Scott Duffy's Book Writing Log

Publishing Existing Content

2006-07-05T00:54:00.000-04:00

Four years ago, I put many hundreds of hours of work into a book entitled "JavaScript 2 Black Book". That book never got published, because the publisher went out of business. JS2 Black Book is still listed on Amazon.com today, although it says "Out of Print". Ha! It was never In Print!

Until today.

I've decided, as a precursor to writing a book from scratch, to release the old JavaScript 2 Black Book to the world. It is available as of now on Lulu at the following URL:

http://www.lulu.com/content/355459

I am going through the book page by page, and updating content that is no longer relevant. Some things are being deleted, and some things are being added. That will take some time, but hopefully not too much time. And so this first batch is only the first chapter, with new chapters to be added each week.

I hope by the end of August 2006 to have the entire book available. Since I am releasing it chapter by chapter, of course those that buy the book now will be entitled to the entire thing (by PDF) when it is complete. Simply email me a copy of the lulu.com receipt and I will glady email you the whole thing when it's ready.

Much thanks to anyone who purchases this book. I'll keep you updated at this blog as to the progress, as new content is being added.

Advice To New Authors

2006-07-03T16:23:00.000-04:00

The book publishing industry is having some serious problems right now.

Five years ago, I was paid an advance royalty that equated to $7-$10 for every hour that I worked on that book. It was not great wages for the time invested, but I figured I was a new author and things would improve over time.

Three years ago, I was paid an advance that worked out to $5-$7 for every hour of work. And last year I was paid $4 per hour.

In Canada today, minimum wage is above $7 per hour. Honestly, authors are now making less than minimum wage - it's a serious problem.

Now certainly part of the problem is that computer book sales are on the decline from the pre-2000 peak. The availability of free information off the Internet is a big part of that decline. Google killed the computer book author.

So my advice to new authors is, make sure you are in it for the right reasons.

If there is a book inside you that is dying to get out, by all means write it down and publish it. But if you are thinking you can sell 100,000 books at $40 a copy and then retire in the Bahamas, it doesn't work that way.

I am a bit tired of the traditional book publishing route as it is. They push you to set aggressive deadlines for each chapter submission, and then push you to meet those deadlines. "We have to have the book on the store shelves by September 1, so that means you have to have the manuscript complete by April 1."

And they always have a target number of pages, and complain to you if you are 20-30 pages below the target. "We asked for 340 pages and you only delivered 320." To me, there is nothing worse than having to repeat yourself or stretch out an example for a page or two longer than necessary. Brevity is an art form.

I am investigating the site Lulu.com to publish my next book. I am going to pick a topic, take my time to write it, read it and reread it a few times to make sure I am happy with it, and publish it myself. I get to keep more of the revenue, so I can make more money by selling less books. There are also options to get an ISBN number, get professional layout and cover design done, and get listed on sites like Amazon.com.

I will be starting this blog again to keep you updated on the progress.

Here we go!

Chapter 3 Hour By Hour

2005-04-14T00:51:00.000-04:00

April 14
12:52 am: 1,141 words
2:05 am: 1,730 words (8 words per minute? Ugh. 13 hours left at current pace.)
3:01 am: 2,175 words (still 8 words per minute. Seems to be average for me.)
4:02 am: 3,282 words (18 words a minute. Whoo! And time is flying.)
5:09 am: 3,792 words (8 words per minute again.)
5:45 am: 4,175 words (time for bed - i'll pick it up again tomorrow night.)

April 15
10:30 pm: 4,175 words (start writing again.)
11:32 pm: 4,391 words (but I have been working on tables and figures, which take up lots of space with very little words, so 2 full pages have been written so far tonight.)
12:56 am: 5,020 words (7.5 words per minute)
1:29 am: 5,308 words (8.7 words per minute; getting tired)
2:30 am: 6,000 words (nice round number, not on purpose though; 11 words per minute)
3:22 am: 6,433 words (final - ready for submission version)

Target: 8,000 words (well, I didn't quite make that, but that's ok since I made my page count.)

