Hi there. My name is Scott Duffy, and welcome to my book writing log. I have documented the process of writing my last two books on this site, and have started my third. This book will be called Visual Studio Team System In Action, and should be available in 2005.

Writing Books Just For Fame

I had my first book published in late 2002. Although I had written another book in 2001, it never got published so it was kind of hard to say I was an author.

But I am discovering recently that having written some books helps me land contracts. Last year, during the interview for a job, my future boss introduced me to the owner of the company. "This is Scott Duffy. He's written some books, and he is going to be helping us on this project." That impressed the owner, and it gave me my first lesson in how being an author can impress someone (especially if they are not technically inclined).

Recently, I got another dose of this type of introduction. Again, I was at a new client, and one of my fellow team members introduced me to a group of other programmers by saying something like, "He's written a few books.". I could tell that this comment was meant to impress my new co-workers, and I can also tell that it apparently did.

I find that actually having one or both of the books on me during the interview makes the "author" credential 100 times more effective. Without the actual book, most interviewers discount the importance of having written a book. But when I bring the actual book, and people see it was published by a well-known publisher (Osborne) and can be purchased in almost any book store, the interviewer appears to be genuinely impressed. I can tell that they didn't totally understand that when I said I had written a book, I meant a "real" book, until they saw it. Bringing the book is key.

I also often give a free copy of the book to interviewers who I think might be able to use it. So if I am being interviewed by a technical project manager, I offer to let them keep the book to give to their full-time staff. If they keep the book around the office, my name is on the cover and they will always remember how they got it. Even if I don't get the contract right away, having that book on someone's bookshelf might one day result in something good.

Although I can't prove it, I think giving the book during the interview helps me get the job. Not that someone would be swayed by a $20 book as a bribe. But again it keeps my name in their head. Think of it like this. Most companies interview 5 to 10 people these days to fill one job. The problem is, after interviewing so many people, only 1 or 2 candidates from the bunch will stand out and be remembered. The rest will be easily forgotten. I plan on being one of those easily remembered candidates. And I will pay the cost of 1 of my books for that shot.

Anyways, ultimately, there are many reasons to write a book. One of the reasons I wrote my first book was for the impression it would make on potential clients. That has worked out very well for me. In fact, I should buy a few more books to ensure I can keep doing that for quite some time more.