Category: Nonfiction Books

General publishing announcements

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Books at BSDCan

I’m sure everyone who reads this blog knows I’ll be at BSDCan tonight through early Sunday morning. I will also have books for sale, however.

  • Absolute OpenBSD, $50
  • SSH Mastery, $20
  • DNSSEC Mastery (4 proof copies only), $20

    Cash only.

    If you buy a book, I’ll throw in a free Tilted Windmill Press T-shirt while supplies last. Because why not.

    I’ll also be giving away some books as review copies. If you want a review copy of Absolute OpenBSD, you’ll need to give me your email address. I’ll be handing it off to the NSP publicity department. Sorry to be a pain on that, but I have to pay for any Absolute OpenBSDs that aren’t review copies. (Or I can ship them back to the publisher, but that’s just a waste.) I’m more flexible with review copies of self-published books.

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    “Absolute OpenBSD” Kindle edition: problems and on sale

    I’ve heard from a few different readers that there are problems with the Kindle edition of Absolute OpenBSD. It’s by no means every copy in every format, but there are enough problem reports that it needs investigating.

    I’ve notified the publisher. They are investigating. When I have an update, I will post it.

    Generally, when a Kindle file has a problem, remove it from your device. When the new version appears, you can re-download it from Amazon.

    And this is the point where I mention that Absolute OpenBSD is O’Reilly’s Deal of the Day. If you want the ebook, you can get it for 50% off.

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    At Penguicon this weekend

    I’m a guest of honor at Penguicon this weekend. I’ll be doing a one-hour talk on technology publishing in 2013. I’ll also be inventing an ice cream flavor.

    Other guests include author Jim C Hines, chef and author Jeff Potter, Arduino and Raspberry pi guru & author Maik Schmidt, hackerspace advocate and censorship activist Nick Farr, plus author and filmmaker Jason Denzel.

    Whenever I go to this type of con, I usually take in a few panels, see some cool demos, and spend a good chunk of time hanging out in the bar or lobby, wondering who all these people are. If you’re in the Detroit area, come by and say hello.

    I will also have hard copies of Absolute OpenBSD for sale at $50 each. Amazon doesn’t have them yet. No Starch doesn’t have them yet. But I have them. Cash and PayPal accepted — I had hoped to take credit cards, but the PayPal credit card app doesn’t like my knockoff Android tablet. But by showing up, you can get the book you’ve been demanding for four years now.

    And now that I’m a guest, maybe the cool kids will let me hang with them. But probably not.

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    “DNSSEC Mastery” now complete, ebook version available!

    You can now get the complete DNSSEC Mastery: Securing the Domain Name System with BIND at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and my personal ebookstore. It should (hopefully) trickle through to iTunes & such before long.

    This book was a real education to write. Hopefully it will help improve the state of DNS security across the industry. Various DNS experts have expressed approval of the book, and here’s hoping that the wider world will as well.

    The book has now gone on to physical production. Hopefully I will have a proof by BSDCan. We might even auction it off at the end of the con, as the OpenBSD auction did so well.

    Review copies are available for folks who regularly review books.

    If you should find an error in the ebook, please let me know. Converting an OpenOffice document to umpteen different formats for an incredibly wide variety of devices has its risks. I no longer have a PalmPilot to test that format, for example, and I have a specific model of Kindle that’s probably not the same as yours.

    Thanks to everyone for their support.

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    “Absolute OpenBSD” auction winner

    The final total on the Absolute OpenBSD first copy auction was: $1145. The lucky (for various interpretations of lucky) winner is Bill Allaire, long-time OpenBSD supporter.

    Bill has already sent Austin the money, which is winging its way to the OpenBSD Foundation as I write this. So he’s lived up to his end of the bargain.

    I’m not going to ship him the book when it’s printed, however. Us writers are flaky and untrustworthy, and it’s time people realize and accept this. For another reason, though, there’s a small OpenBSD hackathon in Toronto at the end of May. I’ve been invited to come hang out on beer night.

