文案与商业写作2012kalzumeus.com
Patio11 写了一本关于软件公司转化率优化的书
Patio11 Wrote A Book On Conversion Optimization For Software Companies
导读
这是一则 patio11 发布《软件公司转化优化》一书的帖子，评论区从读者和作者角度讨论书的价值、写作风格与出版收益。对写作者而言，值得关注的是读者为何记住“直击要点”的文字，以及传统出版预付金/版税模式对技术写作者是否划算。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
写作要直击要点，让忙碌读者能迅速抓住核心，这样更容易被记住和收藏。
- 02
把分散的博客、评论整理成体系化的“精选集”，能降低读者获取成本，也形成完整作品。
- 03
写技术书前先算经济账：首次作者预付金约 5000 美元、纸质/电子版税约 8%/15%，多数书难回本。
- 04
书籍作为内容产品性价比高，可靠作者的长期信任比不断追加销售更有价值。
HN 评论精选
读者看重“直击要点”的写作，以及把分散内容整理成精选集的价值。
谢谢你，Patrick！我很多次读你的 Hacker News 评论或博客时都想：“哇，这家伙真是直击要点。”然后收藏了却再没回去看。我希望这本书像“Patio11 精选集”，让忙碌的人能把它集中放在硬盘上；若如此，9.99 美元很划算。已下载，读到 136 页中的第 14 页，今晚晚饭要晚了。
edw519查看英文原文
Thank you, Patrick! I don't know how many times I've read one of your Hacker News comments or blog posts and thought, "Wow, this guy really cuts to the chase." Then I bookmark it but never return. I'm hoping that this is kinda like a "Best of Patio11", giving busy people like me a chance to have it all in one place on my hard disk. If so, $9.99 is a bargain. Downloaded, up to Page 14 of 136. I guess dinner will be late tonight.
传统出版对技术作者经济回报低，写书前要算清预付金和版税账。
我觉得有道义上要评论，但又不想推销自己的书，所以改推销 Hyperink 吗？他们合作很棒，说服我通过他们出版，而不是走传统出版社或更聪明的技术类出版社。几年来有读者和出版社邀我写书，但我一直不感兴趣。对多数能写技术书的人来说，写书从经济账看是很差的时间利用。典型模式是：签约拿预付金，有时按里程碑分期；每卖一本拿版税，版税先用来回本预付金，之后按季度付给你。听起来合理，直到听到数字：首次写技术书的典型预付金 5000 美元，纸质书版税 8%，电子书 15%。也不是全都这么差——Apress 和 Pragmatic Programmer 的一两位作者写信说他们真心满意——但大体如此。算一下就知道，书极不可能收回预付金，多数技术书确实如此。于是你用几个月全职写作换来……（原文在此截断）
patio11查看英文原文
So I feel sort of morally obligated to comment here and yet don't want to sell my book, so instead, can I sell Hyperink? They were fantastic to work with, and successfully convinced me on why I should try publishing through them rather than trying to e.g. go through a traditional publisher or even one of the smarter tech-specific presses. I've been asked to write a book for a few years by potential readers, and a few times by potential publishers, but I was very disinterested in doing so. For most people capable of writing tech books, writing books is a very poor use of time under any economic calculus. The typical model is that you and the publisher agree to do the book, then you're paid an advance (sometimes in installments contingent on milestones). You earn a royalty on each sale of the book, with the royalties first going to pay back ("earn out") the advance, and then being paid to you quarterly. This sounds reasonable, until you hear the numbers (typical advance for a tech book from a first time author: $5k, typical royalty percentage: 8% on a physical copy, 15% on an ebook). They're not universally that bad -- an author or two from Apress and Pragmatic Programmer wrote me to say they were genuinely happy with their experiences -- but that's sort of the general flavor of things. If you do the math, it is highly unlikely your book will recoup the advance, and that is indeed what happens to most tech books. So you've traded months of full-time labor writing and rewriting, plus additional months of part-time work hawking the book to anyone who will listen, in return for $5k. That is not a rational use of time for anybody who can e.g. do contract programming, which (one would assume) virtually all tech book writers could do. When I said as much to publishers who asked me to write things, they said "Ahh, but the book will allow you to establish your bona fides", and I do not believe that making stupid decisions for my business successfully demonstrates to clients that I will make smart decisions for theirs. To my view of things, I'd rather have lots of folks be able to read my writing than have it blessed by a gatekeeper but widely unavailable. But blog posts do leave a lot to be desired for teaching people. For one, my blog is very disorganized, since I have six years of back-issues which appear in order of "what I was working on that week", and they're of varying quality and relevance, particularly early in my career. Something with a bit of structure and curation seemed like it would add value. Plus, I am spelling- and design-challenged, so having an editor and someone with a sense of style would be a plus. That's basically what Hyperink pitched: curating the best of the blog into a book, complete with editing and design help, with some extra essays added. It's far less work than scratch-writing a book, the terms are more equitable (no advance, equitable royalty split), and it provides incremental value to readers over the blog. I don't expect to make a huge amount of money on it, relative to the business in general, but the idea sounded attractive enough to try it as an experiment.
书相比电影和不断追加销售的信息产品有更高性价比和长期价值。
我真得说，书无论虚构还是非虚构，都是性价比最高的东西之一。花同样看一场两小时电影的钱，你可以买一本能带来更多小时享受、更有深度、还能随时回看的小说。比起花更少的钱买一个不断追加销售、逼你通过 Facebook 点赞或推文推广作者的骗人信息产品，你可以得到历史上最伟大头脑之一数月或数年努力的成果。我相信 Patrick 在这里不需要帮忙卖产品，但我还是要说——书是极好的价值，尤其来自他这样分享过很多、你知道会得到什么的人！买它。我完全破产也仍能轻松为这种购买辩护——少吃一顿 Chipotle 就付得起！
xiaoma查看英文原文
I really have to say that books (fiction or non-fiction) are one of the best values that exist. For the same money that you would spend seeing a movie that will be over in two hours, you can purchase a novel that will provide more hours of enjoyment, more depth, and the option to return at any time. For a fraction of the money you could spend on a scammy info product that constantly upsells you and pushes you to promote the author (via fb likes, tweets, etc), you can have the result of months or years of effort from one of the greatest minds in history. I'm sure Patrick doesn't need any help selling his products here, but I'll say it anyway-- books are an incredible value, especially from someone like him who has shared so much before and from whom you have an idea what you'll be getting! Buy it. I'm totally broke and could still easily justify this kind of purchase -- skip one trip to Chipotle and it's paid for!
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