Chapter 2 Out The Door

2005-03-17T03:54:00.000-05:00

Whoot!

Last night I decided to go to sleep shortly after blogging. I decided that it was better to delay the submission by one day than to stay up until 8am.

So tonight I finished the chapter. I even had time to go over it one more time, top to bottom, doing lots of minor edits. I love the "last proofread" edit. As an author, you want the chapter to have good continuity throughout. If you use the term "portfolio project" early in the chapter, and then settle on "team project" near the end, that final edit will catch it.

Anyays, to bed. I had an incredible night writing. Listening to New Order. I just purchased their Best Of... and Rest Of... albums and that got me through the night in blazing speed.

Chapter 2 was 8,156 words with 11 figures.

Chapter 2 Still Coming

2005-03-16T03:10:00.000-05:00

Here it is, 3 o'clock in the morning, and I have promised my editor I would submit the next chapter by tomorrow morning (or should I say, this morning).

And so I have made the decision to keep writing until either the chapter is done, or I am done.

With 6,300 words under my belt, and a target of 8,500, I still have a way to go. At 500 words per hour, I still have about 4 hours of writing left. Can I do it all tonight (and be a wreck at work tomorrow), or should I decide to be another day late with it? I have done two nights in a row at work until 11pm, so delaying will only work if I can come home early.

I'll have to decide soon.

Rediscovering the Passion for Writing

2005-03-14T01:52:00.000-05:00

There is no denying it... I love writing. Between the blogs that I keep, and the books that I write, I can't ever see myself giving it up.

Don't get me wrong. Writing a book is a lot of work. But once you get going - once you get into a groove - the words just come flowing out of you, and before you know it another chapter is done.

Tonight, I wrote 2,000 words in about 4 hours. That's a blistering pace of 500 words per hour. Some might think that is a fast pace, while others see that as being slow. To me, it feels fast however I am always shocked to discover that I "only" wrote 2,000 words after what felt like an extremely productive night.

Of course, many things interfere with the creating of a computer book:
* Creating figures and illustrations (typically screen shots)
* Creating sample code
* Doing some impromptu research on the topic you are writing about (ie: compiling a list of vendors that will support something)

Each of those take time, and don't count towards the 500 words per hour pace. So really I spent 30 minutes writing 500 words, and 30 minutes taking screen shots, doing research, downloading and installing extra software, and just playing with what I am supposed to be writing about.

By the way, the Team System book is coming along nicely. Chapter 2 is at 4,000 words (with 9 figures so far), and I have another 6-8 hours of work left to finish it off.

Catching Up With My Children

2005-03-09T22:27:00.000-05:00

It feels like it's been a long time since I checked out what was happening with the two books I have already written and published. At least a year. I was surprised by some of the things that I found:

* A University course that recommends my JavaScript book as part of its syllabus (suggested references)
* Amazon.com currently ranks it as 4.5 stars, with 5 reviews. It's sales rank is 18,000 which is a lot higher than it has been in the past
* My book can be bought for as little as $3 (ugh, no royalties on that I bet)
* My JavaScript book is cited in another book, Microsoft Office Frontpage 2003: The Complete Reference

2005-02-28T02:52:00.000-05:00

Lest you think I found the one store in all of Asia that carried it, another book store in the same mall had 3 copies! If my book is stocked round the world, where are my royalties?

2005-02-28T02:49:00.000-05:00

Recently spotted in Manila, Philippines: two copies of my How To Do Everything With JavaScript book. Mabuhay!

Where Am I?

2005-02-24T17:41:00.000-05:00

I don't want to cause anyone to be worried, least of all my publisher, so I decided to stop by and say hi. So, HI.

Over the past couple of months I have been extremely busy (work, Christmas, January vacation), and work on the book came to a grinding halt.

Of course, it wouldn't have been so bad, except I could not get the October CTP of Visual Studio Team System properly installed. I must have installed it more than 20 times. I even reformatted the hard drives and reinstalled Windows a dozen or so times. It was hell. Oops, I mean "h-e-double-hockey-sticks". Sorry Mom.

