No it isn’t a late April Fools’ joke… And we never expected this to actually happen to be honest. Last week I had discussion about the ebook on twitter and people were convinced that ebooks are the way to go. I won’t deny that and I know Frank agrees with me on this as well but the fact of the matter is that we just didn’t have the time to do all the reformatting work. I asked once again on twitter if someone knew any tools that we could leverage or if someone could give us a hand. The last 4 times I asked this question no one responded and again hardly anyone did, however a close relative of mine did contact me and told me he had some tools that could possibly help us. I forwarded the PDF and the DOCX file and within a couple of hours I received an almost clean .html file back. The email also contained a very important tip, Mobipocket Creator. So I installed it and added the html file to it and clicked “Convert”….
Yes it was close, but not close enough to be published yet. I shared the book with Frank and both of us opened it up in our Kindle App and reviewed the layout. We marked all the pages that had some glitches and started editing those. We expected to be done in a couple of hours but it ended up being a full day again for both of us… but who cares the result is worth it.
After doing research on the Kindle Store we had another decision to make; pricing. We noticed that some ebooks are more expensive than the paper version, WHAT? We didn’t want to do that. We never expected to release this and every copy sold is an extra copy sold of our book and we know that many who wanted the ebook bought the paper version instead so we decided to make it cheap, almost half the price of the cheapest vSphere book on the list (calling all publishers, revisit your pricing strategy!) and $ 17.45 less than the paper version.
But before we give you the link, one of the most asked questions… Why Kindle? Well Kindle happens to be a multi-platform solution. The Kindle Application is available for Mac, Windows, iPad, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone 7. Which made us believe that if we had to pick one format Kindle was the way to go.
So without further ado we present: vSphere 4.1 HA and DRS technical deepdive, the ebook…… for only $ 7.50. Pick it up,
Frank & Duncan
ps: it is also available in the UK Kindle Store for £5.36.
scott boss says
Why not industry standard ePUB format? The book publishing industry agreed upon a standard (which is hard for any industry to do these days) and anyone can implement it. It is what Microsoft, ORielly, and many others use. Except Amazon that is using its proprietary format.
I would love the book. But I am not going to load another ebook reader just to read it.
Maybe next time.
Duncan Epping says
Why? Because we had to pick a single format for this book and Amazon has the largest sales channel and we prefer to reach as many people as possible.
Just Another VM Admin says
I concur with Scott. ePub is open and supported by almost everyone except Amazon and their blasted Kindle. I wonder about the logic used to justify the decision as well. For your sake, I hope the number of Amazon/Kindle owners is greater than the sum of all other ebook readers combined or you will in fact have limited your potential market. I’m not savvy on the ebook publishing end but is there some reason you can’t offer mobi for Kindle and ePub for everyone else at some other ebook store??
Still another VM admin says
As a reader who finally settled on a Nook due to the fact that it supported ePub, I agree with the comments above. I’m excited about the pricing model you have choosen, but disappointed as to the lack of an ePub version.
Congratulations on the book and best of luck.
Duncan Epping says
Sorry to hear you are disappointed. This will probably change with the next version of the book, but not with this one. We offer 2 types: Paper / Kindle.
terpmeister says
You could probably convert the Kindle to ePub format with Calibre:
http://calibre-ebook.com/user_manual/faq.html#what-formats-does-app-support-conversion-to-from
Shawn says
What if I have the hard copy already? Will I be able to get the electronic copy for free?
Duncan Epping says
No you won’t. We made it dirt cheap as a “compensation”.
Matt Meyer says
Thanks, Duncan and Frank. I picked up a paperback version a few months back, but for $8 I’ll gladly pick up an ebook version that I can carry around on any of my devices.
Clint Beilman says
Thanks you!!!!
Russell says
Thanks Duncan! I know I’ve been one of your more annoying posters regarding an ebook release. I’d like to let you know that I’ve recommended this book to all of our architects/consultants so they should be making some purchases. I’ve also recommended it to a customer here.
Again thanks so much!
Regarding format; I think starting on the Kindle is a good idea for someone’s first published ebook. It’s a very broad distribution channel, there is a client for damn near every device on the planet, and Amazon does actually offer a decent sized device for reading technical manuals/books.
It’s also not too difficult to convert content to ePub from Kindle’s format.
Again, I can’t thank you enough for doing this!
Duncan Epping says
Thanks Russell,
JeffS says
Another Nook owner here – Sorry, I won’t be supporting Amazon’s proprietary format.
Bilal hashmi says
Thank u so much. I bought the hard copy but never really read it like planned. With this being an shook now, I have already made a lot of progress. I installed the kindle app on my iPad and I am reading it on there. Thank u so much. I love how I can just click on the hyperlinks to kb articles provided in the book. This is awesome.
