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Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

softcover.io

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Re: Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

#21

Congrats, looks good. Will it remain free? What will be the restrictions in the future.

Thanks! The Softcover production system is available for free as open-source software under the permissive MIT License. Softcover just takes a cut of sales, so we only make money when you make money.

Re: Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

#22
post #11
post #8

Looks like a nice product! Congrats on the launch. One of the main concerns for any new book is marketing. Are you planning to address this issue?

The Softcover sales platform includes a marketing page with slots for author bio, testimonials, FAQs, etc. (See, for example, Mark Bates's marketing page at http://conqueringthecommandline.com/ ) Softcover also supports an optional free HTML version of your book, which can be a great marketing tool. Finally, we are planning to develop a step-by-step "Marketing Wizard" to give authors detailed advice and guidance in t…

Do authors have the option of providing a book preview for free online rather than the entire thing? Or does that feature only allow for the entire book to be made free online?

Re: Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

#23
I love it! One comment I do have though is that the space alloted to the video on the page is quite large. Larger than the default zoom in Firefox at least. While it isn't a huge deal to not be able to see the whole picture and there is a full screen button, it might be helpful to some to make the video smaller on the page.

Re: Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

#24

I love it! One comment I do have though is that the space alloted to the video on the page is quite large. Larger than the default zoom in Firefox at least. While it isn't a huge deal to not be able to see the whole picture and there is a full screen button, it might be helpful to some to make the video smaller on the page.

Thanks! I think the video issue has been fixed. Let me know if you still run into trouble.

Re: Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

#25

I love it! One comment I do have though is that the space alloted to the video on the page is quite large. Larger than the default zoom in Firefox at least. While it isn't a huge deal to not be able to see the whole picture and there is a full screen button, it might be helpful to some to make the video smaller on the page.

Yeah... I wanted to do a big full screen stretching video. But probably easier to constrain it. Changed!

Re: Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

#26
Congrats on the launch. Looks great and is tempting me to take a real stab at writing I've always flirted with. Q: is there planned integration with print? Could you send out text to a printer and get an actual book made? DO you have relationships with any printers?

Re: Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

#28

Congrats on the launch. Looks great and is tempting me to take a real stab at writing I've always flirted with. Q: is there planned integration with print? Could you send out text to a printer and get an actual book made? DO you have relationships with any printers?

Thanks! Glad it looks tempting.

We've definitely looked into print. It's a tough nut to crack, and the ecosystem might not be mature enough yet for automatic integration. Lulu, for example, built an API, but not enough people used it, so they closed it to new developers. I'd love to offer a print solution at some point, though, so we'll keep an eagle eye on it.

In any case, the Softcover production system uses LaTeX, which is designed to make print-quality PDFs. The default output is optimized for tablets, but adapting it to a print-ready version is fairly straightforward. I expect we'll incorporate that into the typesetting system at some point. But unfortunately right now you'll have to do a lot of work by hand no matter which production system you use.

Re: Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial

#29
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Softcover sales platform includes a marketing page with slots for author bio, testimonials, FAQs, etc. (See, for example, Mark Bates's marketing page at http://conqueringthecommandline.com/ ) Softcover also supports an optional free HTML version of your book, which can be a great marketing tool. Finally, we are planning to develop a step-by-step "Marketing Wizard" to give authors detailed advice and guidance in t…

Do authors have the option of providing a book preview for free online rather than the entire thing? Or does that feature only allow for the entire book to be made free online?

Yes, Softcover has integrated support for making downloadable previews. In addition, currently the HTML version has to be either 100% free or 100% behind a paywall, but we plan to add the capability to make select HTML preview chapters available as well.
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