How to Write a Book

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.

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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.”

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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
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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

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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