On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 1:48 PM, Joseph Balderson <n...@joeflash.ca> wrote:
> Well, I just heard back from O'Reilly. And unfortunately they're not > interested > in publishing an Apache Flex book of any kind, because their official > position > is that "We're not interested in publishing titles that we feel don't have > a > significant market demand. Flex falls into this category." > > We know differently of course, but you can't blame O'Reilly for responding > to > market perception. I guess this book exemplifies somewhat of a > chicken-and-the-egg scenario: to some extent we need the book to show the > world > that Flex isn't dead (far from it), but we can't get one published (from > O'Reilly at least) until the perception is that it is very much alive. > Hopefully > other more progressive publishers will see things differently. > > I'm currently pursuing my contacts with other publishers. I'll let you all > know > how that works out. > Joe, thanks for being so dedicated to put out a book on Apache Flex! For future reference, here are some stats about Apache Flex's popularity: * Close to 1 Million page views (770K+ unique views) of the flex.apache.orgwebsite in less than a year [1] * More than 250K unique visitors in under a year [1] * More than 32K unique installs of the Apache Flex SDK in the past 9 months [breakdown available on demand] * Apache Flex blog has been consistently featured in the top 5 most visited blogs of the Apache Software Foundation [2] These stats should be a good starting point to say that Flex is not dead. Hope this helps. Do let us know if you need more detailed stats, I can hook you up with a read-only account of flex.apache.org's Google Analytics account. Thanks, Om [1] http://www.seethestats.com/site/flex.apache.org [2] http://blogs.apache.org/ > > _______________________________________________________________________ > > Joseph Balderson, Flex & Flash Platform Developer :: http://joeflash.ca > Author, Professional Flex 3 :: http://tinyurl.com/proflex3book > > Joseph Balderson wrote: > > Hi all, > > > > The latest news on the Apache Flex book with O'Reilly is that I'm > currently in > > negotiations with them to have this book made, i.e. "Programming Apache > Flex" as > > a continuance of that same series. It's taking some convincing to be > honest, > > because the perception in the tech publishing industry right now is that > Flash > > and Flex books are a lost leader, and more or less a dead ecosystem. > > > > In response I mentioned to them that since Flex is now truly open source > under > > Apache, that O'Reilly would be seen to be promoting open source > software, which > > is very much within their mandate. And that, of course, Flex is not > dead; in > > fact it has every indication of making somewhat of a comeback, according > to the > > "word on the street," evidenced by a slow trickle of client work back to > Flex, > > supported by AIR winning an award at the 2013 CES for "Best Consumer > Application > > Development Platform for Mobile" (1,2) > > > > However, I may be able to convince O'Reilly to go ahead with a > digital-only > > version which would minimize their costs. And if they agree to this, I > have > > offered to waive any fees or royalties associated with the book on my > part, to > > be considered "my donation" to the Apache Flex community. If O'Reilly > breaks > > even or even makes a slight profit (and the profit margins on tech books > are > > insanely low), then the project will stand a chance of going forward, and > > waiving my fees might just be what tips the balance. And of course I > mentioned > > that, wouldn't it be embarrassing when Flex springs back in this next > year and > > there are no Flex books with the O'Reilly name on it? ;) > > > > We'll see what happens, if O'Reilly accepts my proposal. I understand how > > perception is in part largely responsible for driving sales of tech > books. But > > stakeholders and students are not the only ones who can drive book > sales: a > > niche community of developers can also do so. > > > > And so I need your help, everyone in the Flex community. I'll need an > > experienced tech editor who is willing to help out with this, to donate > their > > time to the project. And I will need everyone's help in promoting this > book when > > it comes out, and to buy one, so that O'Reilly can justify the ROI to go > ahead > > with the project. > > > > This book will be seen as a huge boon to Apache Flex, to prove to all the > > managers and stakeholders drinking the HTML5 koolaid, that Flex isn't > dead, and > > it is very much alive and well. > > > > Thanks all in advance for your support, > > > > Joseph > > > > > > (1) > > > http://www.beedigital.net/2014/01/09/air-wins-award-at-ces-for-the-best-mobile-application-product-in-2014/ > > (2) > > > http://www.compassintelligence.com/?q=press/compass-intelligence-announces-winners-2014-mobility-awards-wireless-m2m-and-green-technology > > > > >
