Technical books and courses, good or bad idea?

[srodrigo]

Hey,

TL;DR
Has anyone had any success writing technical books (specially software development books) and courses? I'd like to see how other people are doing in this space.

Longer version
I've been studying this for a while, trying to see whether it's a viable strategy for make FU-money eventually (for which you need to provide FU-value, obviously). A couple of observations I've made:

1. Technical books don't tend to make much money unless you are already a famous developer and can get a publisher (lower revenue (royalties), probably more sales), or have a big following you can leverage to self-publish a book (higher revenue, probably less sales).
2. *Some* people out there did make 50-100k with some books. It's not pocket money, but it's not game over money either. Some made 100-200k with at least one book. This is difficult to estimate as most people don't disclose their earnings, but just to give an idea. Most people probably make way less though. Selling, say, 5,000 copies of a technical book is not an easy task if you are self-publishing.
3. I think what might work is a snowball effect: the first 1-3 books or courses aren't too successful, but later ones are once you get traction. Previous products help getting your name out there.
4. A quality 200-300 pages book can easily take 1-2 years to write. I'm not sure the value generated is that big compared to the effort put in it.
5. It has good synergy (authority, reach) with freelancing. I don't want to be selling my time for money forever though.
6. It has good synergy with a blog where you can test ideas to see if there's interest on a particular topic. Maybe eventually monetise the blog as well, and sell the books/courses directly there to cut the middleman.

As some know, I'm a software developer. I've been dabbling into a couple of things (video games, mobile apps), which little success so far. I'm probably going to take a break from this as I've burned myself out a bit (and my current full-time contract is quite draining, coding like an animal - thank God I enjoy coding, but little energy left). I probably want to explore other avenues.

 

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[Caminsky]

Look for weaknesses in current offerings. What's something you WISH was around when you were learning about software development? Or something you hear budding developers complain about?

As far as book vs. course: Personally, I would work on a course and then use those materials to make a book. But that's just me. You could make a short and free "fundamentals" course to test the waters.

 

[Bence Ur]

You can sell an online course (videos) for a higher price. There are a lot of success stories. For examples on Udemy you can see the number of students enrolled.

Or here's a course: Three.js Journey — Learn WebGL with Three.js (an online course about a JavaScript 3D library)

It says "31,462 Students already enrolled"

Here's a video from the creator:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkLg3fcV308

 

[Andy Black]

You can sell an online course (videos) for a higher price. There are a lot of success stories. For examples on Udemy you can see the number of students enrolled.

Or here's a course: Three.js Journey — Learn WebGL with Three.js (an online course about a JavaScript 3D library)

It says "31,462 Students already enrolled"

Here's a video from the creator:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkLg3fcV308

^^^ This.

How much seems reasonable for a book? $10? $20?

How easily would you drop $10 on a course?


A $25 book on Google Ads seems pricey. It would also be a lot of hard work to create, and be out of date immediately.

My course membership is $25/mth.

That's a month.

And some think there must be something wrong because it's too cheap.


If you’re coding all the time then why not record a few videos and post to YouTube and other platforms? You're doing the work anyway.

 

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[srodrigo]

Thanks folks for your insights, really appreciated

Look for weaknesses in current offerings. What's something you WISH was around when you were learning about software development? Or something you hear budding developers complain about?

As far as book vs. course: Personally, I would work on a course and then use those materials to make a book. But that's just me. You could make a short and free "fundamentals" course to test the waters.

There's plenty I wish was around when I started. But that was 20+ years ago. Today, you can more or less find your way through with tutorials. Unless you want something more substantial, then you resort to books, courses, etc.

I wish there was (now) a couple of things I've been looking into. I think there are a couple of under-served niches.

The reason for book vs course is that there's a hell ton of video courses out there. They are nice in some ways, but they suck in many others. Specially for things like coding, where you need to pause, read, type, and it's difficult to find what you are looking for. A good book is a better resource for anything coding related IMO. I might be going against the crow though.

You can sell an online course (videos) for a higher price. There are a lot of success stories. For examples on Udemy you can see the number of students enrolled.

