> I think people severely, severely underestimate the amount you can make self-publishing.
I think you really should qualify this for the sake of all of us amateur writers out there. I would've said "people severely, severely overestimate the amount you can make self-publishing."
Most of us don't have a book idea worth writing about or are really bad at writing, or both. It's also really hard for a lot of us to realize which group we're in.
You say "I raked in $TONS for a $40 non-fiction book that helps folks with business development" but I think the rest of us should recognize those details when we see your numbers. If I want to write a book about the subtle great things about unit tests, python, or the great American novel, I should tread with caution. My boring story will probably not make $TONS.
> very best authors they published would sell 10,000 books. Their cut was something like $2/book, they'd pull in $20k.
This is a more interesting part of your post, and worth highlighting. Self-publishing can net you a LOT more than working with a publisher. But for sure you've got to start with an idea that people think is worth buying.
Honestly, for most tech people, the value in either publishing or self-publishing a book is mostly in the resume value. I don't necessarily mean that literally but now your bio includes "published author" and, in my experience, that opens up speaking opportunities and other doors--which open more doors etc.
Most authors won't make a lot of money but, for many types of jobs, published books can support a lot of other things even if they're not some definitive best seller.
You'd think so, but writing a book only impresses recruiters. Other programmers either give you a confused look, try to argue with you, or ask you to write FizzBuzz like this: http://joelgrus.com/2016/05/23/fizz-buzz-in-tensorflow/
I must admit having made a valiant attempt at writing fizzbuzz in brainfuck as a lark, once upon a whiteboarding session. Ran out of space and/or ink, if I remember correctly.
At a recent job interview, I started answering questions in APL. Didn't quite make it through. In retrospect, it didn't matter as long as I could explain it to the reviewer, because he couldn't read APL anyway.
I'm not a programmer professionally. I basically do technology/developer/etc. evangelism of various sorts. In outbound roles where your reputation is a big part of what you're selling, it definitely makes a difference.
I should update that, but I've been busy improving the content and building better examples and learning how to do better video so I can do justice to the planned upgrades.
What about shopping your book concept around to publishers, validating that there's interest (and that they think you're capable), then if there is, self-publishing?
Do publishers act as a reliable source for validating your idea? or do you rely purely on your audience, if you can validate your audience directly then you'll be able to get a far more accurate prediction of demand for a book than from the opinions of a publisher's agents.
I think you really should qualify this for the sake of all of us amateur writers out there. I would've said "people severely, severely overestimate the amount you can make self-publishing."
Most of us don't have a book idea worth writing about or are really bad at writing, or both. It's also really hard for a lot of us to realize which group we're in.
You say "I raked in $TONS for a $40 non-fiction book that helps folks with business development" but I think the rest of us should recognize those details when we see your numbers. If I want to write a book about the subtle great things about unit tests, python, or the great American novel, I should tread with caution. My boring story will probably not make $TONS.
> very best authors they published would sell 10,000 books. Their cut was something like $2/book, they'd pull in $20k.
This is a more interesting part of your post, and worth highlighting. Self-publishing can net you a LOT more than working with a publisher. But for sure you've got to start with an idea that people think is worth buying.