Category: Nonfiction Books

General publishing announcements

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N4SA2e Fulfillment Status

The N4SA2e production process is proceeding apace.

The print books are finalized. Books for me to sign have been ordered. The printer tells me that they’ll ship to me in about 10 days.

When the printer tells me they’ve shipped, I will prepare shipping labels for Patronizers, sponsors, and Kickstarter backers. You getting an email with a tracking number doesn’t mean your book has shipped; it means I am awaiting your book. When the books arrive, the assembly line kicks in and I start packing.

Next week, I order drop shipments for Kickstarter backers. This means your survey answers will be finalized. Hopefully few of you have moved unexpectedly in the last few weeks. Remember, drop shipments do not get tracking numbers. (See “Fulfillment” at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mwlucas/networking-for-system-administrators-2nd-edition/ .)

Some of you sent corrections to the ebook. Those corrections have been uploaded.

Ebooks are fulfilled. I still have to write the stretch goal advice column. It’ll be exclusive to my backers and supporters, at least until the 10-year collection comes out.

Oh, and: the special edition looks pretty decent. I am pleased with it.

Once I ship the books, I will open sponsorships on OpenZFS Mastery.

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N4SA2e Print Sponsor Address Check

Anywhere from 1%-5% of sponsors move before I ship print sponsor gifts. (Yes, they’re gifts, not preorders. Because I send sponsors things.) In the past, I’ve eaten the cost of reshipping these. With hundreds of print sponsors, that small error rate becomes an expensive pile.

So I went into my store system, extracted all the sponsor orders on “Networking for System Administrators, 2nd edition,” and converted them to a GoShippo postage ordering spreadsheet so I’m all set to order postage for sponsor gifts. I then wrote a script to extract sponsor addresses from the file and email them to request address verification and a shipping phone number.1

If you’re a print sponsor of this book, you should have an email requesting you verify your address and phone number. If address and phone number are correct, ignore the mail. If something is wrong or missing, please reply with corrections. Yes, some folks will miss the verification. I’ll wind up eating some reshipping cost. But with your help it’ll be less than otherwise–and you’ll get your books earlier!

If you didn’t get the email, you probably also didn’t get the email with the ebook links. Email me with your order number and I’ll try again.

I’m also amused to note that for the first time since I started offering book sponsorships, several print sponsors left the United States. I charge extra shipping for overseas sponsors. I’m not doing chasing people for extra, though. Those folks have my sympathy, envy, and gratitude.

I probably need to set a “so you fled the US” policy for future sponsorships, though.

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“Networking for System Administrators” Kickstarter closing soon

If you back the campaign, you also get copies of FreeBSD Mastery: ZFS and SSH Mastery.

I wouldn’t be shocked to break the $ git commit murder stretch goal.

I would be surprised to break the Advanced ZFS goal.

Plus there’s the online “launch party,” which is a highfalutin’ way to say “I’ll open a Zoom and we can hang out for an hour.”

This is also your last chance to get the backers-only special edition. It will never be commercially available. I’ll have a few extra to solve fulfillment problems, yes. They’ll go up for charity auctions.

I’m biased, so here’s Ray with an outside opinion.

Listen to the network manager. Back this book.

Thank you.

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“Networking for System Administrators, 2nd ed” Kickstarter is live

The silly thing funded in fifteen minutes, and has gone high enough that all backers get a bonus ebook of FreeBSD Mastery: ZFS.

Yes, Allan and I are working on a new edition of the ZFS book. But the old one is still good, and applies to OpenZFS on any Unixy system.

Anyway, it’s there if you want it. The higher the Kickstarter goes, the more books I will give away.

The truth is, I don’t expect the current trajectory to continue. I made a point of asking folks to back the first day, in the hope that Kickstarter would notice momentum and slap “Project We Love” on it, blessing me with front page exposure. They still might. We’ll see.

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Launching tomorrow: “Networking for System Administrators, 2nd edition”

The N4SA2e Kickstarter opens tomorrow, about 8AM EDT. Why “about?” The launch is manual. I must log in and hit a button. The first 512 bytes of my brainstem are barely enough to hold the instructions for obtaining caffeine, so it won’t be first thing.

This one feels weird. With 232 sponsors, 170 of them print sponsors, it’s my most sponsored book, which makes me think that I’ve already taken a good chunk out of my market. But the Kickstarter pre-launch page has 380 followers, more than I’ve ever had before. Maybe that’s great? Maybe they’re interested sponsors? Who knows?

