From: James Britt Date: 2005-12-17T01:16:30+09:00 Subject: Re: Forthcoming 2nd ed. of _The Ruby Way_ Bill Guindon wrote: > On 12/15/05, James Britt wrote: > >>Bill Guindon wrote: >>.. >> >> >>>I'm sure you know all of this, but just the same... >>> >>>You should point them to the success of AWDWROR [1]. It certainly is >>>a new/controversial idea, but it seems to be win/win. >> >>Some counterpoints for consideration: >> >>* In contrast to offering a free online version (if even only prior to >>publication) the pay-to-preview approach means you get fewer eyeballs >>and have fewer bug reports & suggestions prior to publication. >>Open-to-all improves quality. > > > Without a doubt, it would, but I think it would be a tough sell to > publishers who seem to be convinced that it would reduce future sales. > Pay-to-preview may mean fewer eyeballs than a free preview, but it's > more eyeballs than no preview (the traditional approach). I've had authors tell me they would never again offer a book for free online. Yet others swear by it. It is not uncommon for O'Reily to offer current books online for free (as part of their Open Books project), and Bruce Eckel seems pleased with is results. APress offers Practical Common Lisp for free, too. (Good book!) And Mark Watson is currently working on a Ruby book that he says will be available as a free PDF. It's not that unusual; it is perhaps something of a tradition of its own in geek publishing. But, yes, if you are tying to lock down every dollar, it may be too much of a risk. It's a business, and people have to find the model that gets them the results they want. James -- http://www.ruby-doc.org - Ruby Help & Documentation http://www.artima.com/rubycs/ - Ruby Code & Style: Writers wanted http://www.rubystuff.com - The Ruby Store for Ruby Stuff http://www.jamesbritt.com - Playing with Better Toys http://www.30secondrule.com - Building Better Tools