I dunno, I bought the book and he comes across as pretty real and transparent, check out his blog posts on iPhone Development. One of his major points is that if you aren't teaching, you aren't adding value. Something a lot of coders could learn from . . . not to mention being able to make money doing what you love.

A few years later, Nathan Barry will write a sequel explaining how to make even more money by selling a $200 get-rich-quick package.

I can't comment on the content or the author -- as I'm familiar with neither -- but the copy here set off more than a few red flags and alarms.

Nathan is a good friend of mine (we used to work together) and he does have other books: http://nathanbarry.com/books/

I believe the impetus was more that self publishing is not that hard (although, writing is hard, just the other parts are easy) and you can make some money at it.

I second that. I recently had the chance to participate in an online conference with Nathan. He came across as real and friendly. He took the time to understand every question from the audience and gave thoughtful answers. I don't believe in get-rich-quick scheme either. Writing a book definitely takes a lot of time and effort. My wife recently wrote a 10-page tutorial on a single topic about Revit. It took her like 2 weeks with all the research, writing, and editing. If you are looking to make easy money quickly, this book is not for you. No book will ever be right for you. But if you are willing to put forth the effort, I think at least some people who can learn from you can benefit and appreciate.

Congrats Nathan. I've been following you for a few weeks now. You've basically inspired me to start turning my naming business into a book/video program.

I've got a couple questions (which I could email you, but I figured others might be interested):

- Any thoughts on an email subscriber discount? Those who sign up for your newsletter get an extra X% discount.

- Does the giant, repeated format really work? I personally find it kind of annoying that every interview and product feature is repeated for each package.

- Any quick thoughts on how to "test out" an idea before committing to writing 200+ pages?

Thanks!

Discounts are good. I offer everyone who purchases the first day a discount.

The packages format does seem to work. Though I'd be interested in better ways to design it.

AS for testing, put up a landing page first and ask for email addresses. If you can't get 200-300 (at least) don't write the book.

Nathan, how long do you reckon it would take for a newbie to go from not having any audience to $15,000 in sales (including time for writing the book)?

I did it with my first book (The App Design Handbook) in 6 months. The first 3 were writing in secret, then the last 3 involved basic promotion with a landing page, email list, and blog posts. All while I finished the book.

It took 1.5 days after launch to hit $15,000.

Though it depends a lot on the skill you plan to teach—do people value it?

Is this the same product: http://my.copyblogger.com/join-authority/ ?

Really like the landing page design. Is the design available for use as part of Authority?

No sample chapter?