post #8

hmmm, 2 weeks => 8 work hrs. per day. 5000$:80hrs. = 62,50$ 1 $ = 0,7592$ = 47,4479€ = 47,45€ ---------------- total: 3796€ in two weeks. 50€ per hr. is a german student designer/programmer (first uni year) price. nothing special. the most work for 70-120,00€ p. hour.

Thanks for making Germans look like dicks...

IMHO you are not factoring in the value of the built email list building. This will (hopefully) allow Pete to be exponentially more successful with future books.

Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#33

Post by itengelhardt »

eob wrote: post #26
it_kraut wrote: post #8

hmmm, 2 weeks => 8 work hrs. per day. 5000$:80hrs. = 62,50$ 1 $ = 0,7592$ = 47,4479€ = 47,45€ ---------------- total: 3796€ in two weeks. 50€ per hr. is a german student designer/programmer (first uni year) price. nothing special. the most work for 70-120,00€ p. hour.

120€/hr in Germany for a 1st year uni student? I find that hard to believe..

You know that prices are (often) more a function of marketing than of competence...

Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#34

Post by eob »

Throwaway3rdSep wrote: post #31
eob wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does it sell more as a PDF (via web site), Kindle, or paper book on Amazon? I've done the traditional publishing route before, too, and agree that the advance is nice but the percentage cut of sales is miserable.

Copies sold 60/20/20 amazon/kindle/PDF Profit per copy $21/$9/$14 amazon/kindle/PDF Haven't done any real price experiments yet.

Thanks for the reply. Very interesting numbers. I wonder if pulp is the most popular option because Amazon provides better shelf space than your self-hosted web site or because tech book purchasers prefer having a physical object to refer to...

Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#35

Post by eob »

itengelhardt wrote: post #33
eob wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

120€/hr in Germany for a 1st year uni student? I find that hard to believe..

You know that prices are (often) more a function of marketing than of competence...

Sure -- no argument there: for any population, there will exist individuals who can market themselves at extraordinary rates.

I was interpreting the post as a statement of the average market rate, which is something else entirely.

Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#36

Post by peterarmstrong »

casca wrote: post #4

A writer pointed out to me that writing a book is very similar to building a tech startup. The hours are long, it's critical to build a strong platform and there are the same swings from despair to elation. Additional data points are always very much appreciated and it's very good of the author to release his tools and methods for others to learn from. Of course, the $5k in 2 weeks doesn't account for the time it too…

I'm really glad that other writers are making this comparison! I did (see https://leanpub.com/manifesto, http://youtu.be/ozO0kOnqmyA and http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2013/03/leanpub-...) and it's the basis of the Lean Publishing ideas and Leanpub...

Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#37

Post by bdunn »

it_kraut wrote: post #8

hmmm, 2 weeks => 8 work hrs. per day. 5000$:80hrs. = 62,50$ 1 $ = 0,7592$ = 47,4479€ = 47,45€ ---------------- total: 3796€ in two weeks. 50€ per hr. is a german student designer/programmer (first uni year) price. nothing special. the most work for 70-120,00€ p. hour.

1) A book is an asset, and provides long term revenue (even though it diminishes over time without some form of marketing / outreach)

2) A book establishes a customer base, and Pete can provide future offerings to this pool.

3) A book is a great way to establish credibility in a space. When someone is looking to hire a consultant to work out Rails Stripe, who looks more attractive: the guy who wrote the book on it, or "generic Rails developer"?

The focus is on long term asset building, not short term gain.

Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#38

Post by daok »

I do not know if you are from USA, but I am from Canada and I never been able to fill up the form to get a itin number (to not have to have extra tax to paid when you get royalty). I even paid 50$ at the US embassy to have the paper stamped and it has been rejected without any indication. Does any one has better experience?

Re: Adventures in Self Publishing

#39

Post by joshdance »

it_kraut wrote: post #8

hmmm, 2 weeks => 8 work hrs. per day. 5000$:80hrs. = 62,50$ 1 $ = 0,7592$ = 47,4479€ = 47,45€ ---------------- total: 3796€ in two weeks. 50€ per hr. is a german student designer/programmer (first uni year) price. nothing special. the most work for 70-120,00€ p. hour.

I now follow Pete on Twitter, know his name, and know he does Rails and can start and finish a project. Plus he wouldn't do this if he didn't like it. 3796€ for a fun side project? Yes please.
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