>>If people can get paid fairly for creating educational materials, we will get more and better educational materials.
>>The economics of book-writing are challenging, and I reiterate that the success of my book is atypical. However, I also find it heartening that it is possible to make a decent living from technical writing. Not guaranteed, but possible, and that gives me hope.
The author points it out later in the article, but this principle also applies very well to writing software (especially open source software).
Your mileage may definitely vary. I have written 10 books. Probably a total of 40,000 sold over twelve years. Maybe they just suck, or cybersecurity is too niche. Or, most likely, I suck at marketing.
But it is definitely worth it. For me, books fuel paid speaking gigs. Which was a great plan until COVID. But there is nothing like the intense focus for months. It is addictive. Send one book to the publisher and you want to start the next one.
>>The economics of book-writing are challenging, and I reiterate that the success of my book is atypical. However, I also find it heartening that it is possible to make a decent living from technical writing. Not guaranteed, but possible, and that gives me hope.
The author points it out later in the article, but this principle also applies very well to writing software (especially open source software).