IMHO the better model is to have 60-100 page eBooks on certain specific topics instead of 500 page monsters on the greater topic. eg instead of “Everything you wanted to know about the ASA” then it’s “Enough knowledge to get your ASA out of the box and protecting you from bad guys.”, and maybe another one on “high availability for the ASA” and so forth. The cost would be a lot less and you’d be able to get more money to the author, and a better chance of getting revisions out.

Yes, there are costs in production and potentially marketing, but beyond this it is practically pure profit.

I do not see how an e-book should cost anything more than 10-15% of the hardcover version. I also think that with the move to e-books authors should be rewarded much better to stimulate the creativity. This very well may encourage regular updates to good books (and will be MUCH easier with e-books to do, too. Conceivably, there’s nothing that could stop publishers from offering an “up to date guarantee” for a premium, which would ensure you will always have most current edition).

Anyway, I think the brave new world of opportunity is out there waiting.

I agree and have experienced some new opportunities (such the the Tech Field Day) from writing this blog. But, really, you want to make money from the book, not from other work that may never happen and requires even more work to get that money. No ?

The real question is whether the publisher will reduce the price of e-books by 50% when e-books eliminate the bookshop and all its costs.

I bet they don’t.

From time to time I buy hardcopy books, but I do most of my reading on the screen now. I sense that’ll change when e-book readers become more available (and less geo-restricted, which is an utter nonsense to begin with).

We are living in the “quick fix” and “me” generation.

I posted a picture of 2 of my bookshelves and a triple CCIE who is a trainer said he did not have but a few real books “but his e-books collection” is as impressive.

The fact is file-sharing has obliterated any chance of a person earning a decent income writing books – not just tech books either.

It’s a sad fact.

People don’t realize that if they want to earn “mythical incomes” the economy has to be functioning correctly.

Most people can’t look outside of the mirror in front of them and come up with a garden variety of excuses.

Me… I don’t mind browsing ebooks or having them available… however I buy my books – sometimes used but I like to have them close by and available when I need them. Just me.

Making books easy to buy and handle around (like borrow) and bringing the price to within the reason will make piracy obsolete.

Yes, it will take time for this to happen. And I hope Apple will do something about it, as the opportunity is certainly there, all right.

I’d wager that the reason many books don’t get a second edition is not because the author didn’t want to, but because the book didn’t earn out its advance and/or the publisher didn’t make enough money to make it worth their while. If it was a profitable venture for the publisher, they’d simply find another author to do the revision.

FWIW it’s certainly possible to write while having a full time job. Writing a book is a lot of work, but doesn’t need to be a full time gig.

Sean