• Jack Stouffer (8/8) Jul 17 2015 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25928594-programming-in-d
• Adam D. Ruppe (2/2) Jul 17 2015 Oooh, my book is up there too:
• =?UTF-8?B?QWxpIMOHZWhyZWxp?= (20/26) Jul 18 2015 Thank you for doing that.
• Jack Stouffer (7/25) Jul 18 2015 $20-$30 is the standard price for most programming books so I
• Jacob Carlborg (8/17) Jul 18 2015 I actually think that's quite cheap. Compare that with the dragon book
• Jonathan M Davis via Digitalmars-d-announce (16/32) Jul 18 2015 The dragon book is pretty much in textbook price territory (and it is us...
• WhatMeWorry (2/13) Jul 18 2015 I see the dragon book has four authors. I bet Walter Bright by
• Meta (10/45) Jul 18 2015 Seems perfectly reasonable to me. I imagine the free online
• Rikki Cattermole (8/37) Jul 18 2015 The way to program - Let's think like a D(eveloper).

"Jack Stouffer" <jack jackstouffer.com> writes:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25928594-programming-in-d

I just added Ali Çehreli's "Programming in D" on Goodreads. If 
any of you have accounts, please rate the book, because people do 
use Goodreads to find books as well as determine if a book is 
worth their time.

Also, Andrei's book is also on Goodreads if you haven't already 
rated it: 
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6660101-the-d-programming-language

"Adam D. Ruppe" <destructionator gmail.com> writes:

Oooh, my book is up there too:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22499498-d-cookbook

=?UTF-8?B?QWxpIMOHZWhyZWxp?= <acehreli yahoo.com> writes:

On 07/17/2015 12:37 PM, Jack Stouffer wrote:
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25928594-programming-in-d

 I just added Ali Çehreli's "Programming in D" on Goodreads. If any of
 you have accounts, please rate the book, because people do use Goodreads
 to find books as well as determine if a book is worth their time.

 Also, Andrei's book is also on Goodreads if you haven't already rated
 it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6660101-the-d-programming-language

Thank you for doing that.

On a related note, the paper version of the book is in proofing stage: I 
have just ordered a print copy for proofing. (I don't expect any major 
problem as what they print is the same as the pdf copy.) It should hit 
Amazon soon.

I am also trying to determine the price for the paper copy. 
Unfortunately, the threshold price for standard distribution channels 
came out to be a little over $17, which is almost the same as what I was 
hoping to sell for. Adding extended distribution channels pushes the 
threshold price to over $25. :(

What is a fare price for that book, considering that HTML and PDF 
versions will always be free anyway?

I have started considering drastic changes to reduce the page count by

- making the font smaller (currently 10pt)

- reducing the margins

- removing the exercise solutions from the book (currently 50 pages)

none of which makes me happy because I've spent a long time on deciding 
all of that. :-/ I am still sleeping them over.

Ali

"Jack Stouffer" <jack jackstouffer.com> writes:

On Saturday, 18 July 2015 at 13:34:55 UTC, Ali Çehreli wrote:
 Thank you for doing that.

 On a related note, the paper version of the book is in proofing 
 stage: I have just ordered a print copy for proofing. (I don't 
 expect any major problem as what they print is the same as the 
 pdf copy.) It should hit Amazon soon.

 I am also trying to determine the price for the paper copy. 
 Unfortunately, the threshold price for standard distribution 
 channels came out to be a little over $17, which is almost the 
 same as what I was hoping to sell for. Adding extended 
 distribution channels pushes the threshold price to over $25. :(

 What is a fare price for that book, considering that HTML and 
 PDF versions will always be free anyway?

$20-$30 is the standard price for most programming books so I 
don't think anyone who is willing to buy physical books in the 
first place will think that you are charging too much.

 I have started considering drastic changes to reduce the page 
 count by

 - making the font smaller (currently 10pt)

 - reducing the margins

 - removing the exercise solutions from the book (currently 50 
 pages)

Please don't. This will just make the book a lot less useful. If 
you make the PDF have more content than the print version there 
is no reason why anyone would buy the physical copy.

Jacob Carlborg <doob me.com> writes:

On 2015-07-18 15:34, Ali Çehreli wrote:

 On a related note, the paper version of the book is in proofing stage: I
 have just ordered a print copy for proofing. (I don't expect any major
 problem as what they print is the same as the pdf copy.) It should hit
 Amazon soon.

 I am also trying to determine the price for the paper copy.
 Unfortunately, the threshold price for standard distribution channels
 came out to be a little over $17, which is almost the same as what I was
 hoping to sell for. Adding extended distribution channels pushes the
 threshold price to over $25. :(

I actually think that's quite cheap. Compare that with the dragon book 
[1], which costs $144.83 for the hardcover. And even more for the Kindle 
version, unless I completely misunderstand the page.

[1] 
http://www.amazon.com/Compilers-Principles-Techniques-Tools-2nd/dp/0321486811

-- 
/Jacob Carlborg

Jonathan M Davis via Digitalmars-d-announce writes:

On Saturday, July 18, 2015 16:29:36 Jacob Carlborg via Digitalmars-d-announce
wrote:
 On 2015-07-18 15:34, Ali Çehreli wrote:

 On a related note, the paper version of the book is in proofing stage: I
 have just ordered a print copy for proofing. (I don't expect any major
 problem as what they print is the same as the pdf copy.) It should hit
 Amazon soon.

