Back in early 2006 I published The Definitive Guide to Apache mod_rewrite. It hasn't sold well. It was hardback, and overpriced for such a slender book. Many people have mentioned to me that they think it's a great book, but the royalties aren't exactly pouring in.
There are, as with any book I've done, many things I wish I had done differently. But the publisher isn't interested in doing another edition, largely due to the poor sales.
So I'm considering, in 2010, doing a new edition of the book, and distributing it both as a free PDF as well as making it available via my Lulu store. This will give me the opportunity to start with the current book, but then to update it on an ongoing basis, and always have the latest version available. And the folks who want a print copy can get one.
I have no idea whether folks would be interested, but I'm tired of looking at the book on my shelf and thinking how much I wish I'd done things a little differently.
What do you think?
Hey, if you're not pleased with the initial version then go for it. If nothing else it would provide us with one more example of an author who's worked both in the traditional publishing world and in the world of self publishing, and I think that would be an interesting data point to have.
Plus, the world needs good docs on mod_rewrite, and if they don't seem to be buying the current version, maybe version 2.0 will be the one to hit it big.
That approach sounds great to me.
If royalties *do* matter much to you, you might consider putting the PDF behind a "ask for donation" wall and doing something like the pragprogs do to customize the PDF by inserting the name of the purchaser at the foot of each page.
I actually just finished your mod_rewrite book, and would unquestionably buy a new edition.
Sounds interesting. Self publishing is certainly increasing as the tools are improving and (more importantly) people are realizing that things are changing too fast for traditional printed book to stay in line with new techniques. There is need for good books but traditional publishing model of tech industry isn't good enough for many things in software space as things are moving fast forward.
I'm not sure about "donation wall" but you certainly could put some kind of option to website of book to allow for contributions (whether in tips of money or information).
I'd be interested, but I will admit that I'd probably only get the free version. Unless it was so useful that I thought others in my office needed to read it.