I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
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Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#2Happy to answer any questions about the process of writing a book! It's been a surprisingly fun side-project that brings in some money too.
Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#3[deleted]
Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#4Happy to answer any questions about the process of writing a book! It's been a surprisingly fun side-project that brings in some money too.
I'll bite. What motivated you to do this? What was the process like? Have you considered making instructional video for Udemy or other MOOCs as another resource?
Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#5Happy to answer any questions about the process of writing a book! It's been a surprisingly fun side-project that brings in some money too.
I'll bite. What motivated you to do this? What was the process like? Have you considered making instructional video for Udemy or other MOOCs as another resource?
I taught myself how to code about 5 years ago and while I eventually figured it out (and launched weddinglovely.com), I was really annoyed at the process and how every tutorial seemed like it assumed I came from a comp. sci. background. I decided I wanted to write a learn-to-code book aimed at people who have previous experience with front-end development and how websites work, but no programming experience.
The process was long... took me about a year. It could have been much shorter if some personal and startup events didn't interfere with the process, especially since it's such a small book (~140 pages). Another book that size would probably take me about three months. I ended up doing all of the design myself as well, which slowed me down, but it was enjoyable as I was able to use some of my design background and editorial design knowledge – a nice break from writing and programming.
I have thought about making instructional videos, since the ones that I sell in the "complete" package have been doing well. The biggest issue is time, since I'm still running my startup solo. Second biggest is potential revenue, since my salary for WeddingLovely is currently at $0 (long story) so I'm supporting myself completely on what Hello Web App is bringing in.
Thanks for the fun questions!
Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#6Happy to answer any questions about the process of writing a book! It's been a surprisingly fun side-project that brings in some money too.
What was the most difficult step in the self-publishing process?
Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#7Happy to answer any questions about the process of writing a book! It's been a surprisingly fun side-project that brings in some money too.
What was the most difficult step in the self-publishing process?
Editing was hard, I didn't pay for a professional editor and I still wonder if the book could have been better had I paid for a professional to go through it. I did recruit an army of testers and volunteer readers though, which helped.
Fulfillment slowed me down a lot, especially since I released a paperback book rather than keeping it all digital (I really wanted to have something physical to take to events, plus designing an actual book is really fun.) I almost went with a local printer, as I wanted to support a local business... but their cost per book was ~$10, and going with a China-based printer (PrintNinja.com) dropped the book cost to $3.60 — I pretty much had no choice since I wanted to sell on Amazon (anything over $5 would kill my profit.) But being that it was printed in China, it added two months between submitting the print order to getting the books in hand, and I had a lot of people waiting for their books for about a year since the Kickstarter. It was really stressful, but at least now I know and can plan for this delay in the future.
Oh, and a shout-out to marketing, which this blog post obviously is. Of course I wish I could release the book and get revenue without effort, but that won't happen. Self-promotion is really hard, and I'm learning how to market my products better but it's really not that much fun and very stressful. Necessary though.
Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#8Congrats on writing a book and launching it!
That said, for me, this is just one more data point that you don't write a book to make money off of book sales. You do it to establish yourself as an authority and earn from that new position.
Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#9Congrats on writing a book and launching it! That said, for me, this is just one more data point that you don't write a book to make money off of book sales. You do it to establish yourself as an authority and earn from that new position.
Thanks for the congrats!
Yeah I agree that other perks can outweigh the money; see also the comment below about marketing being one of the hardest parts about writing a book. Getting more known now will help future books I write (Nathan Barry is a good example).
I am reaping some rewards of having expenses covered to do workshops abroad. It's not a source of income, but it does make travel a lot more affordable which is great.
Ultimately, I hope that there will be some long-term passive income from the book (and possibly other books). We'll see. :)
Re: I self-published a learn-to-code book and made nearly $5k in pre-orders
#10Congrats on writing a book and launching it! That said, for me, this is just one more data point that you don't write a book to make money off of book sales. You do it to establish yourself as an authority and earn from that new position.
I've always found that some of my best learning... is teaching someone else.
Its amazing how far back into basics I have to go when I start talking to other people about programming. Some of the most fun I've had was helping my brother through his "Intro to C" class. God I hate pointers...