I have a new book out! It’s my second third edition (and second book) written this year. Yeah, it’s been a slow year, but the book quality has never been better!

Laptops for Dummies, 3rd Edition is the 113th book I’ve written. Well, that’s been published. I don’t talk about that shameful spaceship novel I wrote when I was 22, the one with the female android who had blue nipples. Nope, I’ll never mention that again.

The publisher requires that the new edition of a computer book have at least 20 percent “new” material. In my computer book updates, I turn that number upside down: A new edition will have at least 80 percent new material. I know that’s kind of a waste of time: most readers do not buy every edition.

I still get e-mail from people who have the 7th or 8th Edition of PCs for Dummies. That edition was published when Windows 98 was the PC’s main operating system. PCs for Dummies is currently in its 11th Edition, with the 12th due out next year sometime. So it’s with gusto that those people go out to the Library to check out the new edition.

*sigh*

There were many things to ad for the new edition of Laptops For Dummies, such as the 802.11n wireless standard, which may not seem new to you but it wasn’t covered in the 2nd edition. But perhaps the biggest update to the book is my coverage of tablet PCs. For that I had to buy yet another laptop, an IBM Tablet. (I’ll talk about tablet PCs in a future post.)

Overall I’m pleased with the book, though I have yet to pour over every page looking for the inevitable goof.

I hope that you consider getting your own copy of Laptops For Dummies, 3rd Edition, for yourself, a loved one, or someone who keeps bugging you with questions. Unlike the general public’s perception of the For Dummies books, mine are not “baby books.” There’s lots of good information and quality computer entertainment between those two covers!