Anyone want to write an eBook in 2011?

[nudone]

You could write the book

Hehe.  In this particular case, I am quite certain that nudone, timns, and you Mouser (or surely at least two of the three) have coding experience/expertise surpassing my own.  Is the book going to cover C++ (in which I have zero background), or Java (in which I have even less), or C# (in which I have considerable background, but am not yet an expert)?

Or is it, rather, going to cover general programming principles, with examples from multiple languages?

I have, to be honest, been giving serious consideration to writing a mid-length book on programming, from scratch, a text-adventure game in C#.  Seems like books on programming games sell like hot-cakes.  However, I'm thinking about putting that off another year or two, until I get "C# 3.0 Design Patterns" and "C# Game Programming for Serious Game Creation" under my belt.

-kyrathaba (January 03, 2011, 07:24 AM)

I believe mouser's original idea was to do it in a kind of user friendly pseudocode - it is a introductory book about programming after all. Probably aimed at children.

[kyrathaba]

Hey, in that case, I'm in.  You guys just let me know what you need.  Would this be a freely available eBook, or something that would be sold?  Donationware?  What format(s) would it be offered in?

[CWuestefeld]

I hope I don't discourage anyone, but you ought to have your eyes open regarding what you're getting yourself into.

I'm a co-author of a real dead-tree-type technical book [1]. I did it with two other friends. I wrote about 40% of its 600 pages. The time investment necessary to accomplish this is tremendous. For about 6 months I invested every hour -- evenings and weekends -- that I wasn't actually at work (except I reserved Thursday night with my wife, we'd watch Friends together).

Now, I certainly got a great feeling of accomplishment out of this, and it's obviously good for putting on your resume. It will *not* get you rich.

But if you're looking to produce a substantial professional-quality book, be prepared for that kind of commitment.


[1] Inside ISAPI, which is a mostly-obsolete technology for building web sites. Actually, it was mostly obsolete almost from the time the book was published. See it described here.

[kyrathaba]

No hopes of great wealth, here. Just want the experience, sense of accomplishment, and any accolades that may accrue.

[kyrathaba]

I came across this MakeUseOf article today, and felt it relates closely to the personal interest of mine that prompted me to start this thread in the first place.  Have any of you had any experience on any of the seven sites, or related sites?  I think collaborative storytelling could be really fun!

[nudone]

looks interesting. will try to read through them soon.

[Paul Keith]

No longer need an e-book, just a blog: https://www.hyperink.com/

Cons:
-I didn't see any book I want to buy
-accepts blogs on a waiting list
-does not sort by author

Pros:
-Book to blog with plenty of popular blogger names
-Just submit blog url, no need to write anything
-Free preview including two books upon sign-up