OpenCAD's Downloadable AutoCAD 2006 Training CD Demonstrates a Profitable Business Model for Self-Published Technical Writers and Small Presses
The downloadable AutoCAD 2006 Training CD by OpenCAD International Inc. delivers a complete course in AutoCAD 2006 for just $39. This streamlined multimedia product illustrates how small presses and self-published technical writers can make distribution of technical training content more profitable by reducing distribution costs.
Santa Monica, CA (PRWEB) October 3, 2005 -- The downloadable AutoCAD 2006 Training CD by OpenCAD International Inc. delivers a complete course in AutoCAD 2006 for just $39. This streamlined multimedia product illustrates how small presses and self-published technical writers can make distribution of technical training content more profitable by reducing distribution costs.
Most people who walk into a bookstore or a computer store are unaware that approximately 55% of every dollar they spend goes to the bookstore and the distributor that stocked and shipped them the book or CD. The publisher receives 30% to 35% of the retail purchase price of a book or training CD, while the author (or authors) of the product usually make less than 10% of the gross retail purchase price after expenses and returns are calculated.
To put this in perspective, a technical writer who writes a $25 book or training CD which sells 10,000 copies would earn $25,000 if every copy sold at full price, which it wouldn't. The publisher would earn approximately $87,000, less the costs associated with printing, duplication and shipping the product to the distributor. And, since distributors aren't known for paying publishers promptly, publishers and authors might wait two or three years to receive full payment for their work.
These numbers are important because they show that writers and publishers aren't well rewarded, as a rule, for creating technical training material. This is one reason why the cost of technical books, including self-help computer books and third party reference manuals keeps rising.
These equations also have an impact on the quality of training material created and distributed to customers. In most cases, publishers try to maximize the amount of time their book or training CD will be available during the life cycle of a software product or technology. This means that authors frequently write their training material based beta software, and they rush that content through it's development cycle to make sure the finished product at the bookstore or the computer store the day the software or technology hits the market.
Customers pay the price when books and training CDs contain inaccuracies or avoid hard-to-use features. It also explains why so many training products are regurgitations of the manuals that ship with the product.
OpenCAD's AutoCAD 2006 Training CD, yet another in OpenCAD's series of downloadable training products, illustrates that small presses and technical writers can deliver training more quickly to their customers, provide a better training product, and retain a much larger percentage of each sale, if they distribute their training products via download rather than in print or on CD.
Nancy Fulton, President of OpenCAD International Inc. says "We've been training AutoCAD users through our subscription based training site (www.complete-support.com) since 1996. Thie year we launched our AutoCAD Downloadable Training CD's, partially in response to the rising costs associated with distributing our products through bookstores. Our downloadable training CDs are now our best selling products. Architects, Engineers and other designers are savvy enough to be comfortable paying for a product they download. These professionals see the value in getting a better product delivered right to their desktop than they could buy in a store."
OpenCAD's AutoCAD 2006 Training CD features 11 animations and 21 step-by-step tutorials covering 2D drawing and editing tools, as well as plotting, 3D modeling and customization. For ultimate compatibility, OpenCAD made the product HTML-based and created its animations in standard .avi format.
Mark Mazur, OpenCAD CEO says, "Publishers and technical writers who want to publish products this way must make sure that technical support issues are kept to an absolute minimum. People purchase this material to save time and solve problems. Buggy installations of proprietary software and complicated authorization keys are not an option."
The AutoCAD 2006 Training CD can be delivered on physical media (a CD) but most customers elect to download the product instead.
For complete details on OpenCAD's AutoCAD 2006 Training CD, visit http://store.complete-support.com.
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