Category: Nonfiction Books

In the time between when a book is released and when the first reviews appear, authors experience a variety of symptoms ranging from unease to outright panic.  “Did I miss something obvious?”  “Did I really screw up?”  “Am I the laughingstock of the tech industry?”  Web pages can be fixed, but printed books are immutable; any errors are immortalized.  Over the years, I’ve gotten the symptoms down to an ongoing gentle nausea.

Thankfully, the first two reviews on Network Flow Analysis are out.

I sent Justin at DragonFly BSD Digest a review copy of NFA, and he not only read the book, he’s planning to implement it at work.  I’d call that a thumbs up.

Then there’s a review from Dad of Divas.  DofD reviews lots of stuff on his blog, mostly stuff that he receives as a promotion.  The odd thing is, I have no idea how he got a copy of the book.  The lesson?  The publishing publicity machine is mysterious and inexplicable, even to those of us trapped inside it.

But, having read the reviews, my lingering dread and nausea is gone.  Thanks, folks.

I’m back from Toronto.  Now that I’m caught up on deleting spam, I’ve been able to get to the post office.  All of the free review books are now in the hands of the post office.

As I write this, somehow Network Flow Analysis is Amazon’s #4 best-seller in the category “Production, Operation, and Management.”  Amazon’s classification algorithms appear to be smoking some good stuff, but hey, it’s a best-seller list, so I’ll take it.

I’ve gone through the comments on my offer to give away review copies of my new book, and to my surprise found that several people I’d like to give books won’t be getting them… because I can’t contact them.

Leaving a comment that presents you as an intelligent, capable reviewer is great.  I appreciate that.  But if I can’t contact you, if I can’t write you and ask for your address, then I can’t send you a book.  Some people left Web addresses.  Fine, I can look there and get your contact information… if it’s on the page, or if you have a contact form, or something.  A few people have nice blogs, but no apparent contact form.  If your blog is not in English, and didn’t have something that looked like a contact or an email address, I looked at the front page source code to find a mailto: link.  That worked in some cases.

I’ve emailed people I can email, to get their snail mail addresses, so I can ship the review copies I have.  If you posted a thoughtful, insightful comment, but didn’t leave me a way to contact you… sorry.  Books will be shipped out next Tuesday or Wednesday, after my Toronto trip.  And if you ever get to Toronto, check out Mysteriously Yours.

The UPS delivery man rings our doorbell every time he drops off a package… unless it contains books. That means I only know my new books arrive when I trip over the box.

I’m pleased to report that, in addition to the useful technical content, this books contains 30% more insolence than my previous work.

I’ll be giving away several copies for reviews. If you’re interested, I’ve posted details here.

My author’s copies of Network Flow Analysis should arrive later this week.  While my publisher sends review copies to all of the likely reviewers, I’d also like to give my readers a chance to get in an the free review copy goodness.   If you’re willing to write a review for your blog, Amazon, or (preferably) both, I might have a free book for you. Continue reading “Free (for some value of free) Books”

Go to http://www.networkflowanalysis.com/ to read Chapter 4.

While you’re there, order the book. You know you want to.

My story “Wednesday’s Seagulls” just sold to http://short-story.me/. Unlike my previous fiction sales, this is to a Web site. Everyone will be able to view it, for as long as the site keeps it up.

I’ll announce when the story is actually posted there.

Network Flow Analysis is due from the printer on June 21, 2010, or two weeks from today.  I’ll get my copies later that week.

No Starch Press is contractually obliged to give me six copies of each book I write.  They’re generous folks, though, and I usually get a bunch.  The number varies with the book’s size, cost, and how many can be wedged into whatever spare box the printer has on hand, but can be usefully described as “more than I can realistically use.”

Some copies I give to good causes –e.g., the charity auction at BSDCan.  Others go to people who help me write the book, who provide valuable feedback or testing, or who feed me.  (Especially if they feed me gelato.)  That’ll still leave me with most of a box.

This time, I’d like to give away copies to people who will write thoughtful reviews on Amazon.  (Reviews on blogs would be OK as well, but Amazon reviews are the most effective.)  I’m sure I’ll have more volunteers than books, though.  I’d like to find some fair way to hand out these review copies; I’m thinking some sort of small contest.  Any suggestions, folks?