Inspired by the parrotsecrets e-book that apparently made the owner quite a bit of money I've thought about writing an e-book on the subject. There are a lot of people asking, and it seems to be a popular subject. And I haven't really found any good information online.
Would you buy something like that? HN users would get it for free of course, just asking whether there's a market :-)
If mixmax does this, it would be a huge mistake to sell this for $3 or something ridiculous like that. There are two types of people that would buy this:
- the mildly curious who wouldn't buy unless it was just a couple bucks (sounds like this is yummyfajitas)
- the obsessed who are desperate for more info and would probably shell out $50 for a great guide with all the info they need on how to actually change their life by doing this
You want to target the 2nd group, because they have a problem and are actively looking for a solution. The people in the first group are cheap and generally opposed to paying for anything, so you'll spend way more time and effort trying to sell to them than they're worth.
Also, to the doubters, the thing to keep in mind with things like this is that while you can find the info for yourself for free, it'll take you tens or hundreds of hours of research (I know). Why not just get it from someone who has actually done it?
I'd buy if I knew it wasn't BS (tough to do with an ebook). Publishers provide a useful filter; a certification that the book isn't utterly pointless garbage or just some guy trying to get my cc#.
Maybe I'd chance it if it only cost a couple of bucks.
Don't get me wrong, I'd pay to learn about this. Ebooks just don't fill me with confidence.
Same here. I am really not that confident in the value of ebooks. And besides I usually like to read a book before I'd buy it.
But that is just how affiliate marketing comes across to me. And that type of marketing seems to work on some people. So I think that you could probably be very successful with an ebook.
If I really liked the book, and was about to do some traveling, I would definitely buy a print copy. I like physical books a lot more than ebooks. If you don't want to find a publisher, you can self publish it. Lulu.com seems to have a good setup.
Would you have more confidence if it was going through the Kindle store? That way only amazon has your cc#, and I'm guessing they might have it already.
I would have confidence you aren't stealing my cc#. Not sure I'd have confidence about the quality of the book. Then again, if the cost was along the lines of $3 (vs $20 for a normal book), I'd be more willing to chance it.
I'd definitely buy it -- and don't give it away. Your time and experience is worth money and even though I'm a heavy HN reader, I'll gladly trade my money for it.
That is something that I would probably buy. I've been thinking about living on a boat for about a year now and I haven't really done any research. I'm sure there would be tons of information you could provide that would help.
I'd buy it if it's from the point of view of an internet entrepreneur living on a boat. Most books about living on boats seem to be about 'the boat living lifestyle', but for me the boat is secondary to having a functioning internet business.
It's an amazing product idea, if you ask me. There are definitely lots of ways to market it, as well as multiple price points for the same ebook.
Say mixmax writes the ebook, and it comes in at x pages of general information. He could add a few pages on "how to catch fish at sea", and a chapter on "boat safety". Now that exact same book that was previously being marketed to the "boat-set" who want to know how to live on a boat can also be marketed to the survivalist movement that's growing (in the US at least).
Since he knows that people who are considering living on a boat as travellers have less discretionary income than your average survivalist, he can price the book to them at $9.95, while marketing to survivalists at $19.95.
He can then take the exact same book, add some information about how to make international calls while at sea, maybe some information about satellite technology and a few paragraphs about how to send and receive photos while out on the water and turn around and market the same book to people who are retiring and thinking about getting a boat to tool around on for a week here and there. Well, who wouldn't pay $19.95 for a book that tells you how to find a boat, the basics of repairs, how to do basic things when you're away for a little while, and it also tells you how you can send pictures to the grandkids?
Of course I'm making a lot of assumptions about the actual data here, but I think my point is clear(ish) - there are lots of people interested in the basic subject; and it can be spun a ton of different ways.
Would you buy something like that? HN users would get it for free of course, just asking whether there's a market :-)