    I’m taking Bill’s book with me, so various OpenBSD developers can sign it and point out any errors. I’m sure they’ll also offer corrections and commentary because, well, you give a BSD developer a beer and he’ll tell you what he really thinks.

    So, Bill not only gets the first copy off the press. He gets the most correct version. A book more awesome than anything anyone else will have. Don’t you wish you had outbid him?

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    “Absolute OpenBSD” auction clears $1000

    Apparently double-dog daring you people works.

    The Absolute OpenBSD Foundation auction is currently at $1035.

    You have another day and a half to bid. Do so.

    I’m delighted. And, as promised, I’ll have an ebook sale as a result. Probably during BSDCan.

    This week has been maniacal for reasons completely outside of the new Absolute OpenBSD, but I should start to catch up on all the queued email, tweets, and whatnot next week.

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    First barrier breached

    The Absolute OpenBSD auction has been going about 10 hours now. In less than those 10 hours, the price exceeded the amount raised for the FreeBSD Foundation.

    Well done.

    But I bet you slackers can’t possibly double it. No, I DOUBLE DOG-DARE YOU to double it.

    How I love picking a fight in a good cause.

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    First copy of “Absolute OpenBSD, 2nd ed” now on auction

    You’ve asked me how to get Absolute OpenBSD early.

    The answer is simple. You buy it. At auction. All proceeds to the OpenBSD Foundation.

    The printer will take the first copy of Absolute OpenBSD off the press and overnight it to me. I will sign it, and label it on the title page as the first copy. I will include a Certificate of Authenticity stating that this is the one true first copy off the press. I will ship this book anywhere in the world, as fast as reasonable, at a cost of up to $100. (If you win the bid and want it shipped to Antarctica, it will take a little longer.)

    To reassure the security-minded among: I also promise that this is the only copy that I will sign and label as the first copy.

    Being able to do this gives me warm fuzzies. It makes me look like a nice person without me doing any real work. After all, No Starch Press provided the physical book and Austin Hook is running the auction. I just have to scribble my name and stuff an envelope.

    We did this for the first copy of Absolute FreeBSD, and raised $600 for the FreeBSD Foundation. Frankly, I expect you OpenBSD folks to beat that handily.

    If you do not beat that amount, I will be disappointed in the community.

    Do not disappoint me.

    You wouldn’t like me when I’m disappointed.

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    DNSSEC Mastery release

    I had hoped to get DNSSEC Mastery out before my trip next week. That’s not going to happen, thanks to the copyeditor. (And I do mean “thanks” in a completely non-sarcastic way.)

    Most of her comments are easily fixable. But she goes into detail on one point that is utterly, completely, compellingly damning. “The thing I worry about is that while this book may be perfectly acceptable, if people open it up really eager to get some more good clean Lucas (strange people), then there’s not a lot of that there.”

    All the knowledge is in there. But the writing needs more life.

    I really wanted to have this book in print before BSDCan 2013. I tried to keep that deadline, despite my surprise appendectomy in January. I’ve felt kind of uneasy about this book, but it was technically finished, so I sent it on.

    As I’m self-publishing, I both have the freedom to make the book correct and no excuse for not doing so. There’s no offset press scheduled for a feeding.

    So, the book will be delayed a couple weeks. And it will be better for it.

    And if you need a copyeditor who isn’t afraid to tell you in detail exactly why you suck, I have one.

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    Misc: Books, and April Fool’s

    Absolute OpenBSD is at the printer. I can do nothing more on this book. For better or worse, the book is complete. I’m resisting the urge to scream “I can do it better! Give me the book back, I will rewrite it until it doesn’t suck!”

    I got copyedits back on DNSSEC Mastery. Hopefully, the ebook will be available on the weekend, with print next month.

    On an unrelated note

    April 1st is a tedious day, with all the efforts to be funny drifting around the Internet. Unless, of course, you’re the one pulling the gag, in which case it’s freaking hilarious. I don’t pull pranks, of course.

    Unless they’re really, REALLY good. So I’d like to present a flash from the past here, and point you at FretBSD.

    And, of course, there’s always the Great Committer. You know, I haven’t spoken with John Baldwin much since that post. Odd, really…