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Tips, tricks, and techniques to make your computer books better. by David Barnes View David Barnes's profile on LinkedIn Email me: davidb at packtpub dot com. Get updates by email

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Jul
2nd
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Help Wanted | National Novel Writing Month

National Novel Writing Month challenges everybody to write a 50,000 word first draft novel in the month of November. They need help with Drupal, PHP, and web design. If you want to support this fabulous project, and you have the skills, then check out the link above.

50,000 words is a little less than the typical Packt book (which is more like 70,000 words). But the relentless focus on productivity, deadlines, and ramping up the word / page count as fast as possible will be familiar if you’ve ever written a computer book.
Jun
20th
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What is it like to write a technical book? at Xaprb This thorough essay by O’Reilly author is well worth a read, as is his editor’s response.
Jun
13th
Fri
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The Extreme Presentation(tm) Method: Don't ever give an FYI presentation The same is true for technical books.
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How to Write (in a thousand words or less) - Stepcase Lifehack
Jun
11th
Wed
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Creative retitling: Language Integrated Query - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia A wikomedian has made an inspired edit to the first heading of this entry. A reminder of what readers do when architecture or technical background appears near the beginning of a book or article.
Jun
2nd
Mon
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How to Change the World: The Art of Unintended Uses

Read this post about VisualCV. The takeaway for authors: aim your book at a narrow target audience, and let others figure out its purpose for themselves.

Many times I get proposals aiming at a wide audience, with millions of potential customers. Better to aim at a few thousand definite, exactly-what-they’re looking for customers.

If it’s suitable for a million other users, they will find it eventually. 
May
27th
Tue
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A blocked writer has the discipline to stay at the desk but cannot write. A procrastinator, on the other hand, cannot bring himself to sit down at the desk; yet if something forces him to sit down he may write quite fluently.
— Ralph Ellison, Truman Capote, and the difference between writer’s block and procrastination. - By Jessica Winter - Slate Magazine
May
22nd
Thu
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Computer books, of course, are nothing but bullet points. Programmers get amazing value because for $30 they are presented with everything they need to program a certain tool. Yet most programmers are not world class, precisely because the bullet points aren’t enough to get them to see things the way the author does, and not enough to get them motivated enough to actually program great code.
— Seth’s Blog: How to read a business book
May
21st
Wed
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Think about paths instead of hierarchies - (37signals)
May
20th
Tue
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Steve Ballmer Egged in Hungary. Nicely done. :D
May
19th
Mon
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Hear 2.0: "It doesn't have a Wienie!"
May
13th
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Style quiz | Diversions | Economist.com Fun and quick multiple choice quiz. Pick the best-written sentences. Have a look — it will improve your writing.
May
9th
Fri
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Punk’s DIY ethic meant that musicians got past the suck threshold faster than, say, a concert pianist. You can become a punk guitarist in 10 minutes. You’ve arrived. Form a band. After that, you have a life time to get better. How much does a reader need to be a ‘punk’ programmer, web designer, or site builder? Can your book teach them this first, and then spend the rest making them better?

Punk’s DIY ethic meant that musicians got past the suck threshold faster than, say, a concert pianist. You can become a punk guitarist in 10 minutes. You’ve arrived. Form a band.

After that, you have a life time to get better.

How much does a reader need to be a ‘punk’ programmer, web designer, or site builder? Can your book teach them this first, and then spend the rest making them better?

May
7th
Wed
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Seth's Blog: The Media markets

Drama sells news better than fact. If you want people to pay attention, you’d better find the dramatic angle.

Any time you teach anything, finding drama will help keep learners’ attention. Even if emphasizing drama means diluting the truth, readers will learn more overall. 
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The Engineer, the Computer Scientist and the Toaster Good story well illustrated.