How much a book sells?

[Flont]

Hi,
I'm considering writing a programming book. Has anyone an idea about the
number of copies that an average programming book can sell? I know there
are books that sell half a million copies and other that sell 5,000 copies,
but how much is a fair amount in your opinion? Anyone with experience in
writing?
TIA

[Flont]

If you don't know an answer, can you suggest a website where I could ask
or where I can find this information for current or past programming books?
thank you

"Flont" <poster@postoffice.com> wrote:
>
>Hi,
>I'm considering writing a programming book. Has anyone an idea about the
>number of copies that an average programming book can sell? I know there
>are books that sell half a million copies and other that sell 5,000 copies,
>but how much is a fair amount in your opinion? Anyone with experience in
>writing?
>TIA

[Flont]

Thank you very much, I really appreciated your reply. Oh, just to clarify,
I'm thinking about a .NET book :-)


"Stefan Grünwedel" <sgrunwedel@devx.com> wrote:
>"Flont" <poster@postoffice.com> wrote in message
>news:3bec920e@147.208.176.211...
>>
>> Hi,
>> I'm considering writing a programming book. Has anyone an idea about the
>> number of copies that an average programming book can sell? I know there
>> are books that sell half a million copies and other that sell 5,000
>copies,
>> but how much is a fair amount in your opinion? Anyone with experience
in
>> writing?
>> TIA
>
>Hi Flont,
>
>I asked some friends of mine in the book publishing business and they gave
>me a couple of answers.
>
>The first person, who is a freelance author, replied, "This is not a
>question that can be answered in a blanket statement. It depends on so many
>factors - from topic, to marketing, to who knows." For instance, last year
>he wrote a StarOffice book for Que. His book got rave reviews on newsgroups
>as well as on Amazon, and StarOffice has some 4 million users, yet it barely
>sold 20K copies.
>
>The second person, who works for a publisher, replied, "I would imagine
the
>median range to be about 20k, with bottom around 5k, and the superstars
>close to 75-90k."
>
>So it looks like you can expect 20,000 copies on average.
>
>Regards,
>
>Stefan Gruenwedel
>DevX Senior Editor
>
>

[Stefan Grünwedel]

"Flont" <poster@postoffice.com> wrote in message
news:3bec920e@147.208.176.211...
>
> Hi,
> I'm considering writing a programming book. Has anyone an idea about the
> number of copies that an average programming book can sell? I know there
> are books that sell half a million copies and other that sell 5,000
copies,
> but how much is a fair amount in your opinion? Anyone with experience in
> writing?
> TIA

Hi Flont,

I asked some friends of mine in the book publishing business and they gave
me a couple of answers.

The first person, who is a freelance author, replied, "This is not a
question that can be answered in a blanket statement. It depends on so many
factors - from topic, to marketing, to who knows." For instance, last year
he wrote a StarOffice book for Que. His book got rave reviews on newsgroups
as well as on Amazon, and StarOffice has some 4 million users, yet it barely
sold 20K copies.

The second person, who works for a publisher, replied, "I would imagine the
median range to be about 20k, with bottom around 5k, and the superstars
close to 75-90k."

So it looks like you can expect 20,000 copies on average.

Regards,

Stefan Gruenwedel
DevX Senior Editor

[Flont]

I must say this is a good thought :-)

"Phil Weber" <pweber @ fawcette.com> wrote:
> > For instance, last year he wrote a StarOffice book for Que.
> > His book got rave reviews on newsgroups as well as on Amazon,
> > and StarOffice has some 4 million users, yet it barely sold 20K
> > copies.
>
>Stefan: Perhaps people who use free software aren't inclined to buy a $40
>book about it? ;-)
>---
>Phil Weber
>
>

[Phil Weber]

> For instance, last year he wrote a StarOffice book for Que.
> His book got rave reviews on newsgroups as well as on Amazon,
> and StarOffice has some 4 million users, yet it barely sold 20K
> copies.

Stefan: Perhaps people who use free software aren't inclined to buy a $40
book about it? ;-)
---
Phil Weber

[Flont]

Thanks a lot Russel for your comments. I've actually already written some
articles, but I wanted to do a step further. If not for the money, wouldn't
be great for a developer to have a book in the CV?

About this, how do hiring managers see a book in the CV? Are they positively
impressed or do they think "Uh..this guy thinks to be very experienced and
superior, we may want too high salary, he will spend time writing..bla..bla...let's
hire someone else!!"

