I made $40,000 this year with my eBook and you (probably) can, too(omgbloglol.com)
omgbloglol.com
I made $40,000 this year with my eBook and you (probably) can, too
http://omgbloglol.com/post/2336867402/holy-crap-i-made-40-000-this-year-with-my-ebook
37 comments
Yeah, definitely agreed with you there. An eBook should simply be an extension of work you're already doing, not something you're generating just for cash. I get hives looking at other "WRITE EBOOKS NOW" eBooks because they advocate this whole "write it in 3 days, SEO it out the butt, make currency" approach. Not something I advocate at all.
so, what is the proper english term for "exploiting former one off success to promote yourself/get rich with X that shows how to X" such as book on writing books, screencast on making screencast, (time management,issue tracking) app for helping you build own app.
I'd love to know it so I can use it to more easily mentally flag urls like this when I see them "oh it's another post-one-off-metapromotionalism website".
I'd love to know it so I can use it to more easily mentally flag urls like this when I see them "oh it's another post-one-off-metapromotionalism website".
Uhm, this is my 4th book, and they've all been fairly successful. I've just compressed all the stuff I've learned into this one so people don't have to waste all the time and energy I did.
Of course, you can flag it if you want; you're entitled to be offended by my efforts. But trying to tag me as some sort of stupid huckster who's showing up just to make some cash is really quite ridiculous.
Of course, you can flag it if you want; you're entitled to be offended by my efforts. But trying to tag me as some sort of stupid huckster who's showing up just to make some cash is really quite ridiculous.
What you say is no doubt true, but there is no need to chew the poor guys head of like that. If you believe it is relevant, ask yourself why you didn't put that isn't in blogpost.
For what it's worth, I agree with him and I don't think I am the only one. Since it's business to communicate, you may want to look into that.
For what it's worth, I agree with him and I don't think I am the only one. Since it's business to communicate, you may want to look into that.
Perhaps I was a bit harsh (and you're right about adding info on my other books; updating entry now...), but my frustration comes from a fairly pervasive attitude that anyone who's making money is inherently a scheming, dishonest person who is just trying to squeeze Poor Joe Web Browser for the extra buck.
It's really grating, especially, when I see that attitude here on HN where I think most of us are all going for the same thing: making awesome stuff and hopefully getting paid to do it.
It's really grating, especially, when I see that attitude here on HN where I think most of us are all going for the same thing: making awesome stuff and hopefully getting paid to do it.
No, you weren't being harsh at all. But there is a certain percentage of readers who are like Smokey from the Big Lebowski:
DUDE: Walter, you can't do that. These guys're like me, they're pacificists. Smokey was a conscientious objector.
WALTER: You know Dude, I myself dabbled with pacifism at one point. Not in Nam, of course--
DUDE: And you know Smokey has emotional problems!
WALTER: You mean--beyond pacifism?
DUDE: He's fragile, man! He's very fragile!
WALTER: Huh. I did not know that. Well, it's water under the bridge.
When you comment, remember, Smokey is here reading too, and he's fragile, man, he's very fragile.
DUDE: Walter, you can't do that. These guys're like me, they're pacificists. Smokey was a conscientious objector.
WALTER: You know Dude, I myself dabbled with pacifism at one point. Not in Nam, of course--
DUDE: And you know Smokey has emotional problems!
WALTER: You mean--beyond pacifism?
DUDE: He's fragile, man! He's very fragile!
WALTER: Huh. I did not know that. Well, it's water under the bridge.
When you comment, remember, Smokey is here reading too, and he's fragile, man, he's very fragile.
Go read the word lens post - most of those replies are urging them to increase the price drastically.
The only place where I really see an anti commercial attitude is, strangely enough, with ebooks, perhaps because these are usually brought at relatively high prices compared to what books (non-fiction) are usually sold at and are, at those I have brought, promising heaven and earth in their pre-sell "call to action" pages and are almost always of uniform low quality consisting mostly of a what would have been an okay blog-post extended with a bunch of personal anecdotes from the author and some common info that I would already know if I was interested in the topic.
The only place where I really see an anti commercial attitude is, strangely enough, with ebooks, perhaps because these are usually brought at relatively high prices compared to what books (non-fiction) are usually sold at and are, at those I have brought, promising heaven and earth in their pre-sell "call to action" pages and are almost always of uniform low quality consisting mostly of a what would have been an okay blog-post extended with a bunch of personal anecdotes from the author and some common info that I would already know if I was interested in the topic.
