2008

May

Style quiz | Diversions | Economist.com

Punk’s DIY ethic meant that musicians got past the...

Seth's Blog: The Media markets

The Engineer, the Computer Scientist and the...

Incredible death defying video — check it out. This isn’t footage from Indy 4: ...

Covering topics in the right order

A big part of planning a book is deciding what order to cover things in. This is an issue when...

5 steps to killer chapter outlines

Starting with a good chapter outline will make writing much easier. On the other hand, getting it...

Book writing: 3 ways to be practical

Readers love practical books. It’s something that all computer book publishers want to say in...

Not just for fiction authors… this will help you find...

Seth's Blog: Self promotion

Apr

Coding Horror: Programmers Don't Read Books...

NETTUTS - Web development tutorials and links...

How to Start Writing When You Don’t Feel Like...

phpied.com » Blog Archive » Editing made...

“Typography is what language looks like.”

Conflict is your friend

For any book or story to be really satisfying to read it needs conflict. You won’t keep a...

Gone Fishin': How to Hook Your Readers With...

Who’s on First? This is what great writing looks like.

First Android Tutorial Contest :: anddev.org

A Practical Guide to THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND...

3-act tutorial adventure: my version

I have been thinking a lot over the weekend about storyboarding non fiction. Here is the structure...

A collection of writing tips (phpied.com)

E-Learning, Moodle, Technical Writing and...

Book market research for Dummies

Quick ways to test if there is a market for your technical book: Go to Google Trends. Compare the...

Polish Your Writing to Professionalism: Three...

Comments: this blog now has 'em.

Perfect books for Han Solo and Obi Wan

Following up my previous post, here are the sort of books each mentor would ideally write… The...

Setting the tone -- are you Han Solo or...

All books have a ‘feel’ to them — a general impression that you get when you read...

"Okay, Morta. The Enterprise computer...

Last night, I watced Rascals — a Star Trek the Next Generation episode. A Ferengi, who has...

Phil Windley's Technometria | Kathy Sierra:...

Kathy Sierra talks to Tim O’Reilly about the Head First books and creating content that...

Technical background goes here

DavidB says: "the place for background is the back" that is my new saying
Douglas says: that's a good one

Fundamentals of XHTML MP (Mobile Profile) at Entrepreneur...

The 3-step procrastination fight.

Like other humans (and some authors), I struggle with procrastination. Some tasks sit around for...

Smart vs. Clever

Are you a smart writer, or a clever one? Smart writers apply their intellect to presenting things in...

Seth's Blog: Write like a blogger

We Tell Stories

Downloading fantastic Flickr photos — an example of a ‘beginners’-style...

Agile Ajax: BDD: Book Driven Development

» The New Shop Window / Home Page’s That Sell...

Mar

Introducing concepts: the problem, the...

You will often, as a computer author, need to introduce some new important concept to the reader. In...

The For Dummies Success Story - For Dummies

Do yourself a favour, turn on Document Map in Word. Or if...

Tables -- an underused weapon in the...

Many of my authors (you know who you are) insist that their books should consist entirely of prose...

Fast Icon - Free stock icons.

Books with DVD-style special features

Penguin has announced that its ebook release of Pride and Prejudice will features a bunch of special...

How to Use the Web to Build A Powerful...

Scott H Young » How to Sell Your Ideas Like a...

Packt Publishing Donates Over $100,000 to...

Does your book have shock and awe?

I’m working on a series definition. Here’s a quote I’d like to share: The book...

The Freelancer’s Guide to Setting Perfect...

9 Ways To Jumpstart Your Writing Goal

Great Demo!: The Dreaded “If”

Have you seen these fun, informative videos from CommonCraft? They are quick, useful, fun and easy...

Feb

Writing tips from successful authors on...

Bestselling "How To" books on Amazon

Blist Brings Bling to Databases and...

Monday Master Class: How to Schedule Your...

“With this book I write, I find I’m spending more time...”
— phpied.com » Blog...

HEMA - online winkelen

WOW. Microsoft Offers $44.6 Billion To...

Jan

Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge

Writing a Book in Google Docs

Seth's Blog: Editors

[On Writing] CBS News Forums, Peerless...

2007

Dec

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I...”
— Confucius he want: (1) more...

Whatever: Writing Tips for Non-Writers Who...

“He just kept talking in one long incredibly unbroken...”
— Captain Picard prefers short...

Is your book sellable?

People who write ebooks love to sell them. The pitch is often nearly as long as the book, but it...

4-steps for faster chapters

This is a formula for quickly writing an engaging, practical tutorial. It works for programming,...

Excellent advice from Chris Heilmann. He says “don’t try to be funny”. But if...

“Don’t tell about it! Show how the thing looked…...”
— The Lester Dent Pulp Paper...

The 449 -- packing services like a product

Top 10 things I love to see in a first...

When I open a chapter, this is what I dream of seeing: A clear introduction. This is the first...

Nintendo pulls Wii Christmas ads -...

24 ways to impress your friends

“Substitute “damn” every time you’re...”
— Mark Twain - Wikiquote

How to Be a Demo God by Guy Kawasaki

Readers are like Raiders: 1) Action first, classroom second....

Raiders of the Lost Ark: 4 things you...

As you probably know, Raiders of the Lost Ark is the best movie that has ever been made or will ever...

Orwell Explained, Rule 3: Cutting words

“If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.” This is good advice but George...

"View source" learning

Here’s how most of you learned HTML back in the days of Web 1.0: Surfed the web and saw...

Remember: 1) Starting with history works best for the...

3 things computer book authors should...

When you were a child, you spent saturday afternoons watching the A-Team. Now you spend saturday...

"Before you can do something fun, you...

Make no mistake: readers buy computer books to learn to do cool things. They love authors who get...

Orwell explained, Rule 2: Short words

“Never use a long word where a short one will do.” You should use the shortest word that gets your...

Sandy not receiving emails

Coding Horror: Mort, Elvis, Einstein, and...

“He can compress the most words into the smallest ideas of...”
— Abraham Lincoln

4 steps, 5 stars

To get a 5 star Amazon review, follow these 4 simple steps. The steps are simple to write down, at...

Orwell Explained, Rule 1: Metaphors,...

“Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.” ...

“1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech...”
— George Orwell, Politics and...

Nov

Three writing-related blog posts I...

I’ve started three blog posts in the last 20 minutes, but didn’t finish any of...

Mobile Web Integration Book at Entrepreneur...

Eureka! The moment when everything falls into place. The...

QuickWall: my contribution to LazyWeb. A quick way to get short answers to simple questions. If you...

What public speaking taught me about...

All public speakers start badly – but they improve fast because the feedback is so rich. You see the...

The Dilbert Blog: The Day You Became A Better...

Resize-the-browser buttons

You don’t want to take screenshots using a maximised browser at high resolution. These...

Conversational writing kicks formal writing's...

“If you can’t say it well, say it short.”
— Me

Here’s what can happen when you combine two good ideas...