Hello, my name is Dan. I write books about 21st Century technology by using 18th Century technology. Let me explain how that works.
The technology is “publishing.” It’s the process of taking something written and making it available to the general public, traditionally using paper as the medium. That’s the 18th Century part.
Though publishing today uses a lot of electronic technology, the process of getting my electric words into book form takes a long time. From the actual writing part — which takes several weeks if not a few months — to editing, production and layout, and printing, it takes at least four or five months to get out a book.
That timeframe is actually quite fast when compared with other book publishers. Technology titles are timely. Indeed, even the Goodwill doesn’t accept computer books more than 18 months old. But for that novel you’re writing, it could take about 18 months between the time you turn it in to the publisher and see it on a bookshelf.
ePublishing is fast because it removes the paper from the equation. So instead of sending a book to a printer (some of which are in China), the book is plopped into a PDF or similar file format and distributed. So I suppose the only real 18th Century part of my job is the paper, which is also the most expensive part.
The issue I face is that technology roars ahead while my books remain static.
When I write a book on a phone or tablet, for example, there’s usually a software update between the time all the text is edited and the physical book hits the shelves. Sometimes, as is the case with the Samsung Galaxy Tab, there can be massive changes. My problem is that the publisher isn’t equipped to deal with such changes in a timely manner.
Again, a publisher is using — and often thinking in — 18th Century publishing terms. Their process doesn’t allow an author to come back and say, “I have 97 changes for the book you printed last week.” They view that as insane, which is it. But it’s a perfectly sane thing when you want to keep up with the 21st Century technology.
My solution is to offer Wambooli, this website. The key is to provide updates on this site that parallel updates in the real world. For lots of people that works, but for many people (who especially don’t read the book’s Introduction), they’re lost. Or they think the book is wrong. That’s almost an acceptable conclusion with technology books.
The real solution, of course, is ePublishing. The obstacle to that solution is that a 200 year-old industry just doesn’t turn on a dime. As an author, I can write and publish an eBook any time I like. The first time I do, and the book is successful, I predict you’ll see the technology book publishing industry change quickly. They’ll have to.
