"Managing Online Forums" is 16 years old today. I started writing it 5 years before that. At first, I didn't know I had a book. Pitching it myself, I signed with a small independent press, and then they dropped me. I got an agent (rest in peace, Neil), and literally every single publisher said no, except for 1. And even that one only came back after several months of having it in a file.
I'd receive comments from publishers saying they didn't really want an online community book. They'd run comps against books published before (some of which were written by amazing people) and say they didn't do well enough to justify mine. But it all worked out.
One thing I'd say is to be kind to those who came before you because writing a book is a very vulnerable process. With a nonfiction book, I always felt like it was akin to declaring, "Here's what I know. Judge me!" Because people will, and it will often be unkind. Even in 2024, with the ease of publishing (and easily updating) an eBook, publishing a book still gives me a sense of finality, which is scary.
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