Book idea--further thoughts

[Michael Steinberg]

Thanks, everyone, for the responses and ideas. Reading them, I've come 
to think that a physical book has some real advantages, especially for 
a beginner's text. There's something very reassuring about a volume 
lying there next to the computer, especially because the book always 
boots.

It also seems that a book that could be found in bookstores would be of 
some value in making Ubuntu visible. And this leads to a few other 
observations based on my experiences in the publishing world:

It would be super if the Doc team or whoever had the "authority" would 
consider making this an official Ubuntu publication; of course I'd do 
whatever is needed to win their imprimatur. I would be happy to 
approach No Starch, Peachpit, etc., with the prospect; a revised 
outline & a sample chapter or two would make a good proposal package, 
and the official Ubuntu label would surely help. (In keeping with my 
desire to help Ubuntu out, I'd contribute royalties to support the 
project.) But this would pretty much put an end to the idea of free 
distribution through the website, either through Shipit as some 
suggested or even via a large number of pdfs. Publishing is a tough 
business, and I doubt that any publisher would invest in a book if they 
knew that Ubuntu would be undercutting them by making it available for 
nothing. The same is true about bookstores; competition for shelf space 
is intense, and between two books of equal appeal the loser will be the 
one that buyers could download or order free.

  What about self-publishing (i.e., a Ubuntu Press)? It's easy & fairly 
cheap these days to produce a book. The snag is distribution. If Ubuntu 
decided to give away the books through Shipit--assuming that there's 
the money to burn, which I wonder about--the result would be that it 
wouldn't get into bookstores. If it's sold on the website instead (and 
remember, it's free as in speech, not as in beer), there would still be 
problems. Bookstores won't deal with small publishers--too much 
paperwork, not enough stock to make the time & effort worthwhile. You'd 
have to distribute through Baker & Taylor (in the US) or similar 
wholesaler, and you're not likely to get the book into too many stores 
anyway because you don't have sales staff. Selling it through the web 
site creates its own hassles, since Ubuntu's not set up for that. The 
Ubuntu Store is through Cafe Press, which spares Ubuntu all the worries 
of warehousing, fulfillment, banking arrangements and credit cards, 
customer service, etc. I don't know if a similar deal could exist for a 
book, and for just one book it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Conclusions? Right now I'd say that an "official" book through an 
established publisher would be the best choice, and it might be 
possible to negotiate with the publisher to allow a number of the most 
important "how-to" chapters to exist in downloadable form on the Ubuntu 
site. This may be the best compromise and be the most beneficial for 
the distro.

I assume this would require a fairly high-level policy decision and I'm 
hoping someone will fill me in on that. I'd like to show up at the next 
meeting; is it this coming Friday or the next one? 1400 GMT or 2200? 
How does a newbie like me find out?

Again, thanks to all.

Michael Steinberg

*************************************************************
Michael Steinberg
109 Rutgers Street
Rochester, New York  14607-2840

(585) 242-0538 (h)	(585) 295-8544 (o) (585) 298-9323 (fax)
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Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to 
keep going back and beginning all over again.
						----Andre Gide 
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