Or here's a course: Three.js Journey — Learn WebGL with Three.js (an online course about a JavaScript 3D library)

It says "31,462 Students already enrolled"

Here's a video from the creator:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkLg3fcV308

I wouldn't put stuff on Udemy unless it is to get some initial traction. I've seen people here flee, for a good reason. All courses I bought (except for one) have been at 10-15 bucks. From what I know, instructors get even less (30% unless a coupon was used). You need hundreds of thousands of sales on there to make any significant money. I've seen folks selling higher-ticket courses on their own websites, but they are the author of the most popular JavaScript test library, and folks like that. There are 5-10 of those among millions of developers.

I'll have a look at the video though. I know that some made good money on Udemy. But it looks to me like other video courses platforms (Skillshare, Pluralsight) are more interesting.

^^^ This.

How much seems reasonable for a book? $10? $20?

How easily would you drop $10 on a course?


A $25 book on Google Ads seems pricey. It would also be a lot of hard work to create, and be out of date immediately.

My course membership is $25/mth. A month.

And some think there must be something wrong because it's too cheap.


If you’re coding all the time then why not record a few videos and post to YouTube and other platforms? You're doing the work anyway.

Is your course a video course, or in some sort of text format? What do you do to justify charging a monthly fee? Is similar to Coursera's model, where you pay until you finish the course?

Books take a lot of effort to make, but way less than quality videos. You need a script that takes almost as long to create than just writing it down on a book. Then retakes, edits, more retakes, more edits. I might be missing something, but when I used to record some video tutorials and write some other tutorials as blog posts for some employer, the time investment of the videos was easily 5-10x. And I don't think the quality/usefulness was necessarily better (apart from specific cases where you need to show the coding flow for some reason).
The cost of updating the syntax of the code on a book is going through all the examples updating the snippets, and calling it a day.
The cost of updating the whole video course is... well, better not do it and start a new course instead. Unless you want to feed customers with fresh content for life for the 10 bucks they paid. ONCE. Nope. I've seen some "I re-recorded this whole Udemy course to the latest Java version, yay!" folks. I really don't get it. As much as one can care for customers, working for free for life after 10 bucks is a rather strange business model. Charity adds a lot of value too, not that one can usually make a living with it.

I could record videos, but not stuff I do on my day job, I'd be in breach of NDAs. So I have to put the extra work anyway after work hours (which is fine, just mentioning that I can't reuse the big bulk of it). I considered starting a YouTube channel long ago. I decided against, unless it's another gear in the marketing machine. I write better than I speak in public or in front of a camera. Not saying I can't do it, but I'd rather leverage what I can do well (at least that's common advice around here, focus on what you can do well). I don't have a quiet environment to record voice at the moment anyway, while I can write no matter the noise around.

 

[Bence Ur]

I wouldn't put stuff on Udemy

I don't recommend Udemy either, I mean just browse through the programming, coding, technical courses there and look at the number of students enrolled. Use it as a market research tool. Because your original question was "Has anyone had any success writing technical books (specially software development books) and courses?" So yes you can find a lot of inspiration on Udemy.

But then you are better off releasing a course on your own website. The linked video is not about a Udemy course.

 

[srodrigo]

I don't recommend Udemy either, I mean just browse through the programming, coding, technical courses there and look at the number of students enrolled. Use it as a market research tool. Because your original question was "Has anyone had any success writing technical books (specially software development books) and courses?" So yes you can find a lot of inspiration on Udemy.

But then you are better off releasing a course on your own website. The linked video is not about a Udemy course.

I'll watch the video as soon as I can.

Yeah, courses on your own website is a much better deal. Problem is having an audience first. I guess that's why so many people resort to Udemy for a while.

 

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[Bence Ur]

I'll watch the video as soon as I can.

Yeah, courses on your own website is a much better deal. Problem is having an audience first. I guess that's why so many people resort to Udemy for a while.

Yeah actually there are Udemy creators who just pump out courses like there's no tomorrow and they don't do any marketing, they just rely on the Udemy platform 100%.

But I think in the long run you are better off investing in audience building and releasing the course on your own website. And relying on Udemy breaks the very first commandment - control - in the CENTS framework.

 

[Andy Black]

Hmmm... There seems to be a lot to unravel. Let me pick a few standouts.

What do you do to justify charging a monthly fee?

I don't justify it. People can pay to access the courses for $25, and then cancel. If they want access longer then they pay for longer.

Books take a lot of effort to make, but way less than quality videos.

This sounds like a limiting belief to me. Define "quality"? I've done a few videos that are on my YouTube channel and some in my membership that was me talking to someone for an hour. Record, upload, done.

You need a script that takes almost as long to create than just writing it down on a book.