What’s gonna happen? Not a damn clue.

I do know that getting a Kickstarter “Project We Love” badge means that KS gives the project an algorithmic boost. I also know that they choose PWL, in part, based on first day backer momentum. If the book interests you, please consider backing it the first day. Of course, I’d welcome your support any day!

Once the book ships to sponsors and Kickstarter backers it will be exclusive in my store for 30 days, the I will release it to retailers. I expect it to retail for $12.99, which means it will not be in Amazon’s Kindle store. Kindle users can buy it from other stores, but not Amazon’s.

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“Networking for System Administrators, 2nd edition” sent to copyedit

The title basically says it all. Now I’ll start working on the new OpenZFS Mastery with Allan Jude. That work, of course, will stop once those copyedits return and I have to produce the book.

I’m tentatively scheduling the N4SA2e Kickstarter to start 16 September and run through 7 October. Three weeks is a long time for a Kickstarter, but it worked well for the mail book. If you’re interested in getting the book before the general public can, go to the Kickstarter page and click “Notify me now.”

Once the book is released, it’ll be exclusive to my store for a month before hitting retailers.

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Sysadmin Appreciation Day Sale

It’s Sysadmin Appreciation Day, an annual holiday where one befuddles computer folks by being kind to them.

Today and tomorrow, Tilted Windmill Press is offering 10% off all titles with coupon code YIKES.

Yes, you need to pay shipping on paperbacks, but you get the ebook free with the paper copy. Buy a couple and you’ll break even. Buy a heap and you’ll do better than Amazon.

Coupon is not valid for gift cards or bundles.

Now go confuse a sysadmin.

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Buy Your Paperbacks Directly From Me

All Tilted Windmill Press titles are now available directly from me in paperback and ebook at https://tiltedwindmillpress.com. All paperback purchases include the ebook. You’ll get the ebook immediately2, and the print will arrive in a week or so.

Books will be printed in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia. This reduces both shipping costs and environmental impact. Books aren’t exactly green, but local printing makes them less brown. (Are ebooks greener? That’s a great argument over a drink.)

I am excited beyond words. I have been working towards this ever since my first book came out in 1992.

Benefits to you? Those bundles I offer, like the FreeBSD Storage Mastery bundle? There’s now a discount print version. That ridiculous The Full Michael bundle that includes everything I’ve indie published? You can now buy the whole thing in paperback.

Do I expect anyone to drop $624 on a stack of books? No. But I am delighted to have that degree of control.

Books from No Starch Press (Absolute FreeBSD, Absolute OpenBSD, and Network Flow Analysis) are not included. Sorry. I don’t have the access to ship those touch-free on demand. The ILUVMICHAEL coupon code still gets you 30% off at their site and gives me a couple bucks extra, though!

Completing this was a huge amount of work, but the publishing industry is doing its best to eat writers alive. The only way to survive is disintermediation.

I haven’t made hardcovers available yet. Hardcover sales are minuscule next to paperbacks. Some books present challenges, and I’m not sure selling them direct is worth it. I’m doing the easy hardcovers first in the hope that inspiration strikes.

Future books will be released in on my site a month before they’re available at retailers. If they’re trying to eat my career, I see no reason to prioritize them.

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“Networking for System Administrators” sponsorships closing and schedule.

Yesterday I finished a raw draft of the new Networking for System Administrators. It’s not ready for technical review yet; the engine has all the pieces, but there are loose bolts everywhere and a couple of the belts are repurposed nylons. I’ll get it out for tech review this weekend.

On 1 June 2025, I close sponsorships. If you want to sponsor it, this week is your last chance. I promised to do a challenge coin for print sponsors and Patronizers so I will, but the next one probably won’t. I’ll happily absorb $10 per sponsor to do something daft, but not the $25 the US’ Wheel of Tariffs threatens. (Regardless of your politics, unpredictability is death to business.)

The tentative schedule for N4SA2e is:

  • June: Technical Review
  • July-August: Copyedit
  • September: Kickstarter
  • October: ship sponsor and Patronizer copies, both print and ebook exclusive to tiltedwindmillpress.com
  • November: standard retail release

The print version will come in a special backer-exclusive edition available only to print sponsors, Patronizers, and Kickstarter backers. (Kickstarter backers can’t get the challenge coin; that’s exclusive to early backers.) I can’t say it’ll be as daft as Ruin Your Mail By Running It Yourself or the Networknomicon, but it will exist.

Then again, I always think my special editions are lame. You can make your own opinion.