Re: [Esug-list] Open Text Project

> Hi Stephane,
>
> Thank you for being so open and trust our community to find a solution.
>
> (Small-land people: Muy rapidito les cuento de que se trata. Stephane  
> tiene un
> libro para enseniar a programar. Posiblemente lo podamos tener libre)
>
> We all know how enthusiatic you are about Smalltalk, therefore I  
> assume that your
> main motivation is not money but Smalltalk itself. Nevertheless it is  
> reasonable
> that you get some money after all the time you invested.

Indeed money is not my motivation. I just want to find a way that  
people get good quality
and the possibility to get a printed version of the book.

> Here is my proposal:
>
> 1- Make available the most current book version. I mean the books  
> "source text"
> (latex, word, or whatever)
>
> 2- Let people make the corrections until we have a readable english  
> version (lets
> it call "Bot-version1").

This is nearly there.
>
> 3- Put "Bot-version1" under a print on demand system. You will earn  
> some (little)
> money.
>
> 4- Make synergy between your book and the education projects  
> (squeak-land, small-
> land). This means that your book should be very visible in the first  
> page of
> these portals. The idea is that the teachers who first come to these  
> portals
> should say something like: "hey, this is serious... they even have a  
> couple books
> which I can read in the classroom..."

This is planned. SqueakLand people already nicely accepted. Thanks :)

>
> 5- The sex appeal of the education portal (web site) is very  
> important. I would
> suggest that it is done by professional web-designers. Your students
> (Adrian/Lukas) should be able to build a nice SmallWiki behind. You  
> can even pay
> something with some of the money you earn in step 3.
>
> 6- Encourage people to take the "source text" of your book and make  
> new books out
> of them. I can imagine a spanish version, a german version, and (of  
> course) a
> *french* version.
>
> 7- The offsprings of your book could also be put under a print on  
> demand system.
> You are in charge of doing that, but if somebody does he will give you  
> an
> arbitrary share.

Here is what I will do:
	- check normal editor in the near future
	- if one is ok go with him
	- if not I will get an ISBN + put my book free on the web open-source  
+ 	find a printer so that people can get the book printed.

> We could call this an "Open Text Project", dont we?
>
> I am quite ignorant about the status of the squeak-land, small-land  
> projects. I
> know that there is already another book called "Powerful Ideas". My  
> idea about
> the synergy might be not very new, and maybe the site is already with a
> professional looking style. If this is so, ignore this message and  
> dont be
> offended...
>
> I stop here because I should continue with my daily work...
>
> Cheers,
> Francisco
>
>
> *********************************************************************** 
> ****
>
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected], [email protected],
>  [email protected], [email protected]
> Cc: [email protected]
> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 09:47:28 +0200
> Subject: [Esug-list] Need your help for my books on Squeak
>
> Hi all,
>
> Some context:
> I was under contract with Morgan Kaufman Publisher for publishing two
> books on teaching novices how to program with Squeak. I went over two
> complete reviews, rewrote big parts of the books, changed my
> environment to following the ideas of my editor.....over the last 3 or
> 4 years. Note that Alan Kay agreed to write a small foreword for the
> books. I spent a lot of my vacation and nights on these book. Since
> June this year (now we are mid september) I was waiting to get english
> corrections for the first book,  and I had no schedule since more than
> 6 months so I asked my editor if this would not be smarter that we
> break the contract. He replied laconically that yes this was possible,
> I got several emails exchange with him but apparently the situation
> cannot be solved (I think that he is taking advantage of his position
> since I invested much more than him, in his last email he implied that
> I was not asking useful or sincere questions when I ask why he did not
> give me a schedule) so my contract is now broken because this is not
> possible to work with such a kind of people.  The funny thing is that
> two years ago this person told me that I could have my own series with
> MKP.  Time passes apparently and things change.
> So I let you deduce if this is wise to get book published by MKP and if
> this is wise to buy them. I have made my own
> argumented opinion on that topic.
>
> Some facts about these books:
>           - Using a logo like robot, the first book presents basic  
> principles of
> programming: variables, loops, procedural         abstraction,  
> parameters,
> conditional, small problems, the second one introduces another
> environment
>           in which we have to program a robot to find his way into  
> mazes, follow
> sign...Then it introduces object-       oriented programming.
>
>           - My audience is really parents or teachers that want to  
> have fun with
> their kids or students.
>
>           - The contents of the books has been tested in classrooms  
> over the
> last 3 or 4 years here in Switzerland. I use      Squeak but I build a
> dedicated environment for kids. My book is not about etoy programming
> but about how       students can learn basic principles of programming  
> using
> this environment in a problem-oriented way.
>
>           - These books got around two full reviewing circles ( I was  
> waiting
> for the english review to get the first one       done).
>
>           - Note that these books fit perfectly in the market since it  
> arrives
> after the Etoy book published by the    Kim Rose (www.squeakland.org)  
> and
> before the book of Mark Guzdial.  Note that for example a japanese
>           book on etoy sold last year 5000 copies only in japan. The  
> people
> behind squeakland told me that:  "We    guesstimate about 1500-2500
> downloads per month on average and about 8000 unique visitors a month."
> so        there is a big interest in the teacher community for squeak.
> Squeakland accepted to advertise my book on their           site too.
>
>           - Extremely early drafts can be found at:
> http://kilana.unibe.ch:9090/botinc/
>
> Now I would like to know:
>           - whether you have any contact with other editor in other  
> publishing
> companies.
>           - whether you have ideas how to publish this book (may be  
> with a print
> on demand system).
>           - whether you would be interested to prove read my english  
> if I just
> put the pdf on the web.
>
>
>
> Stef
>
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