How about generating custom versions of the text using the readers project name?
By that I mean if the user suggested a name for their ‘thing’ on the purchase page, they might get a personalized version of the text with the code sample showing what their project would look like. Maybe this has been suggested, and I’m not sure it would work. It might even be good to go through the process of reading each line of code and making it my own.
But after the 3rd or 4th time editing something I copy/pasted from the text only to replace ‘thing’ with ‘newsletter’, it seemed like this could make the experience a little less tedious.
Another problem might be that its hard to come up with a good name for the ‘thing’ on the order page. Obviously the print edition could pose some challenges. Maybe it could work as a link the readers could come back to after working through a few chapters?
Just a thought…
-Bob M
(My current project is an online newsletter organizer for our club’s mostly static web site)