Beware when you say you "need" anything. It often preceeds a limiting belief.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/fl7GEogsrhE?si=19pIsHiXkqNkWKaU



I'm not saying to create videos btw. But a lot of things you've said so far look like limiting beliefs to me. Maybe go through the thread from start to finish and highlight them yourself?

As much as one can care for customers, working for free for life after 10 bucks is a rather strange business model.

Then don't? Maybe charge $10/mth instead of $10?

 

[srodrigo]

Hmmm... There seems to be a lot to unravel. Let me pick a few standouts.

Reading my comment again, I feel like I sound like a prick. Sorry :/

I don't justify it. People can pay to access the courses for $25, and then cancel. If they want access longer then they pay for longer.

Yeah, that's cool. I was just wondering whether you offered something in particular apart from the courses themselves.
I was following some guy who built a website (pretty much a blog) and was charging a montly/yearly fee for extra materials. People do it and others pay.

This sounds like a limiting belief to me. Define "quality"? I've done a few videos that are on my YouTube channel and some in my membership that was me talking to someone for an hour. Record, upload, done.

I'm not alone in this thinking. Open Edx has a couple of MOOC's without videos Why My MOOC is Not Built on Video

Maybe for you it's quicker to record video. For me, "quality" means the video flows, there aren't corrections on the go, I don't stutter, etc. That's why I need a script and to practice what I'm gonna do, specially if it's coding, as I don't want to see where I land, I want the steps to be clear. It took me a while to record a couple of those videos. Very long. With practice, it'd take shorter, but still.

Beware when you say you "need" anything. It often preceeds a limiting belief.

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/fl7GEogsrhE?si=19pIsHiXkqNkWKaU

I'm not saying to create videos btw. But a lot of things you've said so far look like limiting beliefs to me. Maybe go through the thread from start to finish and highlight them yourself?

I've got a reason for saying the videos take way long (they do to me and to other people out there), but I won't deny I'm full of limiting believes
I'm not good at talking on the camera.
I've got a Spanish accent.
On top of my 6am mind There are some others.

I jumped onto conclusions regarding the videos. The fact that you mention them for YouTube stuff doesn't imply you are recommending them for courses. I wasn't into the best mindset last night. Sorry about that!

Then don't? Maybe charge $10/mth instead of $10?

I was talking about Udemy, which it's a one-time fee (unless that's changed recently).

I can see how it makes sense to you if you charge a monthly fee.

Talking about this, I was thinking about the non-video approach. I could always build the courses on a website, where people can do them at their own pace. It's more interactive than a book, and I can charge a monthly fee if I want (Coursera does it too). This would be specially interesting because some books/courses I had in mind are built on web technologies. So you could have the text and section to practice and see it working on an embedded section. Similar to a Jupiter Notebook.

(BTW I'm away for 3 days, in case I'm slow/brief replying).

 

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[Andy Black]

Reading my comment again, I feel like I sound like a prick. Sorry :/


Yeah, that's cool. I was just wondering whether you offered something in particular apart from the courses themselves.
I was following some guy who built a website (pretty much a blog) and was charging a montly/yearly fee for extra materials. People do it and others pay.


I'm not alone in this thinking. Open Edx has a couple of MOOC's without videos Why My MOOC is Not Built on Video

Maybe for you it's quicker to record video. For me, "quality" means the video flows, there aren't corrections on the go, I don't stutter, etc. That's why I need a script and to practice what I'm gonna do, specially if it's coding, as I don't want to see where I land, I want the steps to be clear. It took me a while to record a couple of those videos. Very long. With practice, it'd take shorter, but still.




I've got a reason for saying the videos take way long (they do to me and to other people out there), but I won't deny I'm full of limiting believes
I'm not good at talking on the camera.
I've got a Spanish accent.
On top of my 6am mind There are some others.

I jumped onto conclusions regarding the videos. The fact that you mention them for YouTube stuff doesn't imply you are recommending them for courses. I wasn't into the best mindset last night. Sorry about that!


I was talking about Udemy, which it's a one-time fee (unless that's changed recently).

I can see how it makes sense to you if you charge a monthly fee.

Talking about this, I was thinking about the non-video approach. I could always build the courses on a website, where people can do them at their own pace. It's more interactive than a book, and I can charge a monthly fee if I want (Coursera does it too). This would be specially interesting because some books/courses I had in mind are built on web technologies. So you could have the text and section to practice and see it working on an embedded section. Similar to a Jupiter Notebook.

