So You Want to Write a Book?

> “What is the difference between 2592 and 2^5 * 9^2? There is none because 25 equals 32, 92 equals 81 and 32 * 81 = 2592. 2592 is one of those numbers called printer error numbers. The concept is simple. If some digits of a number, without changing their position, are set to exponent without altering the value, then this number is a printer error number. Thus: numbers from printing error are different representations of the same number.

We were another little publishing house that released two, three technical books per year. Unfortunately, due to the previous owner, we made many errors (such as investing time and resources into a project that we found was a scam) and we lost part of our readers. Our former business was really a pain, tons of people high-paid only to waste time on stupid books. Economic crisis of 2008 and 2011 in Italy contributed to this and we losted earnings.

I am one of the previous employee and after a discussion with the former owner, we got the rights to redistribute the content. The old company was removed, and all the employee (10) were fired.

Currently we are focusing on re-editing our books and developing a solid business plan. We know it's a little bit ambitious to say pioneer, but we were one of the first technical publishing houses to release digital content in the early 90s (in Italy).

Chapter 3 gives some hints:

> Bookstores tell us that the thing they find most remarkable about our success is how consistently all of our books sell. In fact, Borders, the most respected and successful bookstore chain in the country, reports that ORA is their top publisher, in any category, in terms of consistent sell-through of our entire line of books. Other bookstores tell us that their customers often ask them for the “O’Reilly book” on a topic. Our reputation will help sell your book.

We do totally agree with you. Every publisher has different priorities: the previous owner aimed only to "make money" in a "super-simple-way" aka do not pay freelancers, authors unless they start to mention legal way.

Let us guess the company you applied for your book, Apress?

I would say that if you can commit to 1 hr per day for 2 years, or some other combination of effort, a book is do-able. In truth, that is too much for those with just a casual desire to write a book. If it is, maybe consider a short form writing format instead, such as a blog.

The most difficult part I found was mastering the documentation system and automation. This is important if you want to deliver to multiple target formats. Your book needs its own Continuous Integration system. The effort here pays for itself many times over. For concrete details, I documented my journey at https://github.com/faisalmemon/ios-crash-dump-analysis-book

The next most difficult (but fun) part of it is the primary research. Most of what you say in a book is known knowledge but just compressed down from upstream reading material into the story you want to convey. The extra piece is your own insight. To have a "solid" book, that piece must be rooted in some primary research (so you know what you are saying is "correct").

The actual "writing" part is the easy part! The main problems are stylistic errors but you can search the internet for tips to avoid the pitfalls. (e.g. avoiding repetition, being concise, avoiding complex words when a simple word fits better, etc.)

For spelling and grammar, I just exported to MS Doc format, and used its in-built checker. For proof reading, I just used the Mac text-to-speech facility to catch mistakes.

I was quite fearful of the response given my amateur approach but experienced quite the opposite. My book was well received. (Amazon 5 stars!).