how to write computer books

4 steps, 5 stars

To get a 5 star Amazon review, follow these 4 simple steps. The steps are simple to write down, at least. Carrying them out is hard — but much easier once you know what they are.

1. Teach people things they want to learn. Computer books are usually practical — they teach readers how to do things. Even theoretical books should teach theories that the reader can put into practice. If you find yourself writing things that the reader won’t want to learn then you’re already dropping stars. Always ask: what will this material help readers to do? If the answer is “nothing”, or something that they likely won’t care about, then drop it.
2. Teach them in the right order. A book needs to be logically organized, but unless it’s a reference it needs to be engaging all the way through too. Imagine if Star Wars was organized “logically”. All the funny bits were together, then all the sad bits, then all the violent bits, then all the cool bits. That might make it easier to find the scene you’re looking for — but it wouldn’t be much of a movie. Ask yourself: now that the reader has learned this, what will they want to learn next? You might be teaching readers something useful — but if they can’t see why it’s useful at the time when they read it you’re still dropping stars. Can you move the content later, to when its usefulness is apparent? Or at least explain why it’s useful, and when they can use it…
3. Present concepts in the right way. Straight forward description is only one way to explain or illustrate ideas. Ask yourself, what’s the best way to get this concept / idea / knowledge into the reader’s head? A table? A diagram? A list? An example? A metaphor? What sort of example? What’s the metaphor? Make these decisions as part of your plan. Don’t make readers work hard to extract your meaning for a complex description — find the clearest way to get it across. Here’s a clue: if it’s hard to write, then it’s probably hard to read.
4. Write well. Once you know what you’re writing and in what order, and roughly how you’re going to present it, you need to use English as well as you can: word choice, grammar, and punctuation are all important. It is important, but if you get the other 3 steps right then most readers will be too busy learning to quibble about your grammar.