Re:Tips for Writing a Technical Book
by sytelus on Sunday June 02, 2019 @02:34AM
(#20073869)
A big problem is that even 100% cut doesn't amount to much if you are writing technical/programming related books. So this should probably not be the biggest decision factor. The advantage of not going with publisher, however, are MANY:
- You can open source the book. This can help you gain much more audience and career recognition.
- You are not bound by having to fit in to publisher's specific series, its style of writing
- You can chose your own title. Most publishers in technical books arena will force you to have title that is consistent with their series.
- You do things in your own time without pressure, may be even open sourcing book from day 1
- You are not bound by page limit. Most publishers would force you to have 250-400 pages, no matter what. My personal philosophy is that the most useful books are the shortest and personally I would prefer to write books that are as little as just 50 pages.
- You can open source the book. This can help you gain much more audience and career recognition.
- You are not bound by having to fit in to publisher's specific series, its style of writing
- You can chose your own title. Most publishers in technical books arena will force you to have title that is consistent with their series.
- You do things in your own time without pressure, may be even open sourcing book from day 1
- You are not bound by page limit. Most publishers would force you to have 250-400 pages, no matter what. My personal philosophy is that the most useful books are the shortest and personally I would prefer to write books that are as little as just 50 pages.