Making money vs. giving money away -- a tale of two books...

There is a very cool company called 37Signals, they are a darling of the WEB2.0 -- nothing wrong with that and they have done some very cool stuff (written a development framework, have a few website applications, consult with the big boys, etc.).

This group of programmer/developers/designers/consultants have written a couple books - and there is a lesson in this for anyone looking for evidence as to why the Internet is so powerful (and empowering)......

Book One: Defensive Design for the Web

Publisher, New Rider Press
Format, paperback
Available at Amazon
List Price, $24.99
Amazon Price, $16.49
Published in 2004
Copies sold to date approximately 8,000
Author's take approximately $11,000

Book Two: Getting Real

Publisher, Self/37Signals

Format, electronic

Available via 37Signals Website

List Price, $19.00

Amazon Price, N/A

Published in 2006

Copies sold to date approximately 18,200

Author's take approximately $215,000

Do you see the difference? Granted, they have an audience that has built up over time, they are the poster "boys" and front page news for the Web2.0 thingy -- basically, they are the current "rock stars" in the techno nerd world. None of that matters, and here's why. I have heard of the same type of success when people are not that popular and don't know what they're doing. The Internet is THE medium to sell information - and books are just packaged information. The cool thing about it - is not the money, it's the acceleration of the getting the money. In the first book, they've make some money, but it's taken them 2 years to get it. With the second book - all that money has been make in about 5 months! That's about $40K A MONTH!! Revenue acceleration is much more important than how much.

Just thought I'd share - enjoy!!