Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
1–10 of 23 posts
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#2Congrats on publishing your book! I did one back a few years ago, and I know it's a ton of work but really fun / gratifying :)
May I make a suggestion? In the early bird access, I would also include part of the get hands dirty. Knowing why I should do something isn't that valuable on its own - it's the stuff showing me how that's more valuable. So give me a taste, get me started and then wanting the rest so I know how to finish it!
The only downside is that it'll create demand but that will also create pressure on you to make the rest available soon, otherwise people may try to find how to finish elsewhere so when you release the rest some of the demand will have dissipated.
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#3Congrats on publishing your book! I did one back a few years ago, and I know it's a ton of work but really fun / gratifying :) May I make a suggestion? In the early bird access, I would also include part of the get hands dirty. Knowing why I should do something isn't that valuable on its own - it's the stuff showing me how that's more valuable. So give me a taste, get me started and then wanting the rest so I know ho…
Thanks for the great feedback!
In part 1 I actually do an introductory example and show people how to build a Magento (albeit simple) extension from scratch using the full workflow that part2 shows in detail.
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#4Good for you! Magento isn't in my wheelhouse, but I'd be interested in hearing how you've gone about marketing your book before release — building a mailing list, sharing articles to social media, guest blog posts, etc. Do you have anything you'd do differently if you were to write another book in the future?
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#5Good for you! Magento isn't in my wheelhouse, but I'd be interested in hearing how you've gone about marketing your book before release — building a mailing list, sharing articles to social media, guest blog posts, etc. Do you have anything you'd do differently if you were to write another book in the future?
Hey,
This book is actually my second one the first one was: 'The Magento PHP Developer's Guide' which was in collaboration with PacktPub. During the process of writing and publishing the first book, I learned a lot of hard lessons.
The Magento TDD book is actually my attempt at doing things differently:
- Building an email list - A lot of twitter marketing
As well I'm currently working on getting some reviewer copies distributed to a few well-known blogs in the Magento community.
I plan to do a couple follow up posts with all the things I'm learning about marketing the book and the experience overall.
Reference: https://www.packtpub.com/web-development/magento-php-develop...
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#6Nice work. I passed it along to a couple of magento developers I know. A bit of feedback. I get that you want to be clear what the book isn't, but when you say
"This book only focuses on a handful of tools and few specific approaches that in my opinion work the best. Be Pragmatic and use what works best for you."
That makes me (with my 'Magento developer who doesn't test' hat on) think, wait, I don't know what works for me, that's why I'm buying the book.
Instead, I'd write something like:
"This book discusses one toolset I've used with success. There are other ways to test Magento extensions, but this book will walk you through setting up a method that I've tested and used for years."
If this is a book aimed at beginners (magento testing beginners, not necessarily magento beginners), which your copy implies, give them definitive statements, especially in the marketing copy. That's what beginners like. (You can, of course, offer more shades of gray in the book, but not too much.)
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#7Congrats on publishing your book! I did one back a few years ago, and I know it's a ton of work but really fun / gratifying :) May I make a suggestion? In the early bird access, I would also include part of the get hands dirty. Knowing why I should do something isn't that valuable on its own - it's the stuff showing me how that's more valuable. So give me a taste, get me started and then wanting the rest so I know ho…
Yes, congrats! I wrote one too and it's a ton of work but fun to see what doors open up.
My book ended up having a short shelf life--hope this one has a longer one.
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#8Nice work. I passed it along to a couple of magento developers I know. A bit of feedback. I get that you want to be clear what the book isn't, but when you say "This book only focuses on a handful of tools and few specific approaches that in my opinion work the best. Be Pragmatic and use what works best for you." That makes me (with my 'Magento developer who doesn't test' hat on) think, wait, I don't know what works…
give them definitive statements
Concise, confident: "This book focuses on the best testing tools and frameworks."
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#9Nice work. I passed it along to a couple of magento developers I know. A bit of feedback. I get that you want to be clear what the book isn't, but when you say "This book only focuses on a handful of tools and few specific approaches that in my opinion work the best. Be Pragmatic and use what works best for you." That makes me (with my 'Magento developer who doesn't test' hat on) think, wait, I don't know what works…
give them definitive statements Concise, confident: "This book focuses on the best testing tools and frameworks."
Much better. Use this!
Re: Show HN: I just released my first self-published book
#10Nice work. I passed it along to a couple of magento developers I know. A bit of feedback. I get that you want to be clear what the book isn't, but when you say "This book only focuses on a handful of tools and few specific approaches that in my opinion work the best. Be Pragmatic and use what works best for you." That makes me (with my 'Magento developer who doesn't test' hat on) think, wait, I don't know what works…
Love the feedback, working on the changes right now :)