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

Tue Jul 8 21:56:01 CEST 2014

It is not funny anymore how many people think that someone writes a book
for money. Even when self publishing there is not a lot of money to be
made, I use LeanPub and am very happy with the platform/service they offer.
And the royalties are good as well, but I need to pay for the cover design,
the website (if you want something else then the default) and for editors
to help me improve my content. So far it has cost me money.

Personally I write because by writing about and explaining Erlang my own
understanding grows so much more then by just using. And eventually I hope
others find my writing useful as well.

The early access mode is very useful for getting early feedback, it is much
easier to change content while you are still writing, we all know the
feedback loop in coding, while writing there is no difference.

Purely looking at price, if by reading this book you save half a day of
work you are already in the black (for some we are only talking about an
hour of work).

Writing is a huge amount of work, and it is a shame writers don't see more
of the results.

-Mark
 On Jul 8, 2014 9:09 PM, "Francesco Cesarini" <
francesco@REDACTED> wrote:

> What I am being paid does not bother me, else I would not be putting every
> spare hour of the day into this project. I have seen the advantages of
> working with O'Reilly vs other publishing houses. They deserve their cut,
> else I would not have gone back. I were to self publish, the project would
> never get finished... And I would be forced to deal with things I do not
> like doing. Not worth it for me. I would rather have the backing and
> support O'Reilly are good at.
>
> In regards to how books are released, everyone has their choice. For the
> CouchDB book, it was already being written before O'Reilly came on board.
> The first book, Simon did not want an early release. In this one, Steve did
> not mind. There is no one size fits all.
>
> Yup, strange things books. I think my next one will be a guide book.
>
> /F
>
> On 08/07/2014 19:55, Lee Sylvester wrote:
>
>> It’s not about the $25.  With the effort you would have put into this,
>> it’s certainly worth it, I’m sure.  This is merely a debate of the business
>> of publishing and authoring.  In fact, I would feel better giving you $25
>> knowing you received it all than pay $25 to O’Reilly knowing you will see
>> about $0.25 of it :-)
>>
>>
>> On 8 Jul 2014, at 19:51, Francesco Cesarini <francesco@REDACTED
>> com> wrote:
>>
>>  You do not write books because you believe you are going to make money
>>> out of them. You write them because you are passionate about the subject.
>>> If you calculate what Simon and I made from our first book, I am not sure
>>> we've hit minimum wage yet. From my side, I want to document my approach to
>>> teaching OTP, as I think it will work in writing as well as it does in the
>>> classroom. From the feedback Steve and I have received so far, we are right
>>> on track. Reiterating an email on this list from 2008, I want to see a
>>> whole bookshelf of Erlang/OTP books out there.
>>>
>>> I found the experience of working with O'Reilly really positive the
>>> first time around. From the editor, the production team (Graphics, copy
>>> editor, proof readers, etc) as well as their marketing and conferences.
>>>  And this time around, it is just as good, if not better. As an author, I
>>> could not recommend them more highly. I want to write books, I do not want
>>> to do all of the other stuff associated with getting it out. It is just a
>>> false economy.
>>>
>>> /F
>>>
>>> PS. For those who can't afford 25$, 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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