Book Archives - Page 4 of 6

July 25, 2011

Publishing: Physical or Not?

As I plow ahead with my plans for the Denali version of my book (good suprises to be announced when I talk about it in detail soon), I’m doing my research. In not wanting to compromise the content (meaning a larger page count), I keep running into one constant roadblock: a physical book and its cost to both you and me. This challenge has a few aspects.

First and foremost, let me say that I love “real” books and in tech books, I often prefer them. However, the higher the page count, the more the cost goes up. It’s a conundrum for authors such as myself that want to tackle topics properly. No one (including myself) is going to get rich off of doing a book, so that isn’t my motivation. If you want an eBook, that’s not going to be a problem. I own an eBook reader (the Sony PRS-950, and the PRS-505 before it). I do like eBooks as well, and the new book – no matter what the page count – will be available in the most popular formats (currently targeting PDF, ePub, and Kindle).

The publishing world has changed. With the closing of Borders here in the USA, my chances of getting the book on a shelf decreases immensely. Sure, we’ve got Barnes & Noble and smaller independents, but they’ve also got limited (and shrinking) shelf space that probably won’t be taken up by a self-published book even if they can get it from Ingram. I’m realistic. So why would I go through all the trouble to sell very few physical copies?
The number of print on demand publishers that can handle a book of the size I’m proposing is limited. I’m looking into costs now of what this will be. I really don’t want to charge you guys an arm and a leg just to get a physical book.
According to some research I’ve done, Amazon is not keeping print on demand books that they don’t publish. If I go with someone other than Create Space, that makes getting a physical book frustrating for everyone since Amazon is a pretty big distribution channel. Sure, that means you will be able to order it online, but from where? Obviously I can make it available via my site and I’m hoping it would show up elsewhere, but this is a very real and valid concern of mine.

I think many of you would like a physical option and I’m really trying to make that happen and at a reasonable cost. Will it be possible? Time will tell. Here are some options as I see them:

Print a limited run of physical books that would be done via preorders only. Once they’re gone, they’re gone and eBook will be the only option. Maybe I would do another run if demand was there to do another run. I live in an apartment and really don’t have the space to have cases and cases of books that will never sell. That’s just an expense and physical limitation I cannot afford.
Figure out the whole distribution thing with print on demand, but that is still a really big question mark. This would allow you to get a printed book until the end of time. This would clearly be the best option if it’s available. Stay tuned.
Only offer an eBook, and eschew the idea of a physical book altogether. This would sadden me – trust me. This is a last resort option. However, it would allow you to print the sections you want on your own. For example, want only the clustering how-to stuff printed? That’s all you would get if you printed that yourself. I see a big upside to choice in doing that. If I do go down this road, I would probably offer some sort of multi-format deal allowing you a copy for your eReader and the straight PDF, which would make it easier to print. Obviously in terms of cost, having just an eBook will keep things reasonable, even with a larger reference book as the one I am aiming to do.

There’s one other distinct advantage to only being an eBook: I can publish very soon after Denali is released. That’s a pretty big advantage to everyone – readers and author alike!

Note to publishers out there: if you’re willing and interested to take this book on, I’m all ears. Use the Contact Allan link above.

July 21, 2011

Do You Like Your Writing Boring? Me Neither

In a brief Twitter conversation with Wendy Pastrick (blog | Twitter), who is also another great SQL person out there (just incase you didn’t know), she had this to say:
“I do wish whitepapers were more interesting of a read at times. I’ve fallen asleep on a few.”
I couldn’t agree more, and let me expound on that. (Hey, it’s my blog so I could do it anyway!)

If you don’t know, I’ve written quite a bit over the years (check out some of the links on the main SQLHA.com site which has some of them) including the books I’ve authored or co-authored. I’m always doing some kind of content, and doubt I’ll ever stop. However, when I’ve done some writing for clients, every now and then I’ll get the comments back that the writing style is not formal enough or that I use some colloquial phrases which won’t fly (oops! there’s one …). While I see their point, and in some cases they are probably right, I’ll go back to Wendy’s quote. Most people would rather it be a bit less formal and easy to read than stiff as a board. There is a happy medium somewhere that blends readability with great technical content. They do not need to be mutually exclusive.

I’m not saying more formal writing does not have its place nor were my reviewers wrong. In some cases over the years, reviewers were absolutely, 100% correct. Sometimes things can be a little too informal … and that’s why I have reviewers actually look at not only accuracy of content, but readability. Both are very important not only to me, but you, the reader. If you have content that is well written but sucks in terms of its technical accuracy, why even bother? Same for the reverse: if it is technically right but hard to read and ultimately misses its audience, it’s a waste of time for everyone involved.