Sorry if i sounded offensive, but while i remember your last book, i have no idea that previous ones exist, and what success they had.
But mostly, I don't think there is anything wrong with capitalizing on your ability to write or your previous success, i just feel tricked when reading 'story of x' and i found an attached 'i will also teach you x for money' that i did not expect
But mostly, I don't think there is anything wrong with capitalizing on your ability to write or your previous success, i just feel tricked when reading 'story of x' and i found an attached 'i will also teach you x for money' that i did not expect
Would anyone buy "Custom Debian repositories as a way to organize your deployment"? How about "Django deployment best practices"? Or "Leap from PHP to Django"?
I can see "Leap from PHP to Django" as a success, as that has a wider audience than the two others. "Django deployment best practices" sounds like a list of items to check or not check (Have I done Y? Check/Uncheck) , so I would personally not buy "X best practices" because I from experience find best practices after some time of playing with X anyway.
No, but I would suggest you write a book that informs others how to write ebooks and make money. Seems like you could be making 40K or so in sales.
The $40k he made was off his Rails ebook.
The $40k he allegedly made was off his Rails ebook.
Do you want me to send you a sales report?
I don't think there's any reason to cast doubts on my integrity.
I don't think there's any reason to cast doubts on my integrity.
+1 for "Django deployment best practices".
Not sure if I'd really buy a book on this - Lincoln Loop's wiki section gets you most of the way there: http://lincolnloop.com/django-best-practices/deployment/inde...
PHP is a scripting language and Django is a python web framework. PHP to Python would make more sense.
In some sense, yes. However, PHP is a language + a giant standard library geared towards web development. In some sense it is a web framework or at least is often used that way. Since as a web framework, PHP's standard library falls short, things like CakePHP and CodeIgniter were created, but have their own shortcomings. But I consider Django a better framework than either PHP's standard offering or things built on top of it. However, the transition from developing web applications in PHP to using Python/Django is not as straightforward and I think a nice guide could be in order.
PHP is NOT in any sense a framework. A framework is an abstraction built up USING a programming language, like PHP.
In what way does PHP's standard library fall short that Python overcomes?
In what way does PHP's standard library fall short that Python overcomes?
PHP's standard library provides function likes parse_str, headers and setcookie. It provides language constructs such as $_GET, $_POST, $_FILES, $_COOKIES, $_SESSION which are web specific. Its standard library comes geared towards outputting HTML and it provides a FastCGI process manager. I think most importantly, it provides a templating capability (albeit a very poor one), that is geared towards embedding dynamic content in HTML. It is by all means at least an attempt at a web framework.
In what ways does PHP's standard library fall short of Python's? I was never comparing the two. I have always found that both could get the job done, except PHP's uses a very weak naming convention/has none at all.
I was comparing PHP's standard library features with those of Django. Here, Django wins hands down. If you are not familiar with either, I recommend trying reading through their tutorials and seeing which one comes out with a more complete product in which one feels less messy.
Lastly, implying that PHP's standard library is not a framework because it is not built in PHP ("A framework is an abstraction built up USING a programming language, like PHP.") is just plain wrong. If I decided to speed up Django by re-writing every line of its code in C and making it an extension to Python rather than a Python module, without breaking any function signatures, would Django cease being a web framework? What would it become then? What if instead of C I chose Visual Basic, or Common Lisp, or F#, or even PHP (assuming I found a decent way to compile it to a binary)? A framework is collection of code that abstracts certain functionality. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_framework for further information.
EDIT: I am not at all talking about PHP the language vs Python. The two are different and both have some very interesting features. PHP 5 has grown up to be a pretty interesting general purpose dynamic language. I am specifically talking about using PHP on the web.
In what ways does PHP's standard library fall short of Python's? I was never comparing the two. I have always found that both could get the job done, except PHP's uses a very weak naming convention/has none at all.
I was comparing PHP's standard library features with those of Django. Here, Django wins hands down. If you are not familiar with either, I recommend trying reading through their tutorials and seeing which one comes out with a more complete product in which one feels less messy.
