Re: Code donations for RPGUI initiative

[Jon Paris <jon.paris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There have been several recorded instances where giving it away free  
is a good way to make money.  (Thinking in Patterns?) The author found  
that people who got the book free accepted it in "pieces" as it was  
developed and the feedback helped shape the rest of the book.  He was  
quite surprised that people wanted a printed bound copy rather than  
just getting it done at Kinkos themselves, but he made it available  
and I believe he has sold quite a lot of copies of both the original  
and subsequent publications.

Problem with publishing (particularly technical books in our market)  
is the truly silly amount you get - a really good deal would be 20% of  
what they sell it for (note - not the cover price).

One of many reasons why I have never published a book!


Jon Paris

www.Partner400.com
www.SystemiDeveloper.com



On Jan 8, 2010, at 5:03 PM, web400-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

> If I want to publish my own book, I could create a PDF version and  
> set up my own website with PayPal. But what will it cost me to  
> create, maintain, and drive people to my site? If someone buys my  
> book and likes it, what would keep them from distributing the PDF to  
> their friends (and to their friends and to their friends) for free?   
> If I want to make money from a book, I might prefer going with a  
> publisher. A publisher can probably market my book better than me,  
> and you can't easily copy a physical book to distribute among  
> networks of friends.