Re: 2nd-Best Perl Publisher?

Tim Maher writes:
> In contrast, I've been warned that I might not even get "minimum
> wage" for the hours I put into my book with some of the other
> publishers out there. (And I seem to recall Randal remarking in
> this forum that, Camels and Cookbooks aside, Perl book-writing is
> better viewed as a charitable contribution than a money-making venture).

Absolutely.  We tell our authors that you should write a book to boost
your consulting visibility, or kick-start a training career (ahem), or
just to have your name on an O'Reilly book.  You shouldn't write it to
make money.  A successful Perl book might earn its author $20-30k over
its lifetime, which is likely to be two or three years.  It's a crappy
hourly wage unless you're Randal Schwartz or Tom Clancy.

> Am I leaving out any important criteria?

Danny had a good list of other criteria.  Ask to keep the copyright in
your name (no good reason, it just feels better that way).  Make sure
the rights revert when it goes out of print (and check for weasel
words about what "out of print" means--I personally would put in
something like "sells less than 10 printed copies a month for three
consecutive months").  Talk to authors who have written for the
publisher and see what their experiences were like.

> Which publishers get your vote for second-Nth best ?

I admire the Sams books that were edited by Scott Meyers
<[email protected]>, such as the mod_perl Developer's
Cookbook.  Sams has put out some crap, but Scott has done the most
O'Reilly-like books they have.  I haven't heard anything bad about
Addison-Wesley, but I don't know very many of their authors (Joseph
Hall is the only one, I think).

Nat