How to Write a Book

The journey of technical writing from blogger to author.

Transcript

1. HOW TO WRITE A BOOK THE JOURNEY OF TECHNICAL WRITING FROM BLOGGER TO AUTHOR
2. 1. WRITE FOR YOURSELF 2. WRITE FOR OTHERS 3. WRITE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT
3. WRITE FOR YOURSELF In the beginning...
4. Oct 31, 2001 FIRST
5. BLOGGING Pick a topic.
6. BLOGGING You will become known for what you write about.
7. BLOGGING You can change your topic at any time.
8. BLOGGING Be first. Or second. Or third.
9. BLOGGING It doesn’t matter if someone else has done it before.
10. You’re going to suck
11. July 1, 2003 SUCK
12. BLOGGING An opportunity to practice writing.
13. BLOGGING An opportunity to validate an idea.
14. BLOGGING An opportunity to explore a concept.
15. BLOGGING Chunk your writing. Use headings. Use bullet points. Use pictures. Use code examples.
16. BLOGGING Don’t expect overnight success.
17. Apr 25, 2005 SUCCESS
18. PROMOTION Tweet Facebook Google+
19. “I wrote something that might interest you.”
20. PROMOTION Don’t harrass others for promotion.
21. PROMOTION Put it out there and let people share it for you.
22. PROMOTION Establish your personal brand and own it.
23. WRITE FOR OTHERS Expand your visibility.
24. WRITE FOR OTHERS Expand your visibility.
28. ONLINE MAGAZINES Like blogging Low barrier to entry Some sites even pay Establish links back to your site
29. ONLINE MAGAZINES Sitepoint A List Apart Smashing Magazine Tuts+
30. PRINT MAGAZINES .net magazine
31. WRITE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT “I’m an author.”
35. WRITING IS HARD You’ll severely underestimate the amount of research required.
36. WRITING IS HARD Expect a year.
37. PRINT Get a publisher. Self-publish.
38. PRINT Sitepoint
39. PRINT Apress
40. PUBLISHER BENEFITS Distribution Advance royalties Credibility Shelf space in bookstores
41. PUBLISHER BENEFITS Editors Tech reviewers Handle printing Handle book layout
42. SELF-PUBLISH Snook Printing Co.
43. SELF-PUBLISH BENEFITS Money. Money. Money. Take a Chance on Me Fernando Dancing Queen
45. WRITING THE BOOK Word (to your mother) DocBook Latex HTML
46. WHAT I DID PDF ePub mobi Web
47. HTML PDF ePub mobi Web
48. BUT? PDF ePub mobi Web
52. PRINCE XML Command line interface Converts HTML and CSS Supports Paged Media Supports font-face embedding
53. PRINCE XML Expensive. $495.
54. HTML-BASED PDF ePub mobi Web
55. DISTRIBUTION Amazon iBookstore Barnes & Noble PragProg LeanPub O’Reilly
56. OPEN A STORE ON SHOPIFY!
57. OPEN A STORE ON SHOPIFY!
58. THANK YOU. Twitter: @snookca Web: snook.ca