Thank you again guys


"Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote:
>The average programming book barely breaks even. They can't all be winners.
>
>If you're interested in the money rather that the experience, my advice
is
>to write articles instead. The payoff is faster, the form is much smaller,
>you get more editing help (usually) and by watching how well your articles
>do, you can gain a great deal of knowlege that will help you write a book
>later on--after you've mastered the smaller form. Unless a book is very
>successful, the per/word--and per/hour--remuneration for writing articles
is
>*much* higher than it is for books.
>
>HTH,
>Russell Jones
>Sr. Web Development Editor,
>DevX.com
>
>"Flont" <poster@postoffice.com> wrote in message
>news:3bec920e@147.208.176.211...
>>
>> Hi,
>> I'm considering writing a programming book. Has anyone an idea about the
>> number of copies that an average programming book can sell? I know there
>> are books that sell half a million copies and other that sell 5,000
>copies,
>> but how much is a fair amount in your opinion? Anyone with experience
in
>> writing?
>> TIA
>
>

[Russell Jones]

The average programming book barely breaks even. They can't all be winners.

If you're interested in the money rather that the experience, my advice is
to write articles instead. The payoff is faster, the form is much smaller,
you get more editing help (usually) and by watching how well your articles
do, you can gain a great deal of knowlege that will help you write a book
later on--after you've mastered the smaller form. Unless a book is very
successful, the per/word--and per/hour--remuneration for writing articles is
*much* higher than it is for books.

HTH,
Russell Jones
Sr. Web Development Editor,
DevX.com

"Flont" <poster@postoffice.com> wrote in message
news:3bec920e@147.208.176.211...
>
> Hi,
> I'm considering writing a programming book. Has anyone an idea about the
> number of copies that an average programming book can sell? I know there
> are books that sell half a million copies and other that sell 5,000
copies,
> but how much is a fair amount in your opinion? Anyone with experience in
> writing?
> TIA

[Russell Jones]

I suspect you're right on all counts. I'm sure that some managers see book
writing as an indication that the author is deeply interested in the
technology, and feel they're buying expertise and dedication. Others see
book writing in the light of "those who can, do; those who can't, write
books" to paraphrase Nicholas Martin. Still others view book writing with
suspicion, thinking that it will distract the employee from the real job.
But I wouldn't worry too much about that if I were you--if you *want* to
write a book, do it. As for your CV--just ask yourself: Would *you* be more
willing or less willing to hire a programmer who is also an author?


"Flont" <poster@postoffice.com> wrote in message
news:3bf327ae$1@147.208.176.211...
>
> Thanks a lot Russel for your comments. I've actually already written some
> articles, but I wanted to do a step further. If not for the money,
wouldn't
> be great for a developer to have a book in the CV?
>
> About this, how do hiring managers see a book in the CV? Are they
positively
> impressed or do they think "Uh..this guy thinks to be very experienced and
> superior, we may want too high salary, he will spend time
writing..bla..bla...let's
> hire someone else!!"
>
> Thank you again guys
>
>
> "Russell Jones" <arj1@northstate.net> wrote:
> >The average programming book barely breaks even. They can't all be
winners.
> >
> >If you're interested in the money rather that the experience, my advice
> is
> >to write articles instead. The payoff is faster, the form is much
smaller,
> >you get more editing help (usually) and by watching how well your
articles
> >do, you can gain a great deal of knowlege that will help you write a book
> >later on--after you've mastered the smaller form. Unless a book is very
> >successful, the per/word--and per/hour--remuneration for writing articles
> is
> >*much* higher than it is for books.
> >
> >HTH,
> >Russell Jones
> >Sr. Web Development Editor,
> >DevX.com
> >
> >"Flont" <poster@postoffice.com> wrote in message
> >news:3bec920e@147.208.176.211...
> >>
> >> Hi,
> >> I'm considering writing a programming book. Has anyone an idea about
the
> >> number of copies that an average programming book can sell? I know
there
> >> are books that sell half a million copies and other that sell 5,000
> >copies,
> >> but how much is a fair amount in your opinion? Anyone with experience
> in
> >> writing?
> >> TIA
> >
> >
>

[markn]

Or maybe those who use StarOffice are mostly those who can figure things out
on their own. I've never purchased an MS Office Book.

[markN]

The problem with writing tech books is that if you are not writing while the
product is in beta your book will probably be on the verge of being outdated
by the time it gets to the bookstore.

[Stefan Grünwedel]

Maybe. Then again, the author told me that his book contained info that even
StarOffice's developers didn't all know about because Sun didn't make all
the documentaiton available or the official versions were in flux. Whatever
the reason, he had good reason to believe ppl would want to buy the book. If
it didn't see well it's probably more b/c StarOffice didn't make the inroads
into the market that they hoped it would.

Stefan

"Phil Weber" <pweber @ fawcette.com> wrote in message
news:3bf2e625$1@147.208.176.211...
> > For instance, last year he wrote a StarOffice book for Que.
> > His book got rave reviews on newsgroups as well as on Amazon,
> > and StarOffice has some 4 million users, yet it barely sold 20K
> > copies.
>
> Stefan: Perhaps people who use free software aren't inclined to buy a $40
> book about it? ;-)
> ---
> Phil Weber
>
>