Woodworking ebooks - would you?

[ayuce]

Well, if there is a market for your dvd's, i believe there should be a market for ebook also (hope it will be reasonably priced). But honestly woodworking books market more crowded than woodworking videos, excluding youtube contents.

As far as i know e book sales of Amazon exceeded hardcopy ones few years before. Usually titles offered as both ebook and hardcopy. So why not start with ebook version of your book ?

 

[n0legs]

What content would your books have that has not already been published?

 

[Mark A]

I don't buy books (of any genre), and the few I do own were all given to me as gifts.
In fact, I possess not a single woodworking book; the internet and forums provide everything I currently require.

I regularly borrow books (of various genres) from my local library, so I don't really see the need to build up a private collection. Maybe not reference books, but certainly novels, once read, live on a shelf not to be touched for years.

I'm happy with my library books, even if I have to put up with the occasional suspicious stain...


Mark

(Possibly Steve's youngest customer )

 

[dzj]

When I started out in the late 80s, I used to make a lot of bookshelves.
Nowadays much, much less.
If that's any indicator...

 

[mseries]

Is the question about eBooks or eReaders ? For me, larger screens are preferred for things other than text, eBooks can be viewed on all sorts of devices, my wife likes to look at her eCookery books full screen on her laptop, we could cast them to the TV if we had casting technology. I look for a eBook first but if the price differential is small I'll buy the book but only if I think it VFM. BUT I haven't bought a woodwork book for maybe 20 years, I learn from the internet now, not even looked at a woodork book for a year or so. I find eBooks great, I have some on my tablet and read them on the train, on the lav, in the park, on the bus etc. For me, they are so convenient. Me, very nearly 50 years old, 29 years as an IT Professional.

 

[Tortion-Stephen]

I'm 37 and for reference/learning books I prefer paper- sometimes even spiral bound so you can lay them flat easily. All of my woodworking books are paper format.

For fiction eBooks- despite my annoyance that they attract VAT, I was recently working in Italy for 12 weeks communting back and forth every fortnight or so and bought a Kindle for this, I was very glad to have it during what seemed like endless hours in airports/on planes.

 

[Halo Jones]

I am 38 and I use my tablet for about 80% of woodwork related reading: magazines and books. I enjoy the Lost Art Press books and buy these as pdfs directly from their website. If I am heading off to the shed then I print out the section I am interested in.

 

[MatthewRedStars]

Real books all the way.

To quote the great John Waters “If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't **** 'em!”

 

[RogerP]

Real books all the way.

To quote the great John Waters “If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't pineapple 'em!”

If you visited me you'd see some shelf loads of books ...
... but not the more recent thousand or so on my Kindles (all not fiction).

 

[morfa]

33 years old. I have a mix of ebooks and 'real' books. If it was something I thought I'd only read once I'd get an ebook. If it was a long term thing I'd get a real book. But I do have a lot of books.

 

[mseries]

If I could get some woodworking eBooks for a couple of pounds I'd would do so. If the price is right it is less of a worry in they aren't very good.

 

[Steve Maskery]

And that, I think, is the problem. After you have paid the distributor their cut and PayPal or Visa their cut, what's left wouldn't buy half a pint of beer.

 

[Halo Jones]

Most woodworking e-books I have bought are only slightly cheaper than their "real" counterpart (ie $20 versus $25-30) but then there are no printing or distribution costs.

 

[Jacob]

I've bought at least one in the past but probably never again as they always seem to get lost in the machine somehow or just prove inaccessible .
It's down to marketing - even if they are craap somebody will buy them!

 

[Steve Maskery]

Most woodworking e-books I have bought are only slightly cheaper than their "real" counterpart (ie $20 versus $25-30) but then there are no printing or distribution costs.

I don't think that is strictly true, Halo. They have to be stored on a server and have a portal for the sale, and everybody in the change wants to make something out of it.

For a blockbuster novel that is going to sell millions, then publishers can afford to discount a bit, because they don't have the PHYSICAL distribution and printing costs, but any specialist title is lucky to sell a thousand, IIUIC, and many fall far short of that.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Steve, I would go for a paper copy every time. The best manual that I have is spiral bound and it is excellent for use in the workshop.

Cheers, Neil

 

[JakeS]

Spiral binding is definitely underrated!

I'm 35, and I'm kind of leery of ebooks in general - just because they're much easier to lose. In the early days of the medium I bought a couple and ended up unable to access them thanks to the excessive DRM the publisher (now long out of business!) had put on the things. DRM in general is a lot less consumer-unfriendly these days, although I'd still always rather buy watermarked PDFs than something DRM-protected 'cause I'm sure it's still fallible. I do buy eBooks, though - it's also a lot more convenient!

If I were writing a book, though, I'd definitely look into offering it through Amazon as an eBook at the very least. Think of it this way: every sale you get is a bonus you didn't really have to pay anything for, and people who pirate ebooks are generally not going to be in the market to buy a hardcopy anyway, so it's not like you can say it's money you would otherwise have been paid. And some of those people will quite possibly go off and buy the hardcopy if they find the book useful anyway - I know I've replaced a couple of (legitimately) free eBooks I had with printed versions.

I'd mostly be interested in checking out the print-on-demand options if I were writing a book, though. I've had a couple of titles from Lulu that have been pretty decently printed and bound (although I'd stay clear of so-called 'perfect' binding whatever the publisher if I had a choice), and I seem to recall hearing that LightningSource were behind a couple of other (equally decent) books that I bought from a third party.

 

[Halo Jones]

Steve,

I accept that server charges etc are not be excluded (look at what Richard Maguire is up to at English Woodworker!)

However, brain cogs are slowly churning.....

There was a chap that used to write for PC Pro magazine that started a candlemaking business on the side. He used to write articles in the magazine about the business based on the website portal side of things but he is now working full time on his candle business full time and is no longer a journalist! I seem to remember he also wrote a few books and did an analysis on which way he made most profit (ie e-book only, print on demand, small print run and e-book). Have a google and try to find his blog. If I have time, and beat you to it, I will also try to look it up. edit: His name is Kevin Partner but I cannot find the specfic blog I remember reading........

H.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I have an old school friend who makes candles as part of his portfolio. Not sure how much he makes (or even, with several ex-wives, how much he gets to keep from what he makes...). Personally I don't get it, but that's why I have an MBA but no viable business...

 

[Jacob]

I just bought an ebook! (PDF) It was a nice selection of tunes in Banjo tab. But you could name your price or have it for nothing. It was quite a nice selection so I coughed up $2 by Paypal.
Worth bearing in mind; free book but contributions gratefully accepted. If the thing is any good it might just go viral and make you rich!