The good news is that Microsoft has release another version of Team System, called the December CTP. I have contacted them, and a new DVD is on its way apparently. Hopefully, this install will be truly painless.

Also, I have been able to continue writing the second chapter. Last night, I wrote 4 more pages. I have given myself just over 1 week to complete this one. And 6 days per chapter thereafter.

So, watch out world. Another Team System book is coming down the tracks. It will kick all of the other Team System books in the... uh, nevermind.

How to Break Writer's Block

2004-11-18T19:16:00.000-05:00

From Boing Boing:

Hack your way out of writer’s block

Mark Frauenfelder: Merlin Mann of 43 Folders has a great list of ways to break through writer's block.
Write crap - Accept that your first draft will suck, and just go with it. Finish something.
Unplug the router - Metafilter and Boing Boing are’ât helping you right now. Turn off the Interweb and close every application you d’nât need. Consider creating a new user account on your computer with none of your familiar apps or configurations.
Write the middle - Stop whining over a perfect lead, and write the next part or the part after that. Write your favorite part. Write the cover letter or email ’ouâll send whe’ itâs done.
Link

My favourite method is "just write". Write crap but just write.

Chapter 1 Out The Door

2004-10-25T04:32:00.000-04:00

It's 4:30 am once again. This will become a familar theme in the coming months, although I was hoping to avoid that this time around. I find, though, that the middle of the night is perfect for writing as there are no distractions. No TV, no wife (sorry, honey). I can sit in my office undisturbed and focused.

Unfortunately, these late nights usually ruin me the next day. So I will definitely try to keep these late nights to a minimum.

Anyways, at 8,423 words, I am ready to send chapter 1 to my publisher for review. I am fairly happy with it - I achieved all of the key things I wanted to. I set the stage for all the cool features in Team System, set a light hearted tone, provided some good figures for illustration... all in all, I'm happy with it. I hope my editor agrees.

Mood: 7/10. Glad to be done, but tired.

Chapter 1 Interim Update

2004-10-24T04:33:00.000-04:00

It's 4:30am, and I think I should try and get a few hours sleep before resuming writing in the morning. I am at 5,187 words and have made some great progress tonight. Before you drop your jaw and think "Hey, he only wrote 1,400 words in 12 hours or so", I should say my wife and I spent several hours having dinner with friends tonight, so I only resumed writing at 1am...

1,400 words in three hours gives you a reasonable idea on how long it takes to write a book...

Mood: 6/10
On the plus side: Made good progress tonight
On the minus side: It's 4:30am, and I'm not feeling very well

Still Trying to Deliver Chapter 1

2004-10-23T13:13:00.000-04:00

Here I sit, on Saturday October 23, trying to complete the first chapter of what I think will be a great book on Team System. I say this because there are tons of cool features to cover. Having an extremely interesting subject matter makes writing a book so much easier.

Writing has been going good today, and I've added a few more pages. I am at 3,748 words so far, but I will get that closer to 6,000 words before submitting it to the publisher tomorrow.

Mood: 8/10

Good Writing Day

2004-10-10T16:35:00.000-04:00

I had an excellent few hours of writing today. Unfortunately, it was cut short to run off for Thanksgiving dinner. Now at this point, my American friends are saying, "Thanksgiving in October? Are you out of your mind?"

Well, Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in Canada. We are celebrating the fall harvest, which happens a little earlier up here due to the cold.

Overall, today was a 8/10. Slow start, but got into a groove.

It's All Coming Back To Me

2004-10-04T01:11:00.000-04:00

Today, I spent most of the day installing the Visual Studio Team System software -- getting to know my patient, so to speak. For the next few months, I will be poking and prodding this thing, trying to convince it to surrender it's secrets. And today is the day I let it know who was boss.

OK, maybe that's a tad melodramatic. You can forgive a guy for looking at such a mundane task as installing software all day as something a bit more exciting than it is.

