Python Tricks: The Book Launch FAQ

By Dan Bader — Get free updates of new posts here.

I’m getting a ton of emails, Tweets, and YouTube comments from people with questions about my new book. Here’s a quick Q&A to keep you informed and my carpal tunnel happy.

Alright, I’m getting a ton (and I mean a ton) of emails, Tweets, and YouTube comments from people with questions about my new book.

(In case you haven’t heard about it, it’s called Python Tricks: A Buffet of Awesome Python Features, it’s ranked #1 on Amazon in Python programming books and several other categories, and you can get it on a 33% launch discount if you buy before Thursday night.)

👉 Click here to get your print copy on Amazon

Some of these questions are about the availability of the book on Amazon. This is the first time I’m launching a product on Amazon and apparently some things are not as straightforward as I thought.

So to make sure you get your questions answered (and to keep my carpal tunnel happy) I put together the following Q&A:

1. Can I get a sample chapter and the table of contents for the book?

Yep, you can check out the full table of contents and read a sample of the full book’s contents on the Amazon page for the book.

Just click on the book cover where it says “Look Inside” and you’ll find it. (If the Amazon feature doesn’t work please try the PDF sample.)

2. How can I get the launch price? The 33% discount link seems to not provide any discount

Amazon doesn’t allow authors to control discounts for paperback books, so basically what I did to work around this was set the price lower this week for the launch.

Tomorrow I’ll manually raise it to the regular price ($29.99) to give everyone a chance to get a copy at the launch price.

Pricing on Amazon is quite strange by the way, this morning I saw they actually decided to change the price below my target launch price that I entered. But hey, that’s your chance to save another dollar today ;-)

3. Your Amazon link throws a 404 error! / I live in $COUNTRY and Amazon says the book isn’t available for purchase 🙁

This is another Amazon quirk that I discovered… I’m publishing the book through Amazon’s own printing service and they handle the global distribution. My understanding was that this would include all country-specific stores worldwide and from the get go.

But once again it turns out things are a little more complicated than that…

Right now, the book is available on the following country-specific stores:

Unfortunately, the paperback version is not yet available on: Amazon.in, Amazon.cn, Amazon.co.jp, Amazon.com.br, Amazon.com.mx, Amazon.com.au, and Amazon.nl.

Amazon says it can take up to 8 weeks for the paperback to be available on the remaining “extended distribution” stores.

I know a lot of you have emailed me from India and Brazil asking about the book and I would’ve loved to get you the paperback right now.

The next best thing I can offer you at the moment is getting the digital version from my website. I’ll let you know if there’s any news on worldwide availability of the paperback!

4. Does the paperback version include the bonus video content?

Yes it does! There’s a special URL in the paperback version where you can get access to the bonus material.

These bonuses include two hours of tutorial videos that go hand-in-hand with select chapters in the book and help reinforce the key points.

5. What about a Kindle version?

Right now only the paperback is available on Amazon. I’m working on getting the Kindle version out on Amazon soon, guaranteeing you easy synchronization between all of your reading devices.

When the Kindle version comes out on Amazon I’ll set up a “Kindle Match” deal so you can upgrade your paperback purchase to paperback + Kindle. Will let you know when that’s ready!

If you want a digital copy (PDF, ePub, Mobi) right now you can purchase it on my website.

6. Is the book worth looking at for beginners?

Great question, some thoughts on that: Python Tricks isn’t a step-by-step Python tutorial. It’s not an entry-level Python book. If you’re in the beginning stages of learning Python, this book alone won’t transform you into a professional Python developer.

Reading it will still be beneficial to you, but you need to make sure you’re working with some other resources to build up your foundational Python skills.

Here’s how you can judge for yourself:

Open up the Amazon page and click the book cover (“Look Inside”). Skim through a few of the sample pages and see if you can make sense of it or if you feel like you’re “getting thrown into the deep end” :-)

I wrote this book to take you beyond the basics of the language and towards the point where you’re comfortable writing “developer style” Python.

I spent a lot of time trying to make my explanations logical and easy to follow, but in the end you’ll have to decide for yourself if my book works for you.

Edit: Well, or just listen to my friend Ram here—

@dbader_org book is definitely for beginners also. https://t.co/L0RpyQtk5U
— Ram Meena (@rammeena) November 1, 2017

😃

That’s it for the questions.

The launch price ends tomorrow.

At midnight the price for the paperback on Amazon goes up to $29.99.

I have no plans to ever offer the paperback at this price again, so if you’re on the fence now is the time to act.

Jump on this deal before it’s over:

👉 Get your print copy on Amazon

This article was filed under: python.

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