It's a nice idea, but, different projects, different O'Reilly managers, different policies. It's been made clear to me by two senior acquisition staff members at O'Reilly that they are simply not interested in a Flex book of any kind at this time, there wasn't even an opening for negotiation. Unfortunate -- but then, O'Reilly's loss will be another publisher's gain, won't it?
An O'Reilly book was my first choice because of its reputation and its reach, so it would have been a huge win for Apache Flex. And there are still the other major publishers: Wrox, Wiley, Peachpit, Manning, Apress, all of which I plan to pursue. The book idea isn't dead by a long shot, just the O'Reilly one. _______________________________________________________________________ Joseph Balderson, Flex & Flash Platform Developer :: http://joeflash.ca Author, Professional Flex 3 :: http://tinyurl.com/proflex3book Alex Harui wrote: > I stumbled on the fact today that the Apache Subversion project drafts its > O'Reilly book as part of the project. It is checked in to their > repository, gets updated as needed, and then every once in a while, > O'Reilly prints a bunch. > > Could we/should we do the same? > > On 1/24/14 1:48 PM, "Joseph Balderson" <n...@joeflash.ca> wrote: > >> Well, I just heard back from O'Reilly. And unfortunately they're not >> interested >> in publishing an Apache Flex book of any kind, because their official >> position >> is that "We're not interested in publishing titles that we feel don't >> have a >> significant market demand. Flex falls into this category." >> >> We know differently of course, but you can't blame O'Reilly for >> responding to >> market perception. I guess this book exemplifies somewhat of a >> chicken-and-the-egg scenario: to some extent we need the book to show the >> world >> that Flex isn't dead (far from it), but we can't get one published (from >> O'Reilly at least) until the perception is that it is very much alive. >> Hopefully >> other more progressive publishers will see things differently. >> >> I'm currently pursuing my contacts with other publishers. I'll let you >> all know >> how that works out. >> >> _______________________________________________________________________ >> >> Joseph Balderson, Flex & Flash Platform Developer :: http://joeflash.ca >> Author, Professional Flex 3 :: http://tinyurl.com/proflex3book >> >> Joseph Balderson wrote: >>> Hi all, >>> >>> The latest news on the Apache Flex book with O'Reilly is that I'm >>> currently in >>> negotiations with them to have this book made, i.e. "Programming Apache >>> Flex" as >>> a continuance of that same series. It's taking some convincing to be >>> honest, >>> because the perception in the tech publishing industry right now is >>> that Flash >>> and Flex books are a lost leader, and more or less a dead ecosystem. >>> >>> In response I mentioned to them that since Flex is now truly open >>> source under >>> Apache, that O'Reilly would be seen to be promoting open source >>> software, which >>> is very much within their mandate. And that, of course, Flex is not >>> dead; in >>> fact it has every indication of making somewhat of a comeback, >>> according to the >>> "word on the street," evidenced by a slow trickle of client work back >>> to Flex, >>> supported by AIR winning an award at the 2013 CES for "Best Consumer >>> Application >>> Development Platform for Mobile" (1,2) >>> >>> However, I may be able to convince O'Reilly to go ahead with a >>> digital-only >>> version which would minimize their costs. And if they agree to this, I >>> have >>> offered to waive any fees or royalties associated with the book on my >>> part, to >>> be considered "my donation" to the Apache Flex community. If O'Reilly >>> breaks >>> even or even makes a slight profit (and the profit margins on tech >>> books are >>> insanely low), then the project will stand a chance of going forward, >>> and >>> waiving my fees might just be what tips the balance. And of course I >>> mentioned >>> that, wouldn't it be embarrassing when Flex springs back in this next >>> year and >>> there are no Flex books with the O'Reilly name on it? ;) >>> >>> We'll see what happens, if O'Reilly accepts my proposal. I understand >>> how >>> perception is in part largely responsible for driving sales of tech >>> books. But >>> stakeholders and students are not the only ones who can drive book >>> sales: a >>> niche community of developers can also do so. >>> >>> And so I need your help, everyone in the Flex community. I'll need an >>> experienced tech editor who is willing to help out with this, to donate >>> their >>> time to the project. And I will need everyone's help in promoting this >>> book when >>> it comes out, and to buy one, so that O'Reilly can justify the ROI to >>> go ahead >>> with the project. >>> >>> This book will be seen as a huge boon to Apache Flex, to prove to all >>> the >>> managers and stakeholders drinking the HTML5 koolaid, that Flex isn't >>> dead, and >>> it is very much alive and well. >>> >>> Thanks all in advance for your support, >>> >>> Joseph >>> >>> >>> (1) >>> >>> http://www.beedigital.net/2014/01/09/air-wins-award-at-ces-for-the-best-m >>> obile-application-product-in-2014/ >>> (2) >>> >>> http://www.compassintelligence.com/?q=press/compass-intelligence-announce >>> s-winners-2014-mobility-awards-wireless-m2m-and-green-technology >>> >>> > >
