The question in this article's title has been on my mind a lot this year. Do you find Python tech books useful right now? Let me know! If so, would you pay for them?
The reason this question has been in my mind is that I have run three Kickstarters for three different books in the last year. The first one was for my Vibe Coding Videogames book, which failed.
I decided to go ahead and write that book anyway because I wanted more experience with vibe-coding and working with agents. The book’s sales have been abysmal which lines up with the failure of the Kickstarter. But I learned a lot and it was fun to do.
Next, I did a Kickstarter for Python Typing, a book all about type hinting in Python and type checkers. That Kickstarter barely got funded, so I wrote that one too. That book had actually been in my head for several years, so it was pretty easy to write. I also learned a lot about type hinting and the new Python type checkers!
However, besides the Kickstarter funds, that book’s sales have been pretty bad as well. I knew it was a niche topic going in, but with type hinting being so prevalent now, I thought it would do a bit better.
Lastly, I tried doing a Kickstarter for Python 101, 3rd Edition. This has been my most popular book, by far. However, that Kickstarter failed utterly. It raised even less than Python Typing!
I have noticed my Python blog has been shedding readers as well, and while this newsletter has stayed pretty steady at around 8500 subscribers, it’s been stuck at that subscriber amount for at least a year or more. I would have expected it to keep growing, even if it was slowly, but that hasn’t been the case.
I know other authors have noticed this trend as well. So with that in mind, what do you think? Do you find Python tech books useful now that you can simply ask AI to figure it all out for you? Are there still any topics where you find AI inadequate and wish there were better documentation?
Let me know! I still enjoy writing, but I’ve been getting so little feedback of late that it’s hard to know if I am really reaching anyone besides bots these days.
I dislike "vibe" coding—I do have to do it at work, but it really introduces so much tech debt and I don't really learn anything.
As for why I didn't back the other 2 Kickstarters, I have a backlog of Python books to read/use in my free time, including your 2nd edition of Python 101, which I've found helpful so far but not yet finished.
It depends on the book. I still love physical books, and I don’t think AI has made them unnecessary.
AI is incredibly helpful, but only if you know what to ask. Recently, I bought four big Python books, and a fifth one is arriving in October.
What I want from a technical book has changed, though. I want perspective. I want it to show me something I didn’t know I should be asking about in the first place. Once I discover that idea, I can take it to AI, ask questions, challenge it, and go much deeper.
But if a book just explains basic things I can easily get from AI, then no, I’m not spending a penny on it.