+1 on Amazon. What's the draw for the book approach? Do you think you can sell enough copies to make it worthwhile? I'd tend to agree with Rod that you're probably not going to.
I'd disagree on the advice to just start writing and see what happens. You're going to end up rewriting I would expect. Make an outline, figure out what you want to talk about, and then start filling in the outline. Thanks, Brian Desmond [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> w - 312.625.1438 | c - 312.731.3132 From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rod Trent Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 5:29 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] Technical authoring Google's publishing arm? Why not Amazon? Are you looking to profit from it? Or, just create a resource? If you're looking to make money, there's no money to be made anymore in writing conventional books. A good friend of mine, David Stein, writes books through the Amazon process. I can connect you if interested... http://www.amazon.com/David-M.-Stein/e/B006BHXOFE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1381962349&sr=8-1 From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rankin, James R Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 6:18 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] Technical authoring I'm going to do an administrator's guide for AppSense DesktopNow. There are no books on it in existence besides the product manual, and I get regular emails from admins asking if there is a book I can recommend to them. So I guess I've got a bit of demand for it. I was going to use Google's publishing arm to publish it electronically first, and go from there...all advice around this is gratefully accepted. Sent from my BlackBerry, which may make me an antiques dealer, but it's reliable as hell for email delivery :-) ________________________________ From: Brian Desmond <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sender: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 21:48:17 +0000 To: [email protected]<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]%[email protected]>> ReplyTo: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: RE: [NTSysADM] Technical authoring I'd start with what are you planning to write about, who is going to buy it, and who is going to publish it? Thanks, Brian Desmond [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> w - 312.625.1438 | c - 312.731.3132 From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of James Rankin Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 4:04 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [NTSysADM] Technical authoring I forgot to say thanks to everyone for the excellent help regarding public speaking a month or so ago....the event went well, although I now know I have a distressing tendency to lapse deeper into my native accent when under pressure, but I am at least aware of that now :-) Anyways....my next project, now that my doctor has told me to drink less and sleep better, is to put together a technical book. So as with the public speaking, I am a total virgin in this arena as well....do any of the list members (obviously, particularly those with publications to their names) have any pearls of wisdom or resources or best practices to share? I'm a fairly accomplished writer - it's more layout, style, content, tips and hints I am after. I'm very quick at putting words down on paper so I'm hoping not to spend more than a few months on this, but I recognize this may be an unduly short period for a properly authored resource. As always, the help of the list is greatly appreciated and of immense value. Cheers, JR -- James Rankin Technical Consultant (ACA, CCA, MCTS) http://appsensebigot.blogspot.co.uk