I do want to say one thing about reviewers. I always read every comment they write – good or bad. Good ones will call me out on everything, even down to a missing period or a misspelling. If I blundered something technical, absolutely flog me. I have no ego about it. Did I completely miss something I should have talked about? Let me know. Sometimes it’s possible to add, in other cases, no for various reasons that could be their own blog post (ah, politics!).

With lots of reviews come lots of opinions. I often get polar opposites (loved it/hated it). At the end of the day, I need to figure out which one to go with and stick to my decision. I try to take consensus. If there is a lone dissenter, they’re often an outlayer (outside of being technically wrong). If it’s a lot of folks, genuine issue. If it’s some but not all, I need to think about it a bit more. One of the advantages of having multiple reviewers is that it’s invaluable, but it’s also a bit of a curse because it does add a lot of work for an author.

Back to the topic at hand. If doing a whitepaper or training course for someone like Microsoft or another company (which may or may not have my name attached to it), chances are it needs to be a bit more formal. Using colloquial phrases can be problematic even in informal writing because they are not always universal around the world. For example, saying something like, “Boy, implemeting things like this is like taking a swing for the fences and striking out.” While you can get the meaning from the context, it’s a baseball reference. Baseball is far from a universally known sport, let alone its idiosyncrasies and nuances. Over the years I’ve become much better at recognizing that and most of it gets excised before final drafts, but it does not always happen. So I apologize in advance if you do not always get some of that stuff in a publication that has me associated with it.

Having said that, I do rely on editors in this entire process. While I try to catch a lot of this kind of stuff, it’s really up to them to a large degree to try to fix any wording or verbiage that is not up to snuff, or mark it so I can deal with it. Good editors excel at this and bad ones miss it entirely. Every client may even have a “house style” as to how they prefer something to sound/read, and I’m fine with that – they just need to let me know.

Bottom line: realize before you get something to read, it’s been through a lot of people’s hands. One thing with editors that I’ve found is that if they are unfamiliar with SQL Server, sometimes they’ll alter wording in a way that is wrong so I’ll have to work with them to come up with something that works for both of us. Trust me, there’s a lot of work that goes into writing a document that no one ever sees. If it was easier, I think more people would do it (if they like to write, that is; most people hate to compose documentation of any sort).

I’ve had quite a few people over the years after reading some of my stuff (especially my 2005 and 2008 books) that they can hear “my voice” in them. That’s great, because I tend to think that people who know me or have possibly seen me speak can see that. One of the hardest things to do is take concepts that could be difficult or complex, and make them either relatable or easy to understand. For me, it’s not unlike writing a fiction story. What do I mean by that?

Whenever I sit down to write something, especially a whitepaper or book, I try to figure out who my audience is and what story I want to tell. You need to start out at A and end up at Z. The thoughts need to be coherent and build on one another. For example, I’ve always maintained you can’t really talk about SQL Server failover clustering without understanding and explaining the Windows side of things. It’s why I put it in my books and cover it before I talk about the SQL part. However, when I explain the Windows side, I do it from a SQL perspective and address it that way so it ties everything together. So even though Windows is a bit of a left turn, it’s all part of the same thing. It’s up to me as the author, to tie it all together and wrap it up into a neat bow.

A big thanks to Wendy for inspiring this blog post, and all of this is quite relevant as I embark on the planning process for the Denali followup to the 2000, 2005, and 2008 books. By the time you see that book, the content will have been vetted technically by reviewers, massaged and altered (probably a few times), and had its makeup applied so it looks pretty for you. I’ll make a more formal announcement of my plans for the Denali book soon … it’s shaping up nicely.

July 6, 2011

The Economics of Content

Hello everyone! Long time no speak. I’ve been pretty heads down working with a customer and finally have a moment to breathe. Today’s blog post should hopefully spark some debate … or maybe not. We’ll see.

On a newsgroup I’m part of, the topic came up that the previous SQL MVP Deep Dives book was up on a torrent site for all the world to grab. That generated some interesting comments, especially since that book’s profits are for charity. However, what it boils down to is this: unless the author and/or publisher intended on that being out there for free, it’s illegal. I first tackled one aspect of this topic back in January with the post “IP, You P, We All Want Some Free IP”. I already pointed out how the music industry has been affected by illegal downloading there and won’t rehash that. As authors or publishers, we can’t ignore the fact that physical product is slowly harder to move, and eBooks are on the rise. You have to offer it in different formats to appeal to different audiences. This blog post, unlike the last, is not talking about copying blog content here as I did in that post. I’m talking about taking a copyrighted work and blatantly putting it out there with no regards to the fact it is a copyrighted work.