I feel a bit like Wil Wheaton tonight. "I am a professional author." Sure, I only earn a small percentage of my income from writing, but that qualifies as an author nonetheless. It's odd, but for the last few years I have pretty much gotten into a daily habit of writing. I write this blog, and 3 or 4 others. Besides programming, I spend a little of each day at work writing specifications and other technical documents. And some would say my emails tend to be on the long side - I can spend several hours crafting the perfect email.

So, in writing a book, the actual writing is not a problem for me. If I know what I want to say, I can say it.

That's a big "if"...

The thing about writing a book is that publishers, of course, expect their books to be in a certain format. In the olden days, before the Microsoft Word and the personal computer changed the face of writing, an author just had to ensure his typewriter was set to double space. Now, authors must make their manuscript conform to specific MS Word templates - ensuring every character is formatted correctly.

The challenge is learning all of the template styles, and when to use them. How do I format a bullet list again? How can I insert a table here?

Luckily, the publisher provides several examples and other documents to help you figure this all out. But this is the hardest part of writing Chapter 1... not what to write, but how to format it. It's all coming back to me now.

Chapter One, Page One

2004-09-27T01:15:00.000-04:00

Well, I sat down tonight and finally started doing some actual writing. I got almost 3 pages down, in a period of about 2 hours.

Yes, I know 3 pages in 2 hours seems slow. But that's a great pace for me. If I can get the first chapter done in about 20 hours of work, I will be extremely happy.

Part of the challenge of writing the first few pages of a book, of course, is that I need to accomplish several things in chapter 1 that aren't a problem in later chapters:

* I want to capture the reader's attention - I don't want my book to be boring

* I want write to the level of the intended audience - I don't want to say things my readers won't understand, nor things my reader already knows

* It will set the tone for the rest of the book - a good first chapter makes a good book, a bad first chapter makes a bad book

The list could go on a bit longer, but I think you get my point. I want Chapter 1 to be a grand-slam home run - it will make my job easier for the next couple of months.

So far, so good. I like the way the book looks so far. It was fairly easy to write the first few pages.

Progress: 3 pages. 806 words.
Mood: Excellent, 10/10.

So, What's This Book Then?

2004-09-26T23:54:00.000-04:00

As previously mentioned, I've signed a deal to write my third book. (Well, technically speaking it will be my fourth book, since my first book never got published.) The title of the book (at this point) is:

Visual Studio Team System In Action

Microsoft Visual Studio Team System is collection of software development tools designed to improve the productivity of development teams and quality of the software created by those teams. I have another blog at which I talk more about the technology inside Team System.

I have committed to write a manuscript of 350 pages. Luckily, I have several months to complete this project, so I will have the time to polish each chapter before having to send it in. It's been my experience that when I am forced to write more than 1 chapter per week, I don't have as much time to edit and re-edit as I would like.

When writing, for each subsection in a chapter, I typically go through a process similar to the following:
1) I decide what point I would like to get across in this section of the book
2) I write several paragraphs or pages to make that point
3) I go back over each sentence, revising words to clarify what I wanted to say. I add examples where required, move things around, or cut things out completely. Often, I find myself completely rewriting things if I don't like they way it had turned out.

So, having the extra time to do a proper job is one of the most appealing things about this project for me (second, of course, to the subject itself).

Over the next couple of months, as the book progresses, I will journal my progress here. If anyone has any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to add them.

Book Deal Signed

2004-09-23T15:55:00.000-04:00

A couple of days ago, I put pen to paper and signed with Manning Publications for my next book. This one has got me *really* psyched. The topic is super-interesting, and I hope to do a really good job with it.

I'm not ready to reveal the topic or title yet, but I will say it has something to do with Microsoft technologies. My last book was on the Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) program. My new book will deal with a Microsoft software title.

