Apress and CommonsWare FAQ
We apologize in advance for the author's odd sense of humor.
Hey! That Murphy guy is listed the author of Apress' Beginning Android!
Pssst...this is a FAQ.
Fine. That Murphy guy is listed the author of Apress' Beginning Android! WTF?
Apress licensed The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development and is publishing it as their own title, Beginning Android.
What does this mean for the CommonsWare edition?
Once Apress' book is in print, The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development will no longer be sold in print. However, it will still remain part of the Warescription and will continue to be updated.
At the point in time an Apress edition of Beginning Android comes out, it will be very similar to the then-current edition of The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development. For example, the original Beginning Android was similar to Version 2.0.3 of The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development, aimed at the Android 1.1 SDK. The new Beginning Android 2 is very similar to Version 2.9 of The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development.
However, The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development keeps getting updated. Since the original Beginning Android was published, four new versions of The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development were released.
The changes to The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development will be incremental at this point, mostly dealing with new releases to Android and new advice that all developers need (e.g., handling multiple screen sizes, handling different API levels, handling different device characteristics). Other books in the CommonsWare library will be tackling substantially new material. And, of course, if you are on the Warescription, you get access to that entire library.
Why did CommonsWare agree to this?
Frankly, it's an experiment. Apress has a vastly larger marketing budget, plus ways to get books into many places where CommonsWare fears to tread (bookstores, university libraries, etc.). As a result, distributing the one Android book through both Apress and CommonsWare should get the Android knowledge — and the CommonsWare name — out to more people.
Besides, their book covers look really nice on the office bookshelf.
What about the Four-To-Free Guarantee?
It still holds, but for CommonsWare's editions, not Apress'. So, eventually, The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development will be released under a Creative Commons license, but Apress is welcome to do whatever it wishes with its own edition. Based on current sales, we are somewhat ahead of the four-year pace, so early editions of The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development should be available under a CC license sometime in 2011, perhaps sooner.
Does this mean you're a sellout?
That would imply getting more money. That too is part of the experiment. Suffice it to say, this decision was not made for direct financial reasons.
Will CommonsWare distribute other books through Apress?
It's conceivable, but there are no such plans at this time. If we do, it will be on similar terms as this arrangement — print rights go to Apress, but the Warescription and Four-To-Free Guarantee remain intact.
Hey! My question wasn't answered here.
And the question is...?
Sheesh, you're fussy. Where can I learn more about this arrangement?
You can ask questions about CommonsWare's Android books on the [cw-android] Google Group, or contact CommonsWare directly.