I self-published a programming book a while ago, and it brings in about $700 per month. I didn't see the big initial spike the OP did (shame), but the money has been consistent, and I would expect it to continue for several years.
Total start-up costs: $150 (proof copies etc.)
We're lucky as programmers that we tend to be able to wrangle LaTeX, and some of us have taste in typography and an ability to write decent prose. This means that the up-front cost of editors, typesetters, cover designers and so on is gone.
The disadvantages compared with my previous (real) publisher are a) no advance and b) no marketing and c) paying for translations to be done. Everything else has been an advantage.
When someone buys my book on Amazon for $35 I get $21. No traditional publisher can beat that.
That's definitely been the biggest learning component of this project. Having to do all of the marketing myself has been eye opening and very instructional.
You know that it's very easy to get your book on Amazon through their subsidiary CreateSpace, right? You already have the PDF... Also getting it into the kindle store is free and easy. If you're just selling the ebook on your website, you're missing a trick.
I haven't really done any marketing except for the initial announcements. Most people find it directly on Amazon, or find the website by searching for "<language> book".
I've briefly looked into it, sounds like I should probably look into it more. I was thinking about doing a limited print run through Lulu but that wouldn't really help with the marketing.
Does it sell more as a PDF (via web site), Kindle, or paper book on Amazon? I've done the traditional publishing route before, too, and agree that the advance is nice but the percentage cut of sales is miserable.
Thanks for the reply. Very interesting numbers. I wonder if pulp is the most popular option because Amazon provides better shelf space than your self-hosted web site or because tech book purchasers prefer having a physical object to refer to...
Total start-up costs: $150 (proof copies etc.)
We're lucky as programmers that we tend to be able to wrangle LaTeX, and some of us have taste in typography and an ability to write decent prose. This means that the up-front cost of editors, typesetters, cover designers and so on is gone.
The disadvantages compared with my previous (real) publisher are a) no advance and b) no marketing and c) paying for translations to be done. Everything else has been an advantage.
When someone buys my book on Amazon for $35 I get $21. No traditional publisher can beat that.