On the topic of copy editing you raise: I wrote a book in DocBook for Manning in 2010. DocBook is XML, so I structured it with opening / end tags on their own line, content in the middle. As you would with a HTML document.
After copy editing multiple chapters, they sent it back to me with all the content on a single line. I was so incredibly upset that they ditched all my painstaking format that I almost abandoned the project there + then.
The "Writing" section here has huge "draw the rest of the owl" vibes. (I say this as an accomplished author of 10 tech books.)
Yes, it's worth optimising for your productivity. It's not the be all and end all. I've written at my desk with the comfiest chair (A Mirra) I have, and the most ergonomic keyboard for my needs (Ergodox EZ). I write at cafes with just the laptop. I write on the couch at odd but comfortable angles. I write on public transport squished against strangers.
I love using AsciiDoc as the tooling (asciidoctor + friends) give me output that looks decent, and the way I _input_ into that is not mind-breaking like Docbook is. Asciidoctor gives me a PDF which I then style how I like with CSS and then can put on leanpub.com and sell for real dollars.
The way I would put the writing section for tech books is this:
Start with the _topics_ you want to cover. Make these the chapters. Then dive into each topic and figure out what you want to say about the topic. Usually 3-4 main points per chapter. These come out to be your subheadings. Order the chapters from beginner-to-advanced concepts or in a way that makes sense for the book you're writing. For the books I've written it's usually start with a simple base app and then incrementally build things on top of that.
Off these, I’ve made $65,000USD. That’s over 13 years. None of these books have sold anywhere near as close to the Unicorn Project! (Which imo is fanfic for the tech-inclined)
The money is nice, but hearing from people who’ve read the books (especially those who ask questions!) is the best part.
Huh, maybe it is the friends we make along the way after all.
What an excellent resource! (And yes Outlook is a pain and supports so very little!)
We've tried building email templates for notifications for our apps where I work, and it has typically been a pain. We have since swapped to using mjml (https://mjml.io/) to build the templates, and it's working wonders. The output seems the be the most compatible with all different devices that we've tested on.
The other tool we enjoy using is Litmus (https://litmus.com), which allows you to throw in an email template and see what it looks like on all kinds of apps and devices. Other thread here mentions https://testi.at/ as well, which we've also had success with.
All of these have been really invaluable to designing emails for our apps.
Absolutely! When I wrote for Manning, a print book that sold for $45 netted me a huge $4.50 — 90/10 split. Ebooks were 50/50. Guess the print guys all gotta take their cut.
Been writing tech books now for over a decade, got about 8-10 under the belt depending on if you count 2nd and 3rd editions as new books.
Definitely not writing them for the money — that’s about $300 a month usually. Enough to buy a few knick knacks and some meals.
It’s more the notoriety of being a “subject matter expert” that counts.
I work full time and then put what I learn from the job into the books to share it with the world. No point hanging onto the knowledge and hoarding it all dragon-like.
Maintained Spree as it’s community manager (https://GitHub.com/spree/spree) for 2.5-3 years, depending on how you count. Taught me a lot about OSS. Dollar figures processed using code I wrote / maintained hurt my brain. What hurt my brain more was US sales tax rules.
I also wrote quite a few programming books (https://ryanbigg.com/books) and some of the Ruby on Rails guides. These have gone on to teach thousands of people around the world. I really love hearing from those who’ve read my work.
I’ve been lightly enforcing a rule of my own too: “no agenda, no attenda”