I’ve been an author for just about 25 years now. That’s a long time! If I were writing fiction, more people would probably know who I was. Yet, while technology publishing isn’t glamorous, it’s a nice career. Here are some stats.
First Book Published
My very first title with my own name on it was Hard Disk Management with MS-DOS and PC-DOS, published in 1987. My co-author was Andy Townsend, who wrote the first half of the book. I wrote the second half.
Total Titles
According to my Complete Title List, I have 135 books published. That doesn’t count ghost-written titles, computer manuals that I’ve written, or unpublished works. I also have two books at the publisher, one I’m writing now, plus two others under contract. Yeah, I’m busy.
Total Unique Titles
Out of the 135 titles, many of them are newer editions of original works. When I count only the original works, the total title number is more like 52. That’s the number I get when I count each new edition of Word For Dummies as one title, ditto for all my phone/tablet/Android books. I put more effort into each title than just rolling it over, which is why I prefer to use the number 135.
Book with the Most Editions
When you count that Word For Dummies was based on my original WordPerfect For Dummies, then it’s been through 15 editions. I’ve just finished the 16th edition, which will be published soon.
Book that Took the Longest Time to Write
C For Dummies. It was a massive project, and the publisher kept pulling me off that project to do other books, updates, and newer editions. The original contract was signed in 1992. I wrote Volume I in 1994. Volume II came along in 1997. That’s too long.
In fact, it was too long. C For Dummies was the only two-volume For Dummies book ever. It was also my longest title at over 1,300 pages.
Book that Took the Shortest Time to Write
The publisher gave me only a week to update the 5th Edition of PCs For Dummies to the 6th Edition. One week! I did it, but wasn’t happy about it.
It took me only three weeks to write WordPerfect For Dummies. Given that I’d been working on the outline for a few months, it wasn’t a hassle. The publisher kept wanting to know how WordPerfect was coming along. I had other projects (lots), so I’d work a little on the WordPerfect outline and send it in. Eventually they told me to poop or get off the pot. Three weeks later I turned in the book. It remains my favorite For Dummies book — and one of the most successful.
Comments
Oh, I could prattle on and on with various trivial tidbits, like the book that made me the most angry with my publisher, the book with the longest title, book with the stupidest cover. You get the idea. I enjoy what I do, and am happy to do it.
can you name what the books are that you have coming out and will be coming out?
Comment by BradC — December 25, 2012 @ 6:39 am
Sure. There is an update to Word For Dummies for Office 2013, which will come out whenever Office 2013 does. Then I have an update for PCs For Dummies, which is includes Windows 8 coverage. Both of those are at the publisher. Android Tablets For Dummies has been announced, but it’s not due for a while (I’m working on it). Then I have another C programming title, and something else that I’m probably forgetting. I’ll definitely have more work after CES next month!
Comment by admin — December 25, 2012 @ 9:32 am
I am glad you wrote the C-for-dummies two volume set Dan. I taught myself C programming one summer in high-school (around 96) thanks to them. I think those books were by far the best programming books I have used – if I need to learn the basics of a new language, I frequently just rewrite your examples.
Yes, the books were big. But they were clear. And fun. I’ve learnt a lot of languages since then (C++, Matlab, Python, Mathematica), but most “tutorials” are horribly written. One book jumps into data structures and inheritance in chapter two.
I guess I just want to say thanks for putting in the effort 🙂
Comment by sriksrid — December 28, 2012 @ 1:11 pm
Which do you prefer writing: hardware, software or programming books? And why?
Comment by sriksrid — December 28, 2012 @ 1:13 pm
Well, you’re welcome! Glad that you enjoyed the books.
I’d prefer to write novels, but since that hasn’t worked out, I like the software titles. Hardware has too many variables so the books don’t last that long, though I do enjoy writing about new hardware. Programming is just fun, and I’d love to write exclusively on programming, but there just aren’t that many opportunities. I suppose I like software and programming the best.
Comment by admin — December 28, 2012 @ 2:11 pm