Aunt Kathi's SQL Server Home

I am just a couple of evenings of work away from completing my latest book, the third edition of Beginning T-SQL (Apress).  The evidence, file creation dates and emails, tells me that I have been working on this project since mid-February. I have been in an unusual position since last Friday. There is absolutely nothing I can do on the book right now. I am waiting for some files from Apress that I need to review. Once that is complete, I am officially done and just need to wait for the book to go to print.

I know lots of people who write books. Some of them write for Apress, Wrox, Red Gate, Microsoft Press or even self-publish. Some, like me, really enjoy the process even though it can take over your life for months. I also like tech editing and do quite a bit of that for Wrox.  I know some people who have written or contributed to just one book. Usually, I hear from them that they will never write a book again. I would never say that; I just need more time to devote to writing. After spending 40+ hours a week doing consulting work and fulfilling other requirements of my job, I end up working on the book for a few hours in the evening three or four nights a week. Unless I have specific plans, like a SQL Saturday trip, I devote one day from each weekend to writing. That part has been difficult especially if there are family plans forming for both Saturday and Sunday.

How I got started

The first book I ever participated in changed my life forever.  One evening, I received an email from Brian Knight, now the owner of Pragmatic Works, but back in the summer of 2005 he was part owner of SQL Server Central. He had seen some articles I had written for SSC and wondered if I would like to help out with his new SSIS book. I was in shock. I never imagined that anyone would want me to help write a book.

Of all the books I have participated in, this was absolutely the most difficult. I only contributed two chapters, but, remember that SSIS was brand new technology at the time. There were no other books or really any resources to learn from, and it didn’t go RTM until late in the year.  Somehow nine other authors and I managed to get this book together and it was released in January, 2006.

This book turned out to be a pretty good seller, and it ended up on bookshelves and desks all over the world. Because of this book, I was no longer an anonymous person at PASS Summit. I was someone that lots of people wanted to meet. By participating in this book, I earned street cred.

After that first book, I was approached several times for book projects that didn’t work out, either because of the timing or because I didn’t know the particular technology well enough. Finally, in 2008 Apress really wanted me to write for them and asked me what I would like to write about. I told them that I had a T-SQL book for beginners already in my head just waiting to be put on paper. I wrote that book with no other authors in 2009. When Apress approached me to write the 2nd edition, I had Scott Shaw take the lead. Now, I am back as the lead author for the 3rd edition. I also wrote a small SSRS book last year for Joes2Pros.

If you have never written a book but you are thinking about it, you may have some questions. For example, why do this and what is the actual process like? Well, your Aunt Kathi is here to fill you in.

Why write?

Trust me, you will not get rich from royalties. Writing a tech book will get you noticed. If you are an independent consultant, it will help you get gigs. It will help you become an MVP. I believe that the value really can’t be measured in dollars. The value is bigger than you can ever imagine.

What is the process?

The process of writing a book will vary depending on the publisher. I have done most of my writing for Apress, so that is what I’ll talk about.

The easiest way to start writing is to be asked to participate in an existing book project. There is a lead author that has an agreement with the publisher and an outline. The outline may just be a list of chapters, or it could be more detailed. If you have an idea for a book, then you will need to find a publisher who agrees to work with you and publish your book. Obviously, the first method is much easier when you are starting out. I suggest that aspiring authors write for SQL Server Central to get some experience as well as visibility.

After the writing team is assembled, chapters are assigned, and contracts are in place, the work begins. You are given a Word template for your documents, a special desktop theme and lots of instructions. You will probably use SnagIt for screen captures. Some publishers are using FTP sites and some have SharePoint sites set up for keeping track of all the files. Another very important piece is the schedule. It is generally a deadline for the first draft of each chapter. It may not look bad when you first see it, but in a couple of months, it will be your worst enemy.

Once the first couple of chapters are complete, the editor at the publishing house will take a look at them to make sure that you are on the right track. At this point, you may be asked to start over. That is what happened to me when I was working on my Beginning T-SQL 2008 book. I was actually ahead of the schedule and then had to rewrite Chapter 1.

After you have the editor’s blessing, each chapter must go through technical editing. The tech editor is experienced in the technology. He or she will test all the instructions and code samples as well as make sure that everything is accurate. The tech editor will offer suggestions on how to make the chapter better. At the beginning of the process, the tech editor might be one of your friends. By the time the project is done — maybe not. OK, that is a joke.

Once the tech editor is done with the chapter, you get the chapter back for review. At this point, you can follow the tech editor’s suggestions, or not. After you make your changes a copy editor reviews the chapter. The copy editor is someone that is probably an English major, but not necessarily technical. This person doesn’t know that we  want “a” not “an” before SQL Server instance because we pronounce it “Sequel Server.”  This person may not know that we say  “data is” instead of “data are”.  So, you have to pay pretty close attention to the changes made and you get the final say.

