Ask HN: What do you think of Leanpub, Softcover, etc?

8 pointsthecooluser12y ago2 comments

I'm working on a short technical book at the moment and I'm having a hard time picking the perfect approach to take.

Leanpub is one of the easiest to get started with.

Softcover provides a better interface for readers (and a lot of nifty features specifically for technical books).

But I'm also half-tempted to just go solo, publish the thing online for free and sell access to the PDF/screencasts via Gumroad.

Would love to hear people's opinions about the best way to go both in terms of the best way of writing, the best experience for readers, and also financial results — does being on Leanpub actually put you in front of a sizeable, willing-to-buy audience? Or do you still need to still give your book that initial marketing push?

Thanks.

2 comments

2 comments · 2 top-level

jcr12y ago

For your sake, I hope this submission generates some discussion from people who know (I don't know but it would be interesting to read).

If not, HN Search (from algolia.com) should really be able to help you find both previous discussions and fellow authors who you might want to contact:

https://hn.algolia.com/?q=ebook

There are a lot of "How I made $X with my ebook" submissions as well as other interesting ebook related stuff. I don't have the answers for you but that's how I'd try to find them. Good Luck.

helen84200012y ago

I've had good results with Gumroad. They make it a lot of fun to use!

I think it's fair to say on any platform you'll need to give it the same marketing push.

Why not compare prices for each based on different levels of sales.

You could use something like http://standtomake.com and get an idea of revenue numbers.

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