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RE: Serious Question (believe it or not)...

From: Hillman, Alex <Alex.Hillman_at_usmint.treas.gov>
Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 16:10:23 -0700
Message-ID: <F001.003212CD.20010607135908@fatcity.com>

I am not talking about getting rich. $100/hr is not near rich in my opinion. What I am talking about is to get as much money as possible for one's work. Now, I do not know how many copies of your book DBA 101 were sold (by the way in my opinion very good book - regretfully it was published a little late for me). If you were getting 33% of sales, and average price will be $25 - it means that you could get about $8 for copy. If you could sell 5000 books -it is $40000 etc. Also compensation is not only royalty. As I was told by one of Oracle book authors it is much easier to negotiate rates, find projects etc. This comparison between self publishing and using publishers is the same as between FTE and contractors. Contractors make more money but should be ready that the contract will be canceled at any time without notice. And then it can take couple of months depending on the market and one's rate to find another one.

Alex Hillman

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 5:14 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L

let's see, I think Dad paid something on the order of $10K to publish his book (about 100 copies). Of course, it was a hard-cover edition.

and editors don't come cheap.

Alex -- how much money do you really think an author makes on a book???

I'd figure that the average book (and technical books have to be updated about every 18 months) takes about 500 hours to write (this is a number Kevin Loney has come up with and I'm willing to believe him, given his experience)

So... as a consultant let's say I work cheap (in NY anyway) for $100/hr

500 hours over a 40 hour week = 12.5 weeks or about 3 months

so.... 500*100 = $50,000 for 3 months, or $200,000 over a year

THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL YOU MAKE ANYTHING LIKE THAT AS AN AUTHOR!!! Damn it, best-selling authors don't make that kind of money.

Geez, wake up and smell the coffee, technical writing is NOT done to get rich.

>From: "Hillman, Alex" <Alex.Hillman_at_usmint.treas.gov>
>Reply-To: ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com
>To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
>Subject: RE: Serious Question (believe it or not)...
>Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 12:11:00 -0800
>
>I am sure that any of working DBA's have this money to put up front. I
>don't
>think that risk to invest in the book is more than in the stock market.
>Also
>what is the problem to hire editor (especially not technical). Should not
>be
>too expencive. Of cource it is more work, but one can get much more money.
>
>Alex Hillman
>
>-----Original Message-----
>Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 3:26 PM
>To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
>
>
>self-publishing houses charge you to publish the book (yes, they do, that's
>how my father-in-law published his book)
>
>I also doubt that they give you much in the way of help in editing your
>book, so that if your English is not good (as the case of the author that
>Jonathan is working with) you end up with an unreadable book.
>
>
> >From: "Hillman, Alex" <Alex.Hillman_at_usmint.treas.gov>
> >Reply-To: ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com
> >To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
> >Subject: RE: Serious Question (believe it or not)...
> >Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 07:45:49 -0800
> >
> >I would one of self-publishing houses like Technion where you can get 33%
> >of
> >sales.
> >If your book is any good it will sell in the same volume as with any
>other
> >publisher (not that they spend a lot of money for promotion any way).
> >
> >Alex Hillman
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 4:31 AM
> >To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
> >
> >
> >First would be to prepare and send a synopsis to the
> >'big name' oracle publishers - O'Reilly, Wrox and the
> >like..
> >
> >hth
> >connor
> >
> >--- Jim Hawkins <jhawkins_at_primary.net> wrote: > All,
> > >
> > > I am very interested in collaborating with others in
> > > the writing of an
> > > Oracle technical book (DBA subject matter). I am
> > > interested in how those of
> > > you who have done this (ala Rachel), got started or
> > > made the right
> > > connections. I do have a somewhat literary
> > > background, so I know I can do
> > > this.
> > >
> > > Jim
> > >
> > > Jim Hawkins
> > > Lead SAPR/3 Oracle Database Administrator
> > > MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc.
> > > 600 Pearl Drive
> > > St. Louis, MO 633376
> > > 9636) 474-7832
> > > jhawkins_at_memc.com (work)
> > > jhawkins_at_primary.net (home)
> > >
> > > --
> > > Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ:
> > > http://www.orafaq.com
> > > --
> > > Author: Jim Hawkins
> > > INET: jhawkins_at_primary.net
> > >
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> >=====
> >Connor McDonald
> >http://www.oracledba.co.uk (mirrored at
> >http://www.oradba.freeserve.co.uk)
> >
> >"Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue"
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> >Author: Hillman, Alex
> > INET: Alex.Hillman_at_usmint.treas.gov
> >
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>Author: Rachel Carmichael
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>Author: Hillman, Alex
> INET: Alex.Hillman_at_usmint.treas.gov
>
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-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.com
-- 
Author: Hillman, Alex
  INET: Alex.Hillman_at_usmint.treas.gov

Fat City Network Services    -- (858) 538-5051  FAX: (858) 538-5051
San Diego, California        -- Public Internet access / Mailing Lists
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Received on Thu Jun 07 2001 - 18:10:23 CDT

Original text of this message

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