In fact, one of the coolest aspects for me (so far, at least) is how I took the chance at asking someone at Microsoft for help with the proposal, and they agreed to help me. Now that it has been approved, it looks like they are coming up with ways to help me that I could never have dreamed of. I might be invited down to Redmond, Washington to attend a demonstration. This is amazing and incredible. Words cannot describe how good I feel right now towards Microsoft as a whole, and these two Microsoft employees in particular.

I will get the book writing journal going again. You will be able to tune in here every few days for updates on how it's going - how many pages I've written, and what my mood is like. I hope every day will be a 10/10 on the mood scale - but I imagine to do a really excellent job on this I will have to suffer a few 2/10 days...

Up, up and away!

Do We Have a Deal?

2004-09-02T20:49:00.000-04:00

Well, it looks like one of the pending book deals came through. You'll be hearing more from me in the coming weeks on this, once the ink dries on the contract.

But the other one is still in a bit of limbo. There apparently has been some personnel changes at the publishers, and so the status of my proposal is unknown. Depends on how the new boss wants to proceed with pending projects.

I'm going to press my agent to find another deal, just in case. I really think 1 deal over the coming 6-12 months is not enough. I need 1 for now, and 1 for the winter. Possibly 1 for the spring too!

Still Here, Still Waiting

2004-08-21T01:12:00.000-04:00

Well, another week has passed, and not much progress has happened on the two book proposals.

The most promising one has been sent off to a few reviewers for comments. I was able to snag a couple of people from within Microsoft to review it, and hopefully they will give some incredible feedback to make this book the best one on the topic.

The other one has been held up by the acquisitions editor being on vacation. Hey, summer is the time for that. But I'm hoping to hear something early next week.

Have a good weekend to all!

Sitting Here, Patiently Waiting

2004-08-10T14:08:00.000-04:00

Of the two proposals I sent out Sunday night, I heard back on one of them. It's looking good.

I haven't heard back from the publisher yet on the other one. This is the one that I am ready to start writing right away. I mean, I want to get started today!

Of course, 24 hours is a bit fast to expect a response. Tomorrow, if I haven't heard anything, I'll send a short email asking if she received my proposal. I don't want to be pushy - especially since I was so tardy myself submitting the proposal in the first place. But I want to "strike while the iron is hot" and get going. Momentum is a terrible thing to waste.

Two Book Proposals Out The Door

2004-08-09T11:29:00.000-04:00

Last night, I was able to send two book proposals to two different publishers. Both books should be easy and fun to write, so I am hoping both are accepted.

One book will be printed in four-color, which means there is color on every page. That book will also be short (about 200 pages) and relatively inexpensive ($16.95 US).

The other book will be a bit longer (300 pages). But it will be about a new technology from Microsoft that has not been released yet. We are aiming to be first to market with this. Should be cool.

Ready to Ride Again

2004-07-30T15:20:00.000-04:00

I am just polishing up a book proposal for a small publishing firm in New York. I can't wait to get started writing it - this should be fun.

For the first time (for me), I am going to try and time my book release to the release of a software product. I have never before tried to be the first book out there. There were dozens of existing JavaScript books before my book came out, and likewise a handful of MCSD Study Guides before mine.

I am trying to give myself plenty of time to write this. This was my biggest problem with my last book project - the publisher wanted it done in just over a month. Let me tell you, I'll never again agree to write a book in a month. 3 months seems to be the minimum for me - especially since I work during the day, and can only write at night and on weekends.

Of course, part of the problem is I like to devote time to other important things, like my wife, sleep, family get-togethers, TV, etc. I find it hard to lock myself in a room for a month with no outside contact. Some can do it. I cannot.

MCSD Analyzing Requirements and Defining Solutions Architecture

2004-06-09T17:28:00.000-04:00

My MCSD study guide is apparently available as an e-book at http://www.books24x7.com/. For US$399 per year, you can have access to dozens (if not hundreds) of IT related books. Interesting concept.

I noticed this because on my most recent royalty statement, there is a credit in the amount of $47.62, which I suppose is my share of these electronic rights at Books 24x7...

I'll try not to spend it all in one place. ;)