(BTW I'm away for 3 days, in case I'm slow/brief replying).

You weren't coming across bad, just that you weren't seeing opportunities, just problems.

I have many different types of videos.

1) Rambly chats where I go off at tangents seem to help people. They like seeing the thought process, and/or they feel they're listening in to an actual conversation. Currently I do the call, cut off the waiting about part in the beginning, then publish.

Example:

View: https://youtu.be/lbi26HUaSKg?si=ASKTTOATfS7KZKnq



2) Presentations that are a bit more structured. These need a bit of prep to create notes so I have a rough outline, but then they're easy since I know my subject.

Example:

View: https://youtu.be/T0swT3kEOQs?si=VxvBvgDHxwZSJLRp



3) Short scripted and heavily edited videos. Yes, this one took ages. But it's been worth it.

Example:

View: https://youtu.be/7z7kx3kJC4M?si=ySLaEt6hvSj46aSJ



4) Short 2-3 minute How-To videos. I can get into a rhythm with these and it almost becomes a little factory churning them out.

I did those for a previous incarnation of my course membership so don't have an examples.


5) Short videos extracted from long. I find this hard work if it's from my rambly videos. I want to get more structured in the original video and maybe Opus Clip can pull out snippets.

Example:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/qqpIfJmiKyM?si=Tek__WtWNCj1nSTl



6) Short scripted videos where I read a teleprompter. These worked pretty good, although would do better if I learned to inject more personality into my videos.

Example:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/xYEEhRyF1qA?si=DmfTdrvV8kTZcyhx

 

[Cybom]

Hello @srodrigo
As suggested by Andy, maybe you should try posting on YouTube first and see whether you have audience.
If people see you as an expert, they will buy your book and if some people buy, more and more people may buy it

 

[srodrigo]

You weren't coming across bad, just that you weren't seeing opportunities, just problems.

I have many different types of videos.

1) Rambly chats where I go off at tangents seem to help people. They like seeing the thought process, and/or they feel they're listening in to an actual conversation. Currently I do the call, cut off the waiting about part in the beginning, then publish.

Example:

View: https://youtu.be/lbi26HUaSKg?si=ASKTTOATfS7KZKnq



2) Presentations that are a bit more structured. These need a bit of prep to create notes so I have a rough outline, but then they're easy since I know my subject.

Example:

View: https://youtu.be/T0swT3kEOQs?si=VxvBvgDHxwZSJLRp



3) Short scripted and heavily edited videos. Yes, this one took ages. But it's been worth it.

Example:

View: https://youtu.be/7z7kx3kJC4M?si=ySLaEt6hvSj46aSJ



4) Short 2-3 minute How-To videos. I can get into a rhythm with these and it almost becomes a little factory churning them out.

I did those for a previous incarnation of my course membership so don't have an examples.


5) Short videos extracted from long. I find this hard work if it's from my rambly videos. I want to get more structured in the original video and maybe Opus Clip can pull out snippets.

Example:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/qqpIfJmiKyM?si=Tek__WtWNCj1nSTl



6) Short scripted videos where I read a teleprompter. These worked pretty good, although would do better if I learned to inject more personality into my videos.

Example:

View: https://youtube.com/shorts/xYEEhRyF1qA?si=DmfTdrvV8kTZcyhx

Thank you so much for these examples. I get your point. There cam be a mix of types of videos, it doesn't have to be the perfect, scripted one all the time.

Okay, I'll reconsider. YouTube can he another interesting marketing tool that makes the cake sweeter. And the sweeter the better. The fact that I'm sick of yet another YouTube channel doesn't mean it's not beneficial to have it.

Hello @srodrigo
As suggested by Andy, maybe you should try posting on YouTube first and see whether you have audience.
If people see you as an expert, they will buy your book and if some people buy, more and more people may buy it

Agree. I was discarding one marketing channel (YouTube) for no good reasons. I still like blogging technical articles more, and want that to be my main show pony channel. But some content fits better as a video, and gives another stream of traffic. So why not.

I think, deep inside, the issue is that I got obsessed with SaaS, mobile apps, and similar kinds of projects, as the best way to achive my goals. I see doubling down on making books, courses, blogs, YouTube, as perpetuating myself as a worker or freelancer. But it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. It can lead to great things too, without some of hassles of the above.

 

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