Why publish on Lulu.com ?
Arjen wonders why the MySQl Cluster Study book is published on Lulu and not trough MySQL 's traiditional publisher.
Altough I was involved in the creation process of the mentionned book, I have no idea why this decision was made but to me it makes perfect sense. MySQL Cluster is a piece of software that is still going to change a lot in the next couple of months and years.
A book published in a traditional way needs a minimal sales volume in order to be worth publishing. If there even is a slight chance that by the time the book gets published a significant amount of content of the book has already changed traditional publishers shouldn't publish the book. Now over at Lulu.com a book won't be print before a customer orders it. So when the book is being sent to me. I get the current version of the book.. If in 3 months the authors decide to rewrite a chapter or make some bugfixes. The book can be updated much faster.
I can imagine that people buying the same title in april next year will already get bugfixes on the version that will arrive at my doorstep in a couple of days.
At least that's why I would publish a technical book on Lulu.
Comments
#1 Carsten Pedersen : The book is also available through stores
There seems to be an impression that the Cluster SG is available through lulu.com only. This is true as of this moment, but it should be available in any bookstore within a few weeks.