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.
Friday, January 16, 2004
Back In The Saddle
Over the Christmas holidays, I was asked several times by various friends and family if I would consider writing another book. This caused me to think about my writing career... a topic which I had been expertly avoiding up until then. The free time over the holidays gave me a chance to reflect on my brief-yet-moderately-successful career as an author.
On top of this, my literary agent has sent me (and all her authors I presume) several emails so far in 2004 trying to find someone willing to write books on specific topics. That usually happens when she finds a publishing house that is desperate for some more Java books, or desperate for some more .NET books, or whatever the hot topic of the day is.
Having been an author on four book projects, I have a pretty good idea of what I would and would not want to get myself into if I were to step back into the saddle. As I mentioned in my last email, experience has taught me that I usually need more time when writing about areas in which I am less comfortable. The Javascript books were a breeze to write, since I am a Javascript expert. I have programmed using JavaScript at a high level for 8 years. The last MCSD .NET book was a lot harder to write, partly because my experience designing .NET software is much shorter. Don't get me wrong. I'm an MCSD, have experience in .NET and love programming in that environment.
But who is better to write a book about France, the one who has been there 3 times, or the one who has been there 20 times?
My agent's last email soliciting authors caught my eye. I replied to it, and she is currently trying to interest the publisher in signing me up to write an ASP.NET book. That should be fun to do. As long as I set up some rules in advance about the scope of the book and the schedule. I don't want to take what should be a fun process and turn it into a nightmare again.
