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How I wrote, crowdfunded, and independently published a book

blakeboles.com

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Re: How I wrote, crowdfunded, and independently published a book

#31

Post by blakebo »

wrshpFAANG wrote: post #16

I'm curious how much profit you can make especially after touring the country. That sounds extremely expensive.

I managed to break even on the tour by charging small speaking fees, selling my other books after the talks, and staying with friends / Couchsurfing frequently.

Re: How I wrote, crowdfunded, and independently published a book

#34

Post by pc86 »

nunorbatista wrote: post #19
kentosi wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It has a typo and doesn't sound natural. What's the typo and why doesn't it sound natural? If it's about the "porque" then please keep this in mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUYzlYg_axo

Portuguese here: there's no error, it's fine.

Brazilian market.

Re: How I wrote, crowdfunded, and independently published a book

#35

Post by tkgally »

blakebo wrote: post #29
tkgally wrote: post #22

Excellent article. The best part is the author's recognition of the importance of getting help with the editing—not only checking the grammar and spelling but also working with the author on the content and tone. That can really make a difference in how well a book is received, and it's something that seems to be overlooked by many people who publish their own books. (Design is important, too, though maybe not as muc…

True — I hired friends who have translation experience but are not super experienced. That's how I got away with that budget for two translations (+ cover & design services).

If you are thinking of producing books in multilingual editions in the future, you might want to get some independent expert feedback about the quality of the translations your friends produced this time around. Those translations might have been fine. But there are many ways translations can be inadequate, from misunderstandings of subtle but important nuances in the source text to prose that sounds awkward and unnatural in the target language. Such problems can seriously impact both how accurately your message is conveyed and how well your book sells.

I worked as a professional translator (Japanese to English) for twenty years, and I always feel very uncomfortable when a paper or book I've written is translated into a language I can't read.

Re: How I wrote, crowdfunded, and independently published a book

#36

Post by pc86 »

pteraspidomorph wrote: post #13
alwaysLrng27 wrote: post #3

Amazing job. I think your portuguese cover/book title needs work if you plan to publish/sell in the brazilian market. It has a typo and doesn't sound natural.

It's fine standard portuguese. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/porque#Adverb

Brazil doesn't speak "standard portuguese" (whatever that is).

Re: How I wrote, crowdfunded, and independently published a book

#37

Post by blakebo »

brensmith wrote: post #33
blakebo wrote: post #25

Hi everyone, I'm the author of the post & book. Thanks for commenting!

Hi Blake! Kieran's dad here. So great to see your article on Hacker News. Your old bike is safely heading back to Colorado soon.

Ha, that's incredible!

Re: How I wrote, crowdfunded, and independently published a book

#38

Post by shahinrostami »

swyx wrote: post #27
shahinrostami wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing! Through your link, I found my way to this image. It reminded me of the time I thought I had a similar inbox indicating a successful launch, but it was just the same person's "payment failed" notification coming through!

what image?

I have no idea why it removed the link... it was a link to an image displaying an email inbox with many customer order emails, i.e. many sales being made.
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