The unusual way I'm funding my open source work
kerkour.com
kerkour.com
> 2. Write a Book
> Most consistent
> You might think writing a book is a great way to make a bunch of cash – and you’d be wrong. In spite of the many books that will tell you how to make money writing a book, I’m here to let you in on a secret –writing a book is actually a fantastic way to lose money. I’ve written four short books and they have literally grossed hundreds of dollars. Now – hearing that I’ve sold some books might make you think you should write one also. But it’s a trap – you will spend hundreds of hours writing a book and then make hundreds of dollars in return. Not sure about you, but if I’m working for $1/hour I’m losing money fast. My latest book probably has more pages than it has copies sold – take a look here if you want a quick reference on how to get a job.
Jokes aside, props for the creativity and best of luck!
[1] https://www.getrevue.co/profile/andrewtye/issues/how-to-lose...
Yes, being born in SFBA, going to Stanford, and getting on the startup wagon straight out of school would've been a better ROI, but that path was not available to me. The sidehustle did however open it up and I'm on that ride now with about a 6 to 7 year delay.
tldr: Write something people want to read.
[1] https://withoutbullshit.com/blog/the-15-biggest-regrets-that...
It’s like taking the advance from your publisher and then not calling him back.
My secret was I didn't write more than 5% of the book. 95% came from discussion posts written over the years on one of my website forums.
I still get orders.. I'm still in the top 500 small business / real estate books in canada. This was written in the 2012 and lives on.
I would encourage everyone to publish at least one book. But don't actually write it yourself that's insane amount of work for the expected return.
[1] https://www.amazon.ca/Ontario-Sale-Property-Buyers-Guide-ebo...
I'm curious about your point of view. What is your take on these.
- If someone posts something in your forum. Can you legally repost in twitter saying.. so and so just posted?
- When you post in a public forum do you automatically assign the copyright as public domain by virtue of where you posted and who can see it?
- Facebook owns all of the content you post (pictures/posts/videos). Doesn't this apply to all/most sites with user generated content?
- When you post in a public forum do you automatically assign the copyright as public domain by virtue of where you posted and who can see it?
What is the difference between them posting on your forum and them posting on their on blog/site? Both are visible to the public. If you have some policy written "anything posted here becomes public domain" when maybe but if you don't I suspect it's at best undecided and at worst, "no, it is not okay to repost"
I don't think this is technically true. https://www.copytrack.com/does-facebook-own-my-pictures/ Basically their terms of service say that you give them the right to distribute it. It specifically says they don't own it.
It may constitute fair use. Publishing their work in a book and profiting from it is another story.
> When you post in a public forum do you automatically assign the copyright as public domain by virtue of where you posted and who can see it?
No.
> Facebook owns all of the content you post (pictures/posts/videos).
As the sibling says, they do not.
> Doesn't this apply to all/most sites with user generated content?
No. A given website may state that as a condition of its use, users must assign copyright to anything they post to the owners of the company. This is not a common condition.
"This is the worst book I have ever read. Not organized, inconsistent tabs, incorrect spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Many of the points on tax sales are not fully explained and the reader is left with gaping holes in understanding the tax sale process. Some of the points are incorrect on how the tax sale process works.
I would not recommend this kindle to anyone, especially someone someone looking for guidance on the tax sale process. Perhaps this kindle could be useful in an English class as an example of what not to do."
A lot of people want a step by step guide with easy to understand rules and clear steps.
I read those types of guide books when I got started and many exist. When I tried to follow them in real life they missed so glossed over so many other problems or situations that can come up. The knowledge of local rules and past experiences and sound judgement was lacking. I found the best way to learn was from conversations in coffee shops / outside auctions from people who have been doing this for years.
This book tries to copy that style with a focus around specific topics that come up. Raw knowledge, warts and all.
How to Lose Money with 25 Years of Failed Businesses
https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-fail...
This is extremely extremely extremely naive. In reality, it's very easy to get praise and encouragement from a random stranger on the Internet, but it's extremely hard to get a single dollar of actual commitment from them. The original Reddit thread has 85 comments. Optimistically assuming that every single one of them donated the asking 10€, it's 850€ for multiple months of work.
In reality, the donation ratio would be the same order of magnitude as the conversion rate for ad clicks to downloads, that is about 1-5%. So, it's 8.5-42.5€ for multiple months of work.
Sorry to be brutal, but making money off something is a craft that is not easier than software development itself. That involves market analysis, lead acquisition, feature prioritization, price research, and a magnitude of other factors. Having a bunch of positive Reddit feedback is a marketing equivalent of downloading a "Hello, World in Java Script" tutorial and managing to run it in the browser. It's very far from the final product.
Idea validated. Funding secured. "
OP seems happy enough. I quoted the same as you and yet read it differently.
They have literally said: "Funding secured. <party>".
Sorry to be brutal but Sylvain seems quite happy about their approach to making money.
[Edit: Soz, my quote is not quite the same as yours and things may have changed between your and my quote. I await DV oblivion 8) ]
Speaking for myself, I ran a few donation-funded projects for a few years and found out that it involves too much mental gymnastics. Hey, I'm almost making the minimum wage. I don't have a family, I live with my parents, but at least I'm free and don't have a shitty boss. It's great, and I'm happy, right? Right? Tell me people, it's great, it's truly great?
So I learned the business skills, started working on a for-profit business idea, tweaked it based on the early feedback, and grew it into a full-time business that pays comparably to a corporate job. It was much harder than keeping to tell myself that my parents' basement is all I need, but it paid off well in the long term.
Funding Open Source is a hot topic here and after more than one year of full-time work without being paid I have finally achieved (a little bit more than) ramen profitability.
I'm happy to answer any question.
Today it makes no sense to reduce the price of the book because of the niche topic covered and my small audience, but for sure I will re-evaluate it later.
It isn't by any means a full time job, and I could definitely spend more time on it, but it does allow me to contribute to open source without completely ruining my life.
It helps that the main job is also open-source-based, so they're already committed to the concept.
I often ask myself the same about that real job™.
You could probably fund the project with research funding and pump out the required papers just working on it.
Yes, my ability to pay the rent is directly related to the number of books I sell.
That being said, I thought it was worth sharing because a lot of people think they can't make a living writing Open Source code. I hope to change their mind and give them ideas to take the leap.
Edit: rephrasing
Do you have (and are willing to share) an estimation of how many books you expect to sell per month?
I believe that more than 100 books a month will be enough to make a comfortable living.
I would love to be proven wrong though, and I really hope that you do sell a lot of books. I might even buy it if I decide to pick up Rust again. Best of luck!