Duncan Epping says
Thanks,
Jonas Jansson says
Very cool! Bought the paper book a while back, bought this now to have it with me on the road. Great stuff 🙂
Btw, depending on which region you’ve chosen on Amazon, the cost of the book is either $7.50 (US), $8.63 (Europe), $9.50 (India) and so on. I just bought it for $10.92 (UK), maybe they’re basing the price on quantities sold in each region? Still a great price though!
fmajowich says
Awesome, just bought it. Thanks for taking the time to make it an ebook.
Dennis bray says
Thank You, Duncan and Frank.
I am very glad you guys found the time to convert your excellent book. The electronic version is a very convenient companion to the paperback. Now I am waiting patiently for the next version of the book that includes the next set of enhancements to HA, DRS and whatever else you wish to illuminate.
Gary B says
Outstanding! Picked it up last night.
Mxx says
I think Duncan should post a disclosure regarding this Amazon link or modify it.
His link includes his amazon affiliate id. What that means is for every sale of that ebook (or anything else you buy from amazon during that session) he gets a commission. So in addition to $7.50, he’s also getting a cut from Amazon itself.
Either disclose that it’s an affiliate link or remove your yellowbricks-20 tag from it.
Duncan Epping says
Dude are you serious. Get real,
G says
I also posted a link to the Ebook on Amazon and i have some serious plans to move to Bermuda and swim with the mermaids for the rest ofmy existence.
Im sure Duncan will make a fortune off the comission of a $7.50 ebook.
Seriously, if this is all you can come up with, you obviously dont know the guy or just need a life.
Failing that, have your lips Call my ass to setup a meeting
Frank Denneman says
Dear Mxx,
I hope you are joking, I really do, but I’ve got the sad feeling that you are dead serious and I wonder why you are feeling this way. To be honest I’ve rewrote this reply a hundred times but each time I had the feeling you wouldn’t understand my reply. But this is my best shot.
By using affiliate links we are getting some of the overhead back from amazon. The price of the book won’t be affected. It still is the same, however by using affiliate links, the author can get some of the margin back. So by doing this will benefit the author.
Now here comes the best part; You as a customer won’t be affected by the affiliate link, Duncan or I however will. Because we wrote the book in our spare time, outside our daytime job, reducing family to basically zero, we love to be compensated in a way without giving money away to amazon who hasn’t done anything.
The fun part is, if there is someone who has the right to complain about Duncan using affiliate link, than it should be me. As Yellow-Bricks is drawing a (disclaimer: understatement of the year coming up) a little bit more visitors than frankdenneman.nl. So he is earning WAY more money than I am. But why would I?
Now I made a calculation last year and we would have earned way more money using all that time we spend writing the book when we would have taken a paper-route.
Now you don’t hear us complaining. We did it because we love to do it and our family (still) supports us doing this. We really love seeing all the compliments and hear people talk about how they used the book.
But to be honest people like you make me really consider doing another book, if you are really upset with Duncan making a little bit more money by using an affiliate link, than I would rather go spend some time with my family instead of breaking my head trying to come up with a way to explain complex algorithms till middle of the night.
Now please shut down your hater engine!
Matt Liebowitz says
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and Mxx certain has his. I have to say I agree with the guy and here’s why.
Duncan says he isn’t making a lot of money off of the book, the eBook, the affiliate link, etc., but I don’t buy it. I bumped into Duncan at VMware Partner Exchange in Disney World earlier this year and the guy is made of money. He pulled up to Epcot in a brand new Ferrari, was wearing crazy gold chains and diamonds, and had Cinderella on one arm and Snow White on the other. He had legions of teenage girls screaming his name while Justin Bieber stood there alone saying, “WTF!?” He even had Mickey Mouse pickup his dry cleaning. Do you know how expensive it is to get Mickey to pickup your dry cleaning?! (Donald Duck, on the other hand, is surprisingly affordable)
In all seriousness the little you make off the affiliate is worth it for the effort you and Frank put in. In fact the next time I need to buy boxer shorts and beef jerky I’m going to click the affiliate link first just to annoy Mxx. Why would I buy boxer shorts and beef jerky in the same purchase? Ehh, that’s a story for another day..
Brandon says
lmao, I was nearly in tears reading Matt’s reply. After I read the first sentence I was like, oh boy, another one… but mid way through it I thought the sarcasm was priceless.
Duncan, you deserve everything you’re getting. In fact, I wasn’t going to buy the ebook because I really wouldn’t use it, but this Mxx guy inspired me to do it anyway USING the affliate link. I can’t believe he is accusing you of somehow being dishonest, its absurd given how much of yourself you give to the community at large. Keep doing what you do.
Mxx says
I am perfectly well aware that is doesn’t cost end-buyer anything. It’s coming out of Amazon’s profit margin.