Lastly, implying that PHP's standard library is not a framework because it is not built in PHP ("A framework is an abstraction built up USING a programming language, like PHP.") is just plain wrong. If I decided to speed up Django by re-writing every line of its code in C and making it an extension to Python rather than a Python module, without breaking any function signatures, would Django cease being a web framework? What would it become then? What if instead of C I chose Visual Basic, or Common Lisp, or F#, or even PHP (assuming I found a decent way to compile it to a binary)? A framework is collection of code that abstracts certain functionality. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_framework for further information.
EDIT: I am not at all talking about PHP the language vs Python. The two are different and both have some very interesting features. PHP 5 has grown up to be a pretty interesting general purpose dynamic language. I am specifically talking about using PHP on the web.
I'm not sure where to begin with all this. It's late and been a long day so I will try and follow up most of this tomorrow morning. However, to your first set of points ..
Where you call pre-populated global variables "language constructs". They are not. PHP calls them "super globals". These are global variables mapped from the GET/POST/Cookie client headers into the server environment by the PHP SAPI, for instance the Apache SAPI. PHP has many SAPIs, including a command line one, which doesn't populate these globals for obvious reasons. Oh and FastCGI for PHP is provided by a SAPI as well (nothing to do with the standard library).
Oh and quickly - "I was comparing PHP's standard library features with those of Django." Can I pick a PHP framework of choice and start comparing it to Python?
Where you call pre-populated global variables "language constructs". They are not. PHP calls them "super globals". These are global variables mapped from the GET/POST/Cookie client headers into the server environment by the PHP SAPI, for instance the Apache SAPI. PHP has many SAPIs, including a command line one, which doesn't populate these globals for obvious reasons. Oh and FastCGI for PHP is provided by a SAPI as well (nothing to do with the standard library).
Oh and quickly - "I was comparing PHP's standard library features with those of Django." Can I pick a PHP framework of choice and start comparing it to Python?
A lot of php(most?) is done as a backend for webpages. The php to django book title makes sense in the common usage.
Django is Python code that sits on the server, just like PHP code.
Not all php is code that sits on the server. It's a general purpose scripting language.
I was attempting to make the point that Django is Python code that sits on the server as a backend for web pages like your stated common use of PHP.
So why PHP to Django? How would the Python crowd feel if it was the other way around, for instance: Python to Codeigniter.
So why PHP to Django? How would the Python crowd feel if it was the other way around, for instance: Python to Codeigniter.
Don't ask this, _advertise_ each of those titles. Run a few text link ads, have them lead to a "thanks for your interest- sign up here if you want to know when I write that book".
I forget who I learned this trick from :(
I forget who I learned this trick from :(
Debian: YES. I have been looking for precisely this for a while.
Second vote.
Edit: I might add, at half the price I'd buy the advertised book in this article as presents for a couple of friends. I just don't have the language talent to write well myself.
Edit: I might add, at half the price I'd buy the advertised book in this article as presents for a couple of friends. I just don't have the language talent to write well myself.
Debian repositories - possibly.
PHP to Django sounds like an awesome idea. I'd say Django deployment best practices sounds more like a chapter in PHP to Django.
PHP to Django sounds like an awesome idea. I'd say Django deployment best practices sounds more like a chapter in PHP to Django.
I'd be interested in the Debian one if it had useful info.
I would have thought the answers were obvious from the book titles...
Well, they wouldn't try to convince you to do it, they would show you how.
I've been working on a series of tutorial to teach designers how to code iOS apps and it's always exciting to see people doing something similar and being very successful.
Isn't this just a variation on an old scheme, ads for which used to appear in magazine and newspapers (in both full-page and classified listing formats)?
The product toted was usually a small pamphlet instructing you how to make surprising sums of money by writing a pamphlet instructing others how to make surprising sums of money by writing pamphlets.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose…
The product toted was usually a small pamphlet instructing you how to make surprising sums of money by writing a pamphlet instructing others how to make surprising sums of money by writing pamphlets.
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose…
Yes, nice try and proving your point for the new book by doing this.
If, however, you are looking for a way to establish your name in a given community, gain consulting work, etc. then it may be a good idea.
Even then, I would begin with writing long-form blog posts about the topic as a lead-in to a larger book that you can sell.
I am always suspicious of authors who promote a book where I can't find any other content from the author anywhere online (or even any mention of their name).