Finally, the chapter goes to a PDF proof. This is your last chance to make any changes. At this point, you might see some semi-colons you left off, or find a sentence you have to reword. You can’t do a lot at this point, so, hopefully, you did a good job during the earlier reviews.

The challenge during all this is that you are writing the first draft of Chapter 8 when the project manager lets you know that Chapter 4 is back from tech edit and Chapter 1 is back from copy edit. The schedule seems OK at first, but now you are juggling multiple chapters at different stages of the process.  Take a photo of your spouse and kids; you won’t be seeing them much at all for a few months.

When you are finally at the PDF review stage and they ask you to work on the front matter, you know that you are almost done. The celebration is near!

Conclusion

Writing a book has been a very rewarding experience for me. If you think you would like to try it, I encourage you to get some writing experience and get in on an existing project. You won’t get rich from royalties, but you will gain confidence, respect, exposure and maybe even the MVP award.

Every year when the PASS Summit community speakers are announced, there is an uproar over the sessions chosen. It seems like some individuals think they are entitled to present every year, and some individuals who were chosen would rather that the committee had selected a different one of their sessions. But, across the board, “rejected” speakers want to know what they could have done differently.

This year was possibly the worst ever. The biggest controversy was that three of the full day pre-con sessions went to employees of one company, the president of which is on the Executive Committee.  (Full disclosure: At the time of this writing I worked for that company and was chosen for a three hour session).

I actually served on the Program Committee helping to select the Summit program in 2005 and 2006 and was the program manager in 2007 and 2008. (I think I got those years right; it’s been a while!) I’m now back on the committee in the “special projects” role as I was in 2009. If you look back at the PASSion Awards over the years, you will see that the program managers often get that award. I joke that it is a reward to the person whom PASS has abused the most that year.

The day of this year’s announcement of the program, I proudly posted on Facebook that I had been chosen as a speaker. Shortly afterwards,  I began seeing discussions there about complaints raised on Twitter. I expected that; it always happens, but this year it seemed especially bitter and hateful. Since I am rarely on Twitter, and it is so time sensitive, I never actually saw the posts that were being discussed. I did, however, read several subsequent blog posts in the days that followed with some great constructive criticism for the organization.

What is really unfortunate is that the initial outbursts made me, as a selected speaker, feel almost embarrassed to have been selected. Maybe I don’t deserve a spot. Maybe my spot should have gone to someone who is a better speaker than I am. I wasn’t on the abstract review team this year, but I know  how much work those folks do reviewing 900+ abstracts, trying to come up with a balanced program that the attendees will be excited about. Back when I was a member of the selection committee and the manager, I felt like we were being attacked every single year, especially by the MVPs, after the program was announced.

I don’t have any advice on how to improve the process, and many others have offered some suggestions (Adam Machanic, Andy Leonard, Brent Ozar, Brian Kelley, Tim and Lori Edwards, Jen and Sean McCown, and probably more, sorry if I missed your blog). PASS has also been very responsive on providing information about the process as well. The real reason I decided to write this post is something I thought about recently. Maybe the SQL Server community is just becoming too successful.

Back in 2004, at my second PASS Summit, I attended a couple of sessions that would change my life forever. One was given by Chuck Heinzelman (@sqlboywonder) on volunteering for PASS and the other by Wayne Snyder (@sqlwayne) entitled “How to Make a Name for Yourself.”  Before heading home that week, I filled out the form to become a volunteer, and decided, in addition to the writing that I had planned to do, I would also begin giving presentations. The timing was perfect. I was just a couple of weeks away from completing my Masters in CIS, and needed a new “side project.”

The thing about the SQL Server community is that we are always encouraging each other to share our knowledge, by speaking, writing and answering questions. We are actively increasing the potential speaker pool every year as we encourage new speakers at the user group and SQL Saturday levels. I think this is good, I love the energy and passion of speakers just starting out.  I want to be part of a community that includes everyone and that is, well, loving.

Take a look at the MVP Trivia section on this page, published for the MVP Global Summit last November.  There were more SQL Server MVPs than any other expertise at the time the page was published. I figure that Microsoft’s investments in SQL Server, BI and big data over the past few years have something to do with this, but I have to believe that the camaraderie (thanks, spellcheck!) in the community is playing a big part here.  There are just so many great people stepping up and getting involved because of the encouragement in the community that it is really making a difference. We have also made a deliberate effort to make people new to PASS Summit feel welcome, which leads to many of them getting involved. I believe that this is a good problem to have.

After all this controversy, finger pointing and hurt feelings, I wondered just who PASS really is. Is PASS the Board of Directors? Is PASS the company we hire to manage the day to day tasks, Christianson & Company? No, I believe that PASS is us, the members who care about it, the people who learn, the people who teach.

So, I’ll be at Summit, presenting my session, singing at the Karaoke events in the evenings, and talking with as many other attendees as possible. I can’t wait; it’s the best week of the year for me.