Susan Harkins
harkins at iglou.com
Fri Mar 21 10:03:01 CST 2003
How many Blair Witch Projects didn't make it? That's what you're dealing with -- not the ones that do, but the ones that don't. Publishers and authors aren't going to produce books that probably won't sell on the chance that their one will be that one in a million. Seriously, it is that unlikely. Publishing is still, very much a business of volume. Only a scant few make a lot of money. The rest make some, and you have to have several out at all times to actually make a living at it. Often a book produces no royalties -- you write it strictly for the advance. Then there's the deals where you don't even get an advance, and then the book doesn't sell well either... <groan> It's difficult to have several out at any one time because they take 6 to 8 months to produce, and have a shelf-life of a few years at best. Traditionally, publishers publish as many books as possible, knowing that some won't sell, but knowing most would sell "enough" and a few would sell really well. There's no way to really predict which books will fall into what categories. However, specialty books have been one area that publishers routinely don't touch... I've discussed plenty of them with a number of publishers -- and after having finally produced one of my own -- I can promise you, I'll probably never touch another one. It may be unfortunate for those that need the specialized information. All I can tell you is, if those books sold, we'd be writing them. Susan H. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Adams" <tomadatn at bellsouth.net> To: <accessd at databaseadvisors.com> Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 10:39 AM Subject: Re: [AccessD] Tech books ... > As IBM says - there are no unsolveable problems - just challenges. > > The vanity press business has really come a long way. You can get a run > of 5,000 books at 200 pages for about $1-2 per book(might be more now). > > Look at the smaller newer groups in music for direction and inspiration. They're > seeing these kind of efforts pay for themselves and soon there will be a big > breakthrough and somebody will go from self published to superstar and > the game will have changed forever. > > Look at the Blair Witch project. $60,000 to millions by amateurs. A little > farther along the curve is the Spy Kids series. Done in Texas by an independent > for a fraction of the usual cost. > > Combine that with the Inet and these NewsGroups and there's now a chance > to do it small and profitably. As an important side benefit - an author can > use it in their marketing to promote their programming. Looks great on a > resume and dropping a potential client your book (even though they won't > read it and wouldn't understand it if they did) should be a big plus. > > Tom > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Wortz, Charles" <CWortz at tea.state.tx.us> > To: <accessd at databaseadvisors.com> > Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 9:04 AM > Subject: RE: [AccessD] Tech books ... > > > > Arthur, > > > > <lecture> > > The economics of book publishing do not allow for such specialized books > > as you envision. You have noticed that several computer-oriented book > > publishers such as Wrox have ceased publishing lately, haven't you? > > Such specialized topics usually have to be done as white papers for > > which the authors receive no compensation. You may also have noticed > > that most white papers are sponsored by organizations that employ the > > authors. > > > > There are few authors that can afford to give away the fruit of their > > labors. I doubt that Susan is willing to live in poverty so you can > > freely benefit from her knowledge. <grin> > > > > Thus the advantage of lists such as AccessD, there are many on this list > > willing to freely share some of their knowledge. However, the price you > > pay for this free knowledge is that it is not organized, you have to > > work to put all the pieces together. <grin> > > </lecture> > > > > Have a nice day and a nice weekend! > > > > Charles Wortz > > Software Development Division > > Texas Education Agency > > 1701 N. Congress Ave > > Austin, TX 78701-1494 > > 512-463-9493 > > CWortz at tea.state.tx.us > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Arthur Fuller [mailto:artful at rogers.com] > > Sent: Friday 2003 Mar 21 08:45 > > To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com > > Subject: RE: [AccessD] Tech books ... > > > > As one of said writers, I hearily agree. 1500-page tomes such as ADH > > contain lots of good stuff, but 1000 pages of fluff as well (from the > > p.o.v. of an experienced developer). I would much prefer a series of > > books, each focused on a particular subject. For example, using classes, > > doing replication, upsizing, using parameterized sprocs in forms, and so > > on. Then you could spend $20 instead of $80 and get all and only what > > you need. > > > > Arthur > > > > "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." > > -- Benjamin Franklin > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com > > [mailto:accessd-admin at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Tom Adams > > Sent: March 21, 2003 9:25 AM > > To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com > > Subject: [AccessD] Tech books ... > > > > > > To the whizzes that write books in this list. > > > > A recent post that said they learned better from examples than from > > reading books brought up a point I've been meaning to make. I know the > > publishers push you to include all Access user levels in your books so > > more will sell. However that means that 80% of the book is useless for > > moderate to advanced readers. > > > > There are two points I'd like to point out (neither of which has a > > chance of making it). 1. Have a few overly documented examples if you > > will - but include a bunch of heavy duty > > code for examples for the advanced programmers - with little or no > > comments. The documented > > examples in books are usually too simple to be very useful. Real > > code will teach most > > developers without the comments. > > > > 2. As there are millions of Excel and Access power users through > > developers > > - and sometimes they > > will be doing other apps - eg. Excel to Access, Excel to VB, Access > > to VB and/or VB to Access, > > Access to Sql Server and Sql Server to Jet - consider writing a > > From X to Y Dictionary. Eg. > > From Access to VB, From Jet to Sql Server, etc. > > > > I've moved into VB for the last 6 months and would have paid almost > > anything for an Access to Vb > > book. Eg. Combo Box. What a pain in VB. Can't tell you how long > > this took me to figure out. > > Makes me want to find one of the Access guys at Microsoft and give > > them my first born child (I > > know, I know - she's a teenager and that's a punishment worse than > > death to inflict on anyone but > > the thought is grateful.) > > > > I find that I know exactly what I want to do in Access but the > > differences are often difficult to figure > > out. > > _______________________________________________ > > AccessD mailing list > > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com > _______________________________________________ > AccessD mailing list > AccessD at databaseadvisors.com > http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd > Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com >