Beginning Android: Keep Going?

My original book, The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development, is an important part of the nearly-2,000-page Warescription. I do not update it quite as often as other books, simply because more of what I am writing nowadays really belongs in other books in my series. However, as an introductory guide, I will be updating The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development for the forseeable future.

Periodically, this title has been republished by Apress under the Beginning Android moniker. Apress takes an edition of my base book, makes some modifications to it, and publishes it under their own title, cover, and brand. Their book gets into bookstores and Safari, whereas The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development is only available via the Warescription.

Beginning Android is a hassle at best. It distracts me from other work. I receive no real benefit from having Apress publish it nowadays. Due to some history between Apress and me, I will never really be happy with Beginning Android. And Apress’ desire for aggressive timetables hampers the quality not only of their book, but also of the corresponding edition of The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development.

All else being equal, I would like to discontinue Beginning Android, or at least my involvement with it.

However, I would like your opinion on that.

Due to contractual obligations, Beginning Android is the only way that The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development will be available in print. There are plenty of other print books available on Android, including some that are as good if not better than my own. My sense is that the world will not miss having mine in print, but I may not have a clear perspective on it.

I would really like to know if:

1. You see any particular value in The Busy Coder’s Guide to Android Development being available in print form via Apress in its current state (plus additions for Eclipse GUI building, Ice Cream Sandwich, etc.).

2. You see anything that I could do with that book, keeping in the spirit of an introductory guide, that would make it even more useful when Apress prints it.

If you have an opinion, tweet me (@commonsguy) or drop me a line, so I can take your thoughts into account.

Thanks!