How do you do laundry?
How much do you spend a year on diesel? How about on things like sunscreen?
How do you get fresh water?
Would you buy something like that? HN users would get it for free of course, just asking whether there's a market :-)
Say mixmax writes the ebook, and it comes in at x pages of general information. He could add a few pages on "how to catch fish at sea", and a chapter on "boat safety". Now that exact same book that was previously being marketed to the "boat-set" who want to know how to live on a boat can also be marketed to the survivalist movement that's growing (in the US at least).
Since he knows that people who are considering living on a boat as travellers have less discretionary income than your average survivalist, he can price the book to them at $9.95, while marketing to survivalists at $19.95.
He can then take the exact same book, add some information about how to make international calls while at sea, maybe some information about satellite technology and a few paragraphs about how to send and receive photos while out on the water and turn around and market the same book to people who are retiring and thinking about getting a boat to tool around on for a week here and there. Well, who wouldn't pay $19.95 for a book that tells you how to find a boat, the basics of repairs, how to do basic things when you're away for a little while, and it also tells you how you can send pictures to the grandkids?
Of course I'm making a lot of assumptions about the actual data here, but I think my point is clear(ish) - there are lots of people interested in the basic subject; and it can be spun a ton of different ways.
Maybe I'd chance it if it only cost a couple of bucks.
Don't get me wrong, I'd pay to learn about this. Ebooks just don't fill me with confidence.
http://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Living-Aboard-Boat/dp/09398...
If you are not in the US it is worth getting one from the country you live in so it will address local concerns and regulations.
But that is just how affiliate marketing comes across to me. And that type of marketing seems to work on some people. So I think that you could probably be very successful with an ebook.
If I really liked the book, and was about to do some traveling, I would definitely buy a print copy. I like physical books a lot more than ebooks. If you don't want to find a publisher, you can self publish it. Lulu.com seems to have a good setup.
I'd definitely buy it -- and don't give it away. Your time and experience is worth money and even though I'm a heavy HN reader, I'll gladly trade my money for it.
- the mildly curious who wouldn't buy unless it was just a couple bucks (sounds like this is yummyfajitas)
- the obsessed who are desperate for more info and would probably shell out $50 for a great guide with all the info they need on how to actually change their life by doing this
You want to target the 2nd group, because they have a problem and are actively looking for a solution. The people in the first group are cheap and generally opposed to paying for anything, so you'll spend way more time and effort trying to sell to them than they're worth.
Also, to the doubters, the thing to keep in mind with things like this is that while you can find the info for yourself for free, it'll take you tens or hundreds of hours of research (I know). Why not just get it from someone who has actually done it?