We all know about warez sites. I’m sure many of us as kids (whether we started on 300 baud modems or with the Internet) downloaded software for free. As I got older and then became part of the industry, I saw how doing that can hurt the bottom line. As a musician, I know the pain of paying $600 for a piece of software, but if it keeps me getting new versions and the company afloat, I’m for it. A company is not a charity. Sure, things like USB dongles and other software protection can get annoying, but they wouldn’t have to resort to such measures if people would stop trying to circumvent it and place it on some site for all the world to steal.

A book is no different. With eBooks being so popular these days, it’s not difficult to get one in PDF (or similar) format. However, buying it once and sending it to all your friends is not cool. Neither is posting it up to a site for everyone to grab. Digital rights management (DRM) makes things harder (and less portable), but vendors wouldn’t have to go there more often than not if people paid.

Think of this another way. What would you do if your boss came to you one day and told you that they loved your work, and they assume you do too, so they just won’t pay you because why pay for something you enjoy doing? I’m sure that would go over like a ton of lead bricks. Or what if you were a consultant, delivered 6 months of work only to be told, “Thanks, but we don’t feel like paying you.” Again, lead bricks. I’m sure many of you already face some economic hardships due to the economy and may have even been asked to take pay cuts just to keep your job. You want to be compensated, so why shouldn’t a content author?

Now put yourself in the author’s shoes. Most of us make very little to nearly no money on books as is, and you’re going to take that away from us, too? Come on. And in the case of the SQL MVP Deep Dives book, you are affecting charity recipients. The authors donated their time and writing efforts (as will be the case with the SQL MVP Deep Dives 2 book which I contributed to). That literally is stealing for all the wrong reasons.

I know I’m not going to sway many of you. I’m sure I’ll hear comments like:

I can’t afford to buy it, so isn’t it better that I have the right information than not?
In theory, yes. In reality, no. I know even $30 – $50 US for a book is a lot for some. I’m not blind to that. But why should I then spend months writing a book that I will see very little to no return investment on? As is, I can tell you I didn’t come close to getting rich on my other books (most I lost money on if you really work out the hourly wage). I want people to have the right information, but at whose expense? I’ve got plenty of other work on my plate that I don’t need to wrtie another book, but I do. I write books for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is I can get everything in one place and expand on things I can’t always expand upon in a 60 minute talk. It’s also much more satisfying to me than a blog post long term. But why should I do it when I get nothing in return – even if it is $.01?
It’s just one copy. How am I harming anyone?
I truly hope no one is that naive. ’nuff said.
If it’s out there, it’s out there.
True, but it doesn’t make it right. Just because you didn’t put it up on some torrent site doesn’t absolve you. One person commented that they saw some contractors who could clearly afford a book going up to the Internet and passing around copies of a book like it was candy.

As a fellow professional – whether you are a developer, IT admin, DBA, etc. – you should have some respect for not only the authors and their efforts, but know right from wrong. You know that downloading it for free (unless it’s intended to be free) is illegal. Period. Maybe you don’t give a rat’s behind. I can’t be your conscience. I consider people like Kalen Delaney and Brent Ozar friends, but I actually purchased their books (Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Internals and Professional SQL Server 2008 Internals and Troubleshooting) . I actually bought them more than once – I’ve got electronic and physical copies. I didn’t ask for a free copy as a friend.

This post won’t stop piracy of content, be it books, music, movies, or software. But I hope it gives some of you a pause before you steal content, especially if that content’s proceeds are for a charity.

All of this is going through my head as I embark on my Denali book … or maybe not. I really am doing the math in my head to ensure the large effort will be worth it.

A thief is a thief, as one friend so eloquently pointed out. Don’t be one.

February 15, 2011

Tweet, Message Board Post, Blog Post, Whitepaper, Or Book?

As I’ve started to use social media a bit more, it’s been an interesting experiment. Those who know me know that before blogging, Facebook, and Twitter, I did just a little bit of writing (insert sarcastic laugh here). I resisted Twitter for awhile and am still a bit iffy about it to be dead honest. I’m warming up to it.

