Comments on: What it’s like to write a technical book, continued

By: John K

John K — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:30:36 +0000

I received my copy of the book from Amazon last nite, and spent about 6 hours reading and skimming.

I really appreciate the hard work, knowledge and attention to detail that went into it. It shows immediately on first reading.

I’m using the book right now to improve my log processing system.

Thanks!

By: Xaprb

Xaprb — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:29:43 +0000

Thanks Paul, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t censor myself. I just wanted to swing the pendulum back towards center a little here. :-)

By: Paul McCullagh

Paul McCullagh — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:08:18 +0000

Hi Baron,

Just because you think you were not quite fair to the editor, I hope this will NOT stop you from publishing this type of information again!!!

The point is: a BLOG is a personal opinion or experience.

Everyone knows that a blog is not necessarily objective. I think we all realized that it was your side of the story, and that there are always other sides to a story.

But it was important that you spoke about your frustrations honestly. This information is valuable BECAUSE:

Even if the publishers reactions are justified or understandable, it does NOT change the fact that others will experience the same frustrations!

A potential author must not expect that he will be exempt from these frustrations. But at least, after reading your blog, he can be prepared!

So thanks for the insight into your experiences. I certainly found it very interesting and useful.

Best regards,

Paul

By: Xaprb

Xaprb — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:12:07 +0000

Dunno. I know I notice clear writing. For example, Nagios System and Network Monitoring.

By: Kevin Marshall

Kevin Marshall — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:06:30 +0000

It’s a very interesting approach to checking the ‘clearness’ of your writing…I wonder how other books would fair against it? It would be a pretty interesting data set to review (how ‘clear’ various tech. books appear to be).