Comments on: Kindle version of "World's Worst" book on sale for $1.99

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 04:46:00 +0000

Cool. I always wanted to write something like this since a lot of them are so bad (not yours ;) and when they’re good they’re really enjoyable as light reading – guess I probably need a writing reputation first though.

By: David Pescovitz

David Pescovitz — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 20:02:00 +0000

Your assumption is incorrect.

http://boingboing.net/2005/07/21/worlds-worst-excerpt.html

By: Mark_Frauenfelder

Mark_Frauenfelder — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 15:21:00 +0000

I came up with the idea myself. I don’t remember how. But I pitched it to Chronicle and they bought it!

By: Onigorom

Onigorom — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 07:08:00 +0000

I don’t know the book but I assume, like other books of this kind, it is entirely a-political; i.e. it does not contain historical samples of CIA activities, contemporary detention practices etc.

By: Bobsyeruncle

Bobsyeruncle — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 05:44:00 +0000

Hm. $7.09 CAD for Kobo or $1.99 USD for Kindle…

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 04:19:00 +0000

I’ve known about this book for a while but haven’t read it. I’m familiar with this type of book though and my question to you is, how does one come to write these sorts of things?

Does the publisher come up with the idea and then look for someone they think might be able to do it, or do authors come up with these ideas and pitch them like they would a normal book?

It always seemed like there was an industry producing these sorts of books that was quite detached from the “normal” publishing industry so I’m just curious if that’s really the case.

What prompted me to think of this is that knowing your background it seemed kind of random that you’d write a book like this. Not that it doesn’t seem right – I’d choose you to write something like this – it just doesn’t seem like something that one day you’d decide you really want to do unless you were asked by somebody else.

By: David Pescovitz

David Pescovitz — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 01:29:00 +0000

As objective as I can be as Mark’s best friend and business partner, I will say that this book is very fun and quintessentially Boing Boing. I got a kick out of every page.

By: Tony Sanfilippo

Tony Sanfilippo — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:50:00 +0000

I hear these things sell a bazillion copies, but it’s often less than a buck that the author and publisher are splitting on each sale, so it’s half of a bazillion, or 9,000, whatever. Still, better than nothing. I bet it sells in at least the 20K range.

By: Mark_Frauenfelder

Mark_Frauenfelder — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:10:00 +0000

One item might not be right for a 13-year-old – “crush videos”

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:10:00 +0000

I’d buy it for my 14yo without waiting for an answer.

By: Romeo Vitelli

Romeo Vitelli — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:00:00 +0000

I got mine on Kobo. Just saying…

By: EH

EH — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:52:00 +0000

Would you say there are any age-restrictions on the content, i.e. safe for a 13yo?

By: Mark_Frauenfelder

Mark_Frauenfelder — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:51:00 +0000

My editor at Chronicle just found out and emailed me about it. I’m happy about it, because it wasn’t selling many copies in print. I’m not sure how much I’ll make in royalties, but I’ll get a small fee from Amazon when people by the book through Boing Boing.

By: Chris Bell

Chris Bell — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:44:00 +0000

Also, Mark: did you deliberately use “version” because this differs substantially from the print edition apart from being digital, or is this just the Kindle edition of the print book?

By: shutz

shutz — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:33:00 +0000

You “just learned”? Don’t you have any say in this? Will you be making any money off these sales, at that price?