RE: OT: Reasons to NOT write an Oracle book

Having written one complete book by myself and parts of two other books now, I would add one more reason that I don't think anyone else has mentioned yet (ignore me if I'm wrong on that). I do it for the same reason I started publishing my blog (now on petewhodidnottweet.com for reasons that are explained on the home page there) - in many ways, I'm a teacher and I really, really enjoy passing my knowledge onto others. That's what gets me up in the mornings, and writing books is simply another way to pass on that knowledge. I think you'll find a lot of other people that write books do it (at least partially) for that reason too.

And I totally agree with everyone who said don't do it for the money. Lucky for me, Oracle pays my salary because just writing books would mean my family would be on the streets. :)

Pete

Pete Sharman
Database Architect, DBaaS
Enterprise Manager Product Suite
33 Benson Crescent CALWELL ACT 2905 AUSTRALIA Phone: +61262924095