Using Twitter has been informative on a few levels. Twitter has a basic limitation of 140 characters for a tweet, so if you exceed that (natively, not using another tool which allows more), you need multiple lines. The #sqlhelp hash tag is a great example where you may need multiple tweets to get an answer out.

This really begs the question: what is the best format for what you want to say? A single tweet? A post on a message board looking for responses that are more detailed? A blog post which will be more informative and detailed but not a tome? A whitepaper which can have more content than a blog post? Or do you just write a whole damn book?

Since I’ve done all of the above (in spades!), here’s some advice:

If you’re going to use the #sqlhelp hash tag with a complex question (for example, don’t ask for advice on a high availability architecture and expect a 140 character response that is definitive), put a link to a message board or somewhere similar (even a blog post) that people can respond in more detail.

As a responder – and I’m just as guilty on Twitter sometimes – having multiple answers is sometimes necessary, but if it gets too much, you may want to have the person contact you directly or blog about it. For me, Twitter is hard to follow versus a message board because of the lack of built-in, easy-to-use threading. As I know people do like to see resolutions on #sqlhelp because it may help them, it’s tough.

Having said that, I find #sqlhelp almost more immediate than, say, the MSDN or TechNet forums. There’s something very cool about that.

A tweet shouldn’t necessarily lead to a blog post or something bigger, but it may spark ideas.

If you like to blog (and who isn’t blogging these days?), the next logical step is something like a whitepaper. I find many people have short attention spans, so I try to keep my blog posts reasonable short (relatively speaking of course) and focused. Some people may do a series of related blog posts to break a topic up. That series may equate to a whitepaper. Personally, when I know I want to do a bigger topic.

Writing a whitepaper is easier than you think. Some tips:

1. Get it tech reviewed. Even the best of us have some things which are wrong or makes sense to us the way we word it but not to others.
2. If possible, get it edited by someone who does it for a living. It really does help.

That said, like a tweet or a blog post, sometimes you have a lot to say. I find most people’s tolerance for a whitepaper under 40 or 50 pages of text. If you’re writing a 181 page whitepaper, that’s pretty much a book.

Clearly a book is a big commitment. These days you can self publish if you really want. I’ve talked about it, Brent Ozar (blog | Twitter) has blogged about it, but don’t write a book if you expect to get rich. Do it because you want to and are passionate about the subject you are presenting. You employ all the techniques you would at the smaller levels, just on a much grander scale.

The problem I find with more instant media such as Twitter and blogging is that while it’s often right and good, there’s just as much out there that is bad and incorrect and can cause harm. Even if what is said is technically correct, it could be the wrong advice for some. You need to always put things in proper context. Before I say anything else, let me say I am far from perfect. I do get things wrong at times and if I do, I post corrections or note it in a way that people can see what the right answer is. The last thing I need is someone saying, “Well, Allan said this and it caused my <insert thing here> to fail.” Ugh.

The other mediums such as whitepapers and books tend to have reviewers who will ensure that things are right and the messaging is on point. Even that is a tricky process because if you get multiple opinions about something, it’s up to the author to make “the call”.

It’s great that we have all of this content out there and the ability to do our own – we just need to choose the right one for our messages!

January 7, 2011

SQL Server Denali, HADRON/AlwaysOn, Windows Server Enterprise, and My Denali Book

So many of you may have noticed I haven’t said much about the new high availability stuff coming in Denali that was announced back at PASS in November. Well, besides being busy, I have known about it and seen it for quite awhile through various NDA sessions, and I’m just now finding the time to play with it using CTP1 of Denali.

Because the new availability feature (which has been affectionately been dubbed HADRON by many for now) requires a Windows failover cluster but is not a SQL Server failover cluster in the way you think about it now (more on that soon …), there has been a lot of debate whether the requirement of Windows Server Enterprise, which is the minimum edition that has the failover clustering feature, will be a barrier for deployment even if HADRON is implemented in SQL Server Standard. While I have posted a simple Yes or No poll, I’d love to see your detailed thoughts in the comments.

[poll id=”2″]

The reason this is interesting is that Windows Server Enterprise has always been the minimum version for clusters of any kind. And unlike SQL Server where the price vastly differs from edition to edition, the cost to go from Standard to Enterprise of Windows is not on the same magnitude.

Now, I’m also trying to figure out the format of my Denali book. A few questions:

[poll id=”3″]

I’m leaning towards one big one. This one is going to be more than a simple HA book … it’s going to be that plus more stuff.

[poll id=”4″]

Although I haven’t written about database mirroring or log shipping since my 2005 book, do you guys want to see me cover it in the Denali book?

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