I have absolutely no problem with people using affiliate links if that fact is disclosed.
As a matter of fact indicating that it’s YOUR affiliate link might entice more people to use it since they’ll see that you get more money from their purchase.
This is no different from a news report talking about some product created by that channel’s parent company.
All that is asked for is full disclosure.
Lieven says
I bought the book yesterday and I regret it now. I should have waited a day and buy it today using Duncan’s affiliate link.
sanjai says
Duncan / Frank,
I bought the paper version couple of weeks ago and I still prefer to ready by paper book than the e-book or kindle or whatever you call it as.
Thanks for spending a lot of time in making this wonderful book. I’ve completed the HA part and DRS part is yet to be started due to my busy schedule.
Thanks once again.
Barry Coombs says
I already purchased the paper back but will gladly purchase the kindle version for my iPad as well!(and will even use the affiliate link!) Its a fantastic resource and with it on the kindle as well means my bag will be a bit lighter! Keep up the good work guys and ignore the few people complaining, you can never please everyone and a lot of people like the sounds of there own voice!
John Troyer says
And just for those of you who may need some help getting the ebook in your preferred format, a quick Google can help convert Kindle to ePub format: http://www.google.com/search?q=convert+kindle+to+epub
EV_Simon says
Mxx, I have to assume you’re the kind of person who is never happy with other peoples good fortunes?? I mean you’re getting something for a next to nothing price yet still complaining that the authors are making a little more by using an affiliate link, how petty can you be?
Duncan\Frank, I know you guys were in two minds about whether to actually publish this electronically and I was one of those guys who was always asking when\if you had changed your minds. From my perspective having already purchased the paper version of the book I was in two minds about purchasing the electronic version but in the end it made complete sense to own both, at least now it means I don’t end up with a dog eared copy of the book (and as I usually carry my Ipad\Iphone with me all over the place I will have a copy with me always).
Guys, keep up the great work and don’t let a few low lifes change what you do and how you do it, most of us really do appreciate it.
Mxx says
low lifes?!
Excuse me?! Simon Davies, why don’t you look in the mirror and wipe off that brown from your nose.
EV_Simon says
Mxx, if you react to it then obviously it touched a nerve.
Ben says
NICE! I have a Nook then bought a Kindle. I like the Kindle so much better(have grown to hate the touch interface on the Nook). I’ve given up on paper technical books for the most part so I’ll be buying this off Amazon shortly. Thanks for the ebook option!
Chris Nakagaki says
Nice, was waiting for an e-book version. Kindle was good in choice in my opinion, available reader on most all platforms. Thanks.
Andy Simmons says
Very nice! I already purchased the paperback, but at that price point it’s hard to pass up the Kindle version.
Trevor Roberts Jr says
Thank you, gentlemen, for making this eBook available to us.
Nevermind the Kindle-haters and cheapskates.
The rest of us appreciate the work you put into this book as well as the work you do in general for the Virtualization community.
I’m a proud owner of both the print and electronic copies of the book.
Best Regards,
Trevor
Manish Patel says
To Mxx,
After all this fight over the new format of the book, its time for you to write something more important on any topic on Virtualization of VMware and then publish it alone to gather the Dollar or Euros by both hands. If you have real guts to do it then take it up as a challenge and DO NOT reply to my comment until you come up with your own title in the near future.
To Duncan/Frank
You guys are doing a good job here helping the large audience and the community so please keep on doing such things more frequently. I bought the paper back but would suggest for kindle version who does not know about it.
Frank – I appreciate the way you replied to Mxx which shows utmost professionalism and humbleness.
We can easily forget 1000 people who are doing good things to us but will remember 1 person who do one bad thing for our whole life so please ignore such replies in future and stop them coming on your discussion/thread/forum before they started getting attention
Thanks again
Rod says
Been carrying the paperback with me since Feb. Going to get the kindle app for my iPad and get the ebook for longevity. To all this whiners about the format if your at this stage of the game and either can’t afford or it’s just a matter of principle..your not “winning”
Mark Snook says
I bought the Kindle version the day I noticed it was available and read it during a recent trip. It just so happened that my client grilled me on DRS/HA the follwing week and because of your site and the book, I was able to not only answer his questions but get into great detail and provide extra value. Thanks so much for your excellent work!
Blair Hicks says
Having recently read the paperback version, I was surprised to see the Kindle version. My first reaction was – dang, $7.50? I should have waited before spending $20 about a month ago… But the truth is, I don’t mind spending $20 to support such a great effort. For that matter, why not go $7.50 more and have two copies of this outstanding work.
Two features make the Kindle edition a must have even for those who own the paperback copy – 1) COLOR figures!! and 2) Preview image of their next technical deep dive…