 I am also trying to determine the price for the paper copy.
 Unfortunately, the threshold price for standard distribution channels
 came out to be a little over $17, which is almost the same as what I was
 hoping to sell for. Adding extended distribution channels pushes the
 threshold price to over $25. :(

 I actually think that's quite cheap. Compare that with the dragon book
 [1], which costs $144.83 for the hardcover. And even more for the Kindle
 version, unless I completely misunderstand the page.

 [1]
 http://www.amazon.com/Compilers-Principles-Techniques-Tools-2nd/dp/0321486811

The dragon book is pretty much in textbook price territory (and it is used
as one), so that's _way_ higher than your typical programming books costs,
but $25 - $30 is still on the low end. Given that it's also available for
free online, I suppose that that does change the equation a bit, since
arguably, folks are paying primarily for what it costs to print and
distribute it more than really paying Ali for his time and effort, but if it
really costs that much to print and distribute it, then that's what it
costs. And honestly, if Ali wants to make some money off the print version,
I think that that's perfectly reasonable.

I don't know what "extended distribution channels" gets you, so I don't know
if that's worth it or not, but I think that it's perfectly reasonable for
the book to end up in that price range. Folks who pay for physical books
would generally expect a price like that, if not more, especially for a
programming book.

- Jonathan M Davis

"WhatMeWorry" <kheaser gmail.com> writes:

 The dragon book is pretty much in textbook price territory (and 
 it is used as one), so that's _way_ higher than your typical 
 programming books costs, but $25 - $30 is still on the low end. 
 Given that it's also available for free online, I suppose that 
 that does change the equation a bit, since arguably, folks are 
 paying primarily for what it costs to print and distribute it 
 more than really paying Ali for his time and effort, but if it 
 really costs that much to print and distribute it, then that's 
 what it costs. And honestly, if Ali wants to make some money 
 off the print version, I think that that's perfectly reasonable.

 - Jonathan M Davis

I see the dragon book has four authors.  I bet Walter Bright by 
himself could write a better one. :)

"Meta" <jared771 gmail.com> writes:

On Saturday, 18 July 2015 at 13:34:55 UTC, Ali Çehreli wrote:
 On 07/17/2015 12:37 PM, Jack Stouffer wrote:
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25928594-programming-in-d

 I just added Ali Çehreli's "Programming in D" on Goodreads. If 
 any of
 you have accounts, please rate the book, because people do use 
 Goodreads
 to find books as well as determine if a book is worth their 
 time.

 Also, Andrei's book is also on Goodreads if you haven't 
 already rated
 it: 
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6660101-the-d-programming-language

 Thank you for doing that.

 On a related note, the paper version of the book is in proofing 
 stage: I have just ordered a print copy for proofing. (I don't 
 expect any major problem as what they print is the same as the 
 pdf copy.) It should hit Amazon soon.

 I am also trying to determine the price for the paper copy. 
 Unfortunately, the threshold price for standard distribution 
 channels came out to be a little over $17, which is almost the 
 same as what I was hoping to sell for. Adding extended 
 distribution channels pushes the threshold price to over $25. :(

 What is a fare price for that book, considering that HTML and 
 PDF versions will always be free anyway?

 I have started considering drastic changes to reduce the page 
 count by

 - making the font smaller (currently 10pt)

 - reducing the margins

 - removing the exercise solutions from the book (currently 50 
 pages)

 none of which makes me happy because I've spent a long time on 
 deciding all of that. :-/ I am still sleeping them over.

 Ali

Seems perfectly reasonable to me. I imagine the free online 
version will drive sales for the physical version. The tabletop 
RPG company Paizo puts all of their books for the Pathfinder RPG 
system up in an early searchable format[1] in addition to selling 
hardcover books for 40-60$ each, and they're currently dominating 
the mainstream RPG market. Even if it's available online for 
free, people love owning physical items, especially if they're 
value-added.

1. http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/

Rikki Cattermole <alphaglosined gmail.com> writes:

On 19/07/2015 1:34 a.m., Ali Çehreli wrote:
 On 07/17/2015 12:37 PM, Jack Stouffer wrote:
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25928594-programming-in-d

 I just added Ali Çehreli's "Programming in D" on Goodreads. If any of
 you have accounts, please rate the book, because people do use Goodreads
 to find books as well as determine if a book is worth their time.

 Also, Andrei's book is also on Goodreads if you haven't already rated
 it:
 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6660101-the-d-programming-language

 Thank you for doing that.

 On a related note, the paper version of the book is in proofing stage: I
 have just ordered a print copy for proofing. (I don't expect any major
 problem as what they print is the same as the pdf copy.) It should hit
 Amazon soon.

 I am also trying to determine the price for the paper copy.
 Unfortunately, the threshold price for standard distribution channels
 came out to be a little over $17, which is almost the same as what I was
 hoping to sell for. Adding extended distribution channels pushes the
 threshold price to over $25. :(

 What is a fare price for that book, considering that HTML and PDF
 versions will always be free anyway?

 I have started considering drastic changes to reduce the page count by

 - making the font smaller (currently 10pt)

 - reducing the margins

 - removing the exercise solutions from the book (currently 50 pages)

 none of which makes me happy because I've spent a long time on deciding
 all of that. :-/ I am still sleeping them over.

 Ali

The way to program - Let's think like a D(eveloper).

What I'm doing for it is evil but simple.
Content is free (on Github), free to read + PR/issues for anyone.
Only no generation into e.g. PDF.

Want e.g. PDF, you pay to support me.
So don't make the print copy not as good. Make it good quality, put up 
the price to a reasonable amount.