Books – by scott cunningham

You don’t have the identical varieties of data with e-book gross sales as you get with tutorial citations the place we will simply have a look at google scholar. Your complete trade is a little bit of a black field from what I’ve learn. Some experiences say the median e-book might promote solely round a dozen books. I as soon as heard that your complete e-book trade is stored afloat by Harry Potter and the Bible.

However I feel it’s price sharing this info as a result of e-book writing is a chance to do inventive work that’s not the identical as what you ordinarily get to do as a tutorial. In economics, we are saying that hardly ever are nook options really optimum. That’s as a result of economists begin by assuming a sure itemizing of preferences that cause them to assume utility features are extra probably quasi-concave, and when they’re quasi-concave, you get indifference curves during which it’s at all times most well-liked to have a little bit of two issues than all of only one.

And I really feel that method about books. It’s not that you need to write books or tutorial articles. Relatively, writing books scratches a distinct itch.

My ambition has at all times been to be the “finest third e-book on the syllabus”. The primary e-book on the syllabus is the textbook the writer makes use of. These are your Jeff Wooldridge’s. The second e-book on the syllabus is perhaps when you had assigned each Wooldridge and Principally Innocent, or perhaps a e-book by Bruce Hansen. Level is, the second e-book is the paired textbook for the category. And the third e-book is a big listing of supplemental readings. They aren’t compulsory for the scholars; they simply are really useful. And there’s often fairly a number of listed.

And my objective has at all times to be everybody’s third e-book, displaying up on so many supplemental readings in order to attempt to dominate, not the textbooks (because the Mixtape actually isn’t a textbook), however relatively to be the e-book that helps college students with the primary and second books. No extra, no much less. Whether or not I’ve been profitable at that may be a completely different query, however that’s at all times been my objective.

The brand new e-book, Causal Inference: the Remix, comes out a while this 12 months. I turned it in final summer season, however I’ve been sluggish getting my proofs again. However yesterday, I obtained the index turned in. I took a knife and slashed via a bunch of stuff, leaving different stuff behind, and simply attempt to trim it down. And with that it’s accomplished.

It’s a weirder e-book in some methods. I discuss so much about rivers in it, amongst different issues. Rivers are the metaphor I take advantage of all through to assist me navigate the completely different threads of causal inference from the Princeton Industrial Relations Part, the Harvard stats division, the pc science neighborhood, the Chicago custom, econometrics itself. The e-book is extra biographical than the earlier one. I’m very keen on making an attempt to pin down individuals in area and time, sociologically, as finest I might.

And naturally, the causal panel stuff is bloated. I get into the weeds on diff-in-diff, and now it’s two chapters lengthy, as a substitute of 1. It’s additionally sadly going to clock in at round 750 pages. I in all probability might’ve made two books out of it, however I didn’t, so now there’s one massive e-book. A Huge Lovely E book. We’ll see what individuals assume.

The 2025 knowledge on the continuing gross sales of the Mixtape itself, although, got here on this week. It continues to promote . Gross sales for the English translation is all I’ve now; it’s tougher to get China. I’m unsure why. I’ll in all probability not have bother getting the Japanese translation 2025 gross sales, however in the meanwhile don’t have it.

So what I’ve accomplished is I’ve requested Claude to do analysis on e-book gross sales, for educational presses and non-academic presses, after which take all the info I’ve on the Mixtape and make no matter graphics he seems like would match with this substack (which I copied and pasted to him so he knew what I used to be writing). However, like I mentioned — I actually wish to counsel to economists and different social scientists that they contemplate e-book writing. It doesn’t require specializing in them in any respect. I simply personally have to diversify my inventive writing throughout completely different domains, together with tutorial writing however not completely, as in any other case I’ll burst.

One of many extra attention-grabbing developments although was that the audio rights have been offered to an organization referred to as Tantor Media. I’m certain that listening to somebody clarify matching estimators and two-way fastened results can be riveting.

However listed here are some information that Claude Code got here up with visually introduced. Right here’s cumulative gross sales thus far throughout all three translations: English, China, Japan.

I requested Claude Code to then do analysis on the place it matches within the distribution of books. It appears prefer it’s mainly placing it on log scale. Undecided about these knowledge sources, however I had /referee2 and my new talent /fletcher each do a critique after which get a rewrite. Not fairly a bestseller threshold, however someplace up there.

Right here it’s 12 months by 12 months. Apologies that the labels suck. I often work tougher to get these straightened out. However you’ll be able to see 2023 was massive due to China translation. However the English has stabilized. The 2025 numbers have been only a hundred lower than the 2024 numbers for US / English talking.

After which right here is that similar factor over time. You possibly can see the English talking trajectory individually.

In order that’s been fairly a enjoyable expertise to be sincere. And thanks everybody in your encouragement and assist for me personally and professionally all these years. It’s buoyed my spirits.

So, on the e-book, entrance, what comes subsequent after the Remix? Undecided. I’ve been toying through the years with completely different initiatives. At completely different occasions, these have been the concepts I’ve toyed with, some I went additional on than others.

1. A biography of the Nobel Laureates — David Card, Guido Imbens, Josh Angrist

2. A biographical historical past of the Princeton Industrial Relations Part that may embody the Nobel Laureate tales.

3. A biography of particular labor economists — particularly Josh Angrist, David Card, Francine Blau have all been individuals I’ve thought of.

4. A e-book on likelihood based mostly on my present Harvard class, Gov 2001, with once more the objective to be the “finest third e-book on the syllabus”.

5. A e-book on “AI Brokers for Analysis Staff”. This one I’ve accomplished essentially the most work on, as it could be largely impressed by the 38 or so substack posts right here, in addition to the completely different public talks I’ve given about generative AI through the years, in addition to the category I developed at Baylor, “The Economics of AI”. It could combine my private type with an effort to serving to individuals ramp up whereas eager about the bigger implications of AI on work.

6. And maybe my weirdest thought — a collection of books geared toward highschool and early school age children involving a personal eye named Jack Stone who solves often murders that occur at universities. They sadly require he learns what diff-in-diff and instrumental variables is in order that he can work out clues. It sounds nice on paper — or perhaps it sounds unhealthy on paper — however I did tons of analysis on it two years in the past one summer season after I was presupposed to be engaged on The Remix. I’ve a really vivid dream sequence in a single chapter of Jack Stone assembly with Alberto Abadie floating collectively over the Charles River and Alberto explaining kappa weighting and instrumental variables to the Jack. That was a wild thought I had. I used to be basing it on numerous style tropes, notably Raymond Chandler formulation, and so in Europe was studying as lots of these books as I might to attempt to work out simply what made a Chandler plot a Chandler plot. Guess what doesn’t make a Chandler plot a Chandler plot — characters explaining IV to the non-public eye.

So who is aware of. I’m going to Europe for 9 weeks beginning early Might. I’ll do that:

• Zurich

• Glasgow

• Third Annual CodeChella Madrid

• European Fee in Milan

• Convention talks in Pisa

• Berlin

• Quick break

• Maastricht

• San Sebastián for a trip

After which I come again to Boston. My lease right here runs out the tip of August. I’m presently debating whether or not to maintain it for a 12 months and commuting forwards and backwards or whether or not to simply let it go. There’s private causes for it, and I preserve weighing professionals and cons. I’ve one other month to determine, so want me luck in deciding it.