[REBOL] Re: REBOL FOR DUMMIES! (fwd)
From: ralph:abooks at: 19-Oct-2000 9:35
> > REBOL FOR DUMMIES by Ralph Roberts (five-star general in the
> > REBOLution!) is now being shipped by REBOL Press Online -- weeks ahead
> > of availability from Amazon, B&N, or the corner bookstore.
> >
> I'm curious why the second book on the REBOL language is in the
> For Dummies line? I don't think many developers take these books
> seriously regardless of their content.
>
I'll speculate on that, being both a longtime computer book author and
publisher.
Generally a software company has no control over which publisher deems to do
a book about their product. In fact, the significant victory here is that
REBOL has already attracted two major publishers (with at least two others I
know of seriously interested, as well). Contrast this to the literally
hundreds of thousands of software packages available on the web right now
that DO NOT have books about them. REBOL is far ahead of the game compared
to most startups. Commendably so!
Now, to answer your question further: a package-specific book aimed toward
developers will sell a few hundred or few thousand copies (limited market).
That's why they are usually priced in the $30-$50 range, or higher. They
cost little more to print than a book selling in the $15-$25 range, thus the
profit is much greater. But it has to be since sales will be fewer units.
Unit sales is EVERYTHING in publishing--you learn that quickly or you go out
of business. The Dummies series is aimed at the general populace--i.e. end
users. The average sale of a Dummies book I've been told by someone in a
position to know is over 30,000 books.
So it logically follows: which is best for REBOL--a limited book that
reaches a few hundred developers or one that reaches tens of thousands of
users? The latter, of course, as it gets word of the language out there and
introduces people to its power. Those people will actually use it and spur
more developers to start looking at REBOL. Yes, no developer may ever read
REBOL FOR DUMMIES, but there will still be a lot of developers infuenced by
it.
REBOL FOR DUMMIES is SMART for REBOL's growth.
--Ralph Roberts