Writing a book will make your rich.

Agree or disagree?

The reason I’m thinking about this topic is because:

- I just read a great post on Coding Horror this subject

- I have a new technology book coming out this month!

Of course, I hope that once my book is published I like Stephen King or perhaps Moody from Californication will see a dramatic change in my lifestyle just because of this one project.  Like many people, I’ve believed that the content producers of the world are on a fast track to riches.

It turns out that this isn’t really the case and that’s one of the reasons that Atwood seems to have written his post on becoming a technology author.  Here’s Jeff Atwood’s advice about becoming a tech author,

Do not write a book

Plain and simple, in fact Atwood says that writing a book is in the 10 list of things he regrets in his life.  Why?

Well, first off the brutal truth about publishing tech books is that you’ll put in almost a year’s worth of work and you won’t make any money.  Let’s check some numbers: most tech books will sell between 5000-8,000 copies.  This means that most authors can expect to make $15,000 in the first year (depending on the details of their contract).

Remember that’s for almost a year’s worth of half-time work which can be hard for a software developer to stomach considering the $125/hour consulting rates most developers are used to getting.

After all is said and done, I expect to get a return of $20/hour for writing Objective-Recipes and in all honesty writing a book has been the hardest project I’ve done in 10 years of software development (or at least the most painful).

Should I Get My Head Examined?  Or Why I Wrote a Book Anyways

So, I knew that writing a book would be a pain in the ass and that I wouldn’t get paid.

Yet, I still did it.  Here’s why:

1.)  Money is not the only thing that matters in life or business and that’s why I wrote the book.  It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and with my business set up the way it is I had the opportunity to work with a great publisher (whose books I often read myself).  So, there’s that (call it ego or something more ethereal if you want).

2.) It’s a calling card – plain and simple.  I want to prove to you that I know what I’m talking about when it comes to programming for iPhone, iPad and Mac.  Writing a book is a way to do that.  Now, you as a potential customer of my training company (Mobile App Mastery) can pick up this book (either at a store, library or sneaking a peak at Barnes and Nobles).  The book may be all you need to get started as an iOS or Mac programmer or you may like my style enough to sign up to my training program.

This is the same strategy I recommend for developers who want to get more consulting work in iOS.  Basically, publish your apps and make them the best possible experience.  A nice app on the Apple App Store might net you a simliar profit to a tech book and both can lead to a great consulting gig (or invitation to a conference or training program).

I see books and sometimes apps as loss leaders to bigger opportunities and that’s why I’ll spend 9 months on a book or 3 months on an app.

What Say You?

Knowing that a tech book is likely to pay you $15,000 and take 9 months of work would you write one?