[Catalyst] So, what do we want in the -next- book?

[Dave Rolsky]

On Mon, 10 Mar 2008, Ali M. wrote:

> So please, don't be an extortionist, don't make a book ... write a
> wiki page in the new wiki!
> All we really need are more pages on wiki not a book!

As someone who's worked on a tech book, I've gotta call bullshit on this. 
The big advantage to a book over a wiki is that it is the work of one or a 
few people, who have a specific vision for the ultimate result. That means 
there is a consistent style as well as logical organization that a wiki 
just cannot have.

Plus a book has things like paid editors and tech reviewers (at least in 
theory), that have a huge impact in making it higher quality.

Authors end up making very little money from books, and if I were going to 
extort people I think I'd pick a more lucrative way to do it. The reason 
books cost money is that they're a fucking huge amount of work, and no 
sane person is going to do that for free. Even so, I'd guess my direct net 
income from the Mason book amounted to $5-10/hour total. The main benefit 
is it looks great on my resume.

Of course, wikis are useful too, and they can be kept up to date in a way 
books just can't be. But please don't accuse book authors of being 
extortionists.


-dave

/*==========================
VegGuide.Org
Your guide to all that's veg
==========================*/