> Niche technical books that are well-written and effectively marketed have greater potential than a poorly edited shape-shifting romance title from an unknown author. On the other hand, technical titles also have to compete with free or low-cost information on the Internet, YouTube, etc., not to mention existing books that dominate the field (something that Nate referenced in his post).
Something you've left out is "correct pricing". I'm happy to pay $10 or even $15 without much thought for a technical book on a topic of interest. Once the price goes above $15, I put a lot more thought into the decision, and usually don't buy.
People are too quick to throw out "$50 for a book that helps you get your work done is nothing". That's true, but $50 is not pocket change, and my expectation is that most books I buy will provide either no value or a little value. In other words, be careful if you start doing calculations of book sales at $40. Sales of books that you think are priced at $50 are driven largely by discounted sales. (I have seen some numbers on this, but don't have the reference, sorry.)
Keep in mind though, that lots of technical book sales are made to employees of companies that may give them an annual budget for such things, or might just require a quick "Yeah, sure go ahead and expense it" type of approval.
I agree that $50 isn't nothing to an individual, but it is approaching nothing to a large company.
Something you've left out is "correct pricing". I'm happy to pay $10 or even $15 without much thought for a technical book on a topic of interest. Once the price goes above $15, I put a lot more thought into the decision, and usually don't buy.
People are too quick to throw out "$50 for a book that helps you get your work done is nothing". That's true, but $50 is not pocket change, and my expectation is that most books I buy will provide either no value or a little value. In other words, be careful if you start doing calculations of book sales at $40. Sales of books that you think are priced at $50 are driven largely by discounted sales. (I have seen some numbers on this, but don't have the reference, sorry.)