Looking for a Publisher

Updated January 9, 2017 • 23 comments

After several months of working diligently behind the scenes, I am officially announcing my latest project: a new book on WordPress. Without giving away too much at this time, here are some facts about it:

It’s focused on WordPress
It’s co-authored between Chris Coyier and myself
It’s going to be awesome

Chris and I have been working on the book for several months now and are very pleased with the results. Both of us have some — albeit limited — knowledge of the publishing world. Truth be told, we don’t have a publisher yet and aren’t quite sure about how to go about finding one.

Does anyone happen to know more about finding a good publisher? Are there any publishers out there interested in talking about this book? Any other folks have any ideas or advice? Please share your ideas in the comments area below or contact me directly.

About the Author

Jeff Starr = Web Developer. Book Author. Secretly Important.

23 responses to “Looking for a Publisher”

Jeff Starr 2009/04/19 3:27 pm • Post Author

Thanks to everyone for the excellent feedback. All options are currently on the table and we are doing everything possible to ensure maximum exposure and global availability. That’s about all I can say at this point, but rest assured there will be much more on this topic as events to continue to unfold.

Sean 2009/04/20 4:33 am

As someone with a publisher: You’ll make more money with less copies and grief publishing an ebook.

Selling could be done via a digital delivery service such as e-junkie.com

The issue is of course dealing with piracy.

Self published via lulu is a possibility too, but unless you go with a B&W book, the cost of printing is high.

Kim Woodbridge 2009/04/21 4:50 pm

I wish I could offer some advice about publishing but I know nothing about it. But this is exciting news and it will be awesome WordPress book!

Pete 2009/05/09 4:45 am

Why publish a book that will be out of date in a few months? How about taking that great content and putting it into an affordable membership site that gives you a monthly income and enables you to update it, plus add video tutorials, interactive elements etc. Wishing you well.

Jeff Starr 2009/05/11 12:04 pm • Post Author

@Sean: There are definitely ups and downs to the whole “e-book” arena, but for this time around we are leaning more towards getting something professional out on the shelves. Fortunately, we seem to have found a great publisher for the book.

@Kim: Thank you! Your enthusiasm, as always, is most contagious. Cheers! :)

@Pete: Interesting perspective.. we may very well do something along these lines in addition to the book itself. Sure, lots of stuff becomes out-of-date as time goes on, but a majority of the content we are covering is likely to remain the same for some time. If needed, updated content is a good reason for new versions of the book. Thanks for the comments.

Sebastian 2009/05/20 3:06 pm

In my opinion, Addison Wesley is an interesting Publisher. I’ve read a lot of good IT related books of them.

Regards,
Sebastian

Douglas Machado 2009/06/05 5:24 am

Have you contact Packt Publishing?
http://www.packtpub.com/wordpress-books

Jeff Starr 2009/06/07 5:57 pm • Post Author

@Sebastian: Have not tried them – thanks for the tip! :)

@Douglas: Yes, we were working with Packt at one point, but decided to go another route (which will be announced soon!). Cheers.

Dave Doolin 2009/10/24 7:17 am

“Perishable Press” sounds like a publishing company to me.

Looking forward to seeing what you have written.

Jeff Starr 2009/10/28 6:57 pm • Post Author

Hi Dave, thanks for the comment. Perishable Press does sound like a publishing company, never really made that connection. Gives me a few ideas :)

I hope the book is useful for people learning about WordPress. We are in the final stages of putting it together, and hope to have it available by November 9th. It’s not too late to snag a preorder and get a discount. We will be selling both PDFs and printed versions.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

Nick - Designer in Sydney 2010/07/04 5:28 pm

I have been thinking about createspace (the Amazon one for self publishing) and the associated Kindle tie in, as lets face it, now that there is an app for kindle on the iPad / iPhone, you aren’t going to miss out on sales if you pick that over the apple bookstore.

I see a bigger percentage in going digital, but like other designers, having a book in your hands to flick through while sitting with a coffee in the sun is still the best way to spend a quiet weekend morning!

Comments are closed for this post. Something to add? Let me know.

Jeff Starr 2009/04/19 3:27 pm • Post Author

Thanks to everyone for the excellent feedback. All options are currently on the table and we are doing everything possible to ensure maximum exposure and global availability. That’s about all I can say at this point, but rest assured there will be much more on this topic as events to continue to unfold.
Sean 2009/04/20 4:33 am

As someone with a publisher: You’ll make more money with less copies and grief publishing an ebook.

Selling could be done via a digital delivery service such as e-junkie.com

The issue is of course dealing with piracy.

Self published via lulu is a possibility too, but unless you go with a B&W book, the cost of printing is high.
Kim Woodbridge 2009/04/21 4:50 pm

I wish I could offer some advice about publishing but I know nothing about it. But this is exciting news and it will be awesome WordPress book!
Pete 2009/05/09 4:45 am

Why publish a book that will be out of date in a few months? How about taking that great content and putting it into an affordable membership site that gives you a monthly income and enables you to update it, plus add video tutorials, interactive elements etc. Wishing you well.
Jeff Starr 2009/05/11 12:04 pm • Post Author

@Sean: There are definitely ups and downs to the whole “e-book” arena, but for this time around we are leaning more towards getting something professional out on the shelves. Fortunately, we seem to have found a great publisher for the book.

@Kim: Thank you! Your enthusiasm, as always, is most contagious. Cheers! :)

@Pete: Interesting perspective.. we may very well do something along these lines in addition to the book itself. Sure, lots of stuff becomes out-of-date as time goes on, but a majority of the content we are covering is likely to remain the same for some time. If needed, updated content is a good reason for new versions of the book. Thanks for the comments.
Sebastian 2009/05/20 3:06 pm

In my opinion, Addison Wesley is an interesting Publisher. I’ve read a lot of good IT related books of them.

Regards,
Sebastian
Douglas Machado 2009/06/05 5:24 am

Have you contact Packt Publishing?
http://www.packtpub.com/wordpress-books
Jeff Starr 2009/06/07 5:57 pm • Post Author

@Sebastian: Have not tried them – thanks for the tip! :)

@Douglas: Yes, we were working with Packt at one point, but decided to go another route (which will be announced soon!). Cheers.
Dave Doolin 2009/10/24 7:17 am

“Perishable Press” sounds like a publishing company to me.

Looking forward to seeing what you have written.
Jeff Starr 2009/10/28 6:57 pm • Post Author

Hi Dave, thanks for the comment. Perishable Press does sound like a publishing company, never really made that connection. Gives me a few ideas :)

I hope the book is useful for people learning about WordPress. We are in the final stages of putting it together, and hope to have it available by November 9th. It’s not too late to snag a preorder and get a discount. We will be selling both PDFs and printed versions.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.
Nick - Designer in Sydney 2010/07/04 5:28 pm

I have been thinking about createspace (the Amazon one for self publishing) and the associated Kindle tie in, as lets face it, now that there is an app for kindle on the iPad / iPhone, you aren’t going to miss out on sales if you pick that over the apple bookstore.

I see a bigger percentage in going digital, but like other designers, having a book in your hands to flick through while sitting with a coffee in the sun is still the best way to spend a quiet weekend morning!

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