Bicycle maintenance book, need your input.

[xddorox]

I'm in the process of writing a book on bicycle maintenance aimed at the average bike owner. Simple terms, step by step instructions and images to back everything up. It's not a copy and paste of my blog, but a complete re-write from scratch. I have five chapters down and I'm just racking my brains for getting the thing out there once it's done. Hard cover conventional publishing is one mine field that scares the heck out of me. So here is what I am seriously considering for publishing it: Making it into an ebook and give it away and ask people to donate whatever they want. So my brothers and sisters your input on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Some folks I know think I'm crazy for even considering doing this. :mrgreen:

 

[CCR]

do you want pics/tutorials that we take ??

 

[xddorox]

do you want pics/tutorials that we take ??

I already have all the material I need, the question is more about feedback on the publishing idea. But thanks for offering CCR

 

[CCR]

sorry bout that i thought by "input" you meant help with the contents.

sounds like a cool idea though !!! i dont know how "giving" people would be with the donations but its worth a shot.

honestly if it was me, i probly wouldnt donate if i just used to answer 1 specific problem i could find the answer to somewhere else for free, if i used it over and over i would but i dont know how my "donating" skills stack up compared to others.

 

[xddorox]

I'm not really worried about the money part. The way I see it, even if I found the best publisher around, I wouldn't make a fortune (The kind with the beach property, yacht and babes in bikini like you see with real estate mogul types in infomercials) I'm more concerned with the book actually getting out there in sufficient numbers.

 

[rick74304]

Hey Gerry, if getting it out to the masses is the primary concern, i'm not convinced an ebook is the best way. Back in 2000, Stephen King tried releasing a book exclusivlely online. Because he is who he is, it caused server crashes, download queues, and other problems. Readers had to pay something like 2.50 for the decryption key, and the hackers had broken the encryption in short order.
Your reader donation idea is noble, but not everyone has the means to e-pay you either. Heres a link to the story; http://archives.cnn.com/2000/books/news ... ing.ebook/

I imagine with the right meta-tags, you could set it up so that most search engines will find it quicky, it might be easiest to have it linked in some of the most popular bike sites ( Sheldon's site, Old roads, and so on). Also, word of mouth works well, so try to come up with an easy, catchy site name that people can hear and remember ( like onlinebikebook.ca or thebikebook.com). You know your fellow ratsters will help get the word out (pun intended :mrgreen: )
Hope that helps,
Rick

 

[user 135]

I think an Ebook with a donation would be fine. Sheldon and Park are often quoted and linked but not always geared toward a bike novice. Judging from the comments on your blog, I think you would have good success. One day instead of referring people to Sheldon' s it will be to Gerry's . :mrgreen:

 

[xddorox]

Thanks for that great and valuable info Rick, it's very much appreciated.
cman, I don't expect to ever coming close to Sheldon Brown, but I appreciate your words.
In fact, I am dedicating the book to his memory.

 

[aka_locojoe]

Another option is a place like http://Cafepress.com. I think they just print the books one at a time as they are ordered.

 

[CCR]

Another option is a place like http://Cafepress.com. I think they just print the books one at a time as they are ordered.

i like the idea of the cafepress thing and yeah its printed as ordered, i did order a calander in NOV 06 from them, got it in FEB 07 :roll:

 

[aka_locojoe]

Gerry here are details on the cafepress books https://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/products/books

 

[xddorox]

Gerry here are details on the cafepress books https://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/sell/products/books

Of course, why didn't I think of that? Thanks Randy, this will be great for those who want a hard copy and I already have an account. :mrgreen:

 

[KansasJack]

The nice thing about the Cafe Press books is that they offer a spiral-bound version. That is extremely beneficial when working on a bike, because you can lay the book flat and it won't close. Very few "how-to" books think of that. It's a pain when you're trying to work with one hand and hold a book open with the other.

Another small-run publishing company is Blurb. See link below. I'm using them to put together a book about my grandfather who died in WWII. It will have full color photos of the letters he sent home from the war as well as the Western Union telegram that was hand-delivered to my grandma when she learned of his death. I'm making the books for my siblings and cousins.

http://www.blurb.com/

 

[xddorox]

Exactly what I was thinking. My son uses a Haynes manual for his car and it's a pain to keep the book open. The spiral binding will take care of that.

 

[cashman]

Good luck on your bicycle repair book Gerry!!! I bet it will be informative, especially to new people in the bike hobby. Thanks!!!

 

[xddorox]

Thanks man So far I have written everything from wheels, tires, brakes and derailleurs. I need to revise that a couple of times, finish writing about fitting and a few things. Lastly will be the pictures, that's going to be even longer than writing the darn book!