[erlang-questions] ANN: Designing for Scalability with Erlang/OTP by O'Reilly

lloyd@REDACTED lloyd@REDACTED
Tue Jul 8 21:55:34 CEST 2014


Hello,

My thoughts as an a novelist and army-of-one small press publisher:

- Several sites discuss how to develop a proforma profit & loss state for a book project

http://pimpmynovel.blogspot.com/2009/10/p-1-of-4-basics.html

- Even in my bare-bones world where I often stringently discount my time, expenses add up fast. O'Reilly carries considerable overhead and brings many paid person hours to a book project.

- Sad fact is, few books sell enough to cover the author's advance. 

- I too gasped when I saw the combined price of the physical and e-book editions of Cesarini/Vinoski. But that said, even at full price, I seriously doubt that anyone involved with Franceso and Steve's book project will make a killing. 

- Like others on this thread, I could not justify purchasing the book at this point without Franceso's discount code. Not that I consider the two editiorns overpriced for value delivered. But rather, I simply couldn't squeeze the purchase into my book-buying budget. 

But with the discount code, purchasing both was a no-brainer given the hard-won expertise that Francesco and Steve are sharing so generously through their book. Just imagine how fast the consulting fees would mount if we had to hire either to help with our software projects.

- The wonderful thing about the web is that so much invaluable information is available for the price of a few mouse clicks. It's spoiled us into thinking that information is free. But generating worthwhile information entails considerable time and cost. 

I, for one, benefit considerably and feel boundless gratitude for the wonderful sharing economy that has emerged through the open-source movement. For me it's a privilege to pay back in any way I can. Buying a book that supports the titans of our field who've contributed so much is the least I can do.

All the best,

Lloyd

-----Original Message-----
From: "Francesco Cesarini" <francesco@REDACTED>
Sent: Tuesday, July 8, 2014 2:51pm
To: erlang-questions@REDACTED
Subject: Re: [erlang-questions] ANN: Designing for Scalability with Erlang/OTP by O'Reilly

You do not write books because you believe you are going to make money 
out of them. You write them because you are passionate about the 
subject. If you calculate what Simon and I made from our first book, I 
am not sure we've hit minimum wage yet. From my side, I want to document 
my approach to teaching OTP, as I think it will work in writing as well 
as it does in the classroom. From the feedback Steve and I have received 
so far, we are right on track. Reiterating an email on this list from 
2008, I want to see a whole bookshelf of Erlang/OTP books out there.

I found the experience of working with O'Reilly really positive the 
first time around. From the editor, the production team (Graphics, copy 
editor, proof readers, etc) as well as their marketing and conferences.  
And this time around, it is just as good, if not better. As an author, I 
could not recommend them more highly. I want to write books, I do not 
want to do all of the other stuff associated with getting it out. It is 
just a false economy.

/F

PS. For those who can't afford 25$, try before you buy. It is called 
BitTorrent.

On 08/07/2014 19:39, Raoul Duke wrote:
> i haven't looked at the books here, but having been somebody who
> produced things and wondered how anybody could ever make a living at
> it, and knowing that writers throughout history rarely made much after
> the publisher etc. got a cut, i didn't have the same reaction to the
> $50 price tag. can't say i'd *spend* the $50 since i'm broke and
> there's a zillion other things to spend $50 on first. i'd try to get
> it via inter library loan or something :-).
>
> On Tue, Jul 8, 2014 at 11:36 AM, Francesco Cesarini
> <francesco@REDACTED> wrote:
>> Alas, that is how O'Reilly price their books. Having a high price and then
>> discounting is not the approach I would pick. That is why discount codes are
>> being handed out on public mailing lists and social media. I recommend you
>> use them (Read, no one pays full price for an O'Reilly book). As an unedited
>> book, the cost is for the final book which we hope will complement what is
>> already out there. It is a different approach to OTP in action. One I've
>> been using for 15 years when teaching OTP.
>>
>> /F
>>
>> On 08/07/2014 19:14, Lee Sylvester wrote:
>>> Wow, $50?  Yeah, that is steep.  If this were some black arts compiler
>>> book or video encoding bible, then that would be something else.  But a book
>>> on Erlang/OTP just doesn’t fall into that bracket…
>>>
>>> I may wait til it falls in the bargain bucket ;-)
>>>
>>> Lee
>>>
>>>    On 8 Jul 2014, at 19:08, Miles Fidelman <mfidelman@REDACTED>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 8 Jul 2014, at 16:05, Francesco Cesarini
>>>> <francesco@REDACTED> wrote:
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> a shameless plug. Steve Vinoski and I are working on a book focused on
>>>>>> distributed, scalable systems with OTP. It is available from O'Reilly as an
>>>>>> Early Release from their website. The first eight chapters we released cover
>>>>>> (in great detail) all other behaviours. We started writing, and before we
>>>>>> knew it, we had several hundred pages on behaviours alone. Last week, two
>>>>>> new chapters, including the Introduction & Special processes and
>>>>>> Implementing your own behaviours were released. We are now focusing on
>>>>>> release handling (hgg), code upgrade and architectural patterns.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What is available is an unedited draft, with new chapters and
>>>>>> improvements published as they become available. You can find more info
>>>>>> here:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920024149.do?intcmp=il-prog-books-videos-product-intsrch_erlang_ct
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If you use discount code authd, you will get 50% off the Early Release,
>>>>>> and 40% on pre-orders of the the printed copy.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Looking forward to your feedback,
>>>>>>
>>>> Not for nothing, but $50 for the undedited work-in-progress seems a bit
>>>> steep (and yes, I saw the discount code).  I also note that "rough cuts"
>>>> aren't included in my Safari subscription.
>>>>
>>>> Usual practice that I've seen is for works-in-progress to be free, with
>>>> tools that support comments from early readers.
>>>>
>>>> Sounds interesting - but, from the TOC (all that's available without
>>>> paying), it sure looks like it covers the same ground as "Erlang and OTP in
>>>> Action."
>>>>
>>>> Miles Fidelman
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
>>>> In practice, there is.   .... Yogi Berra
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>> http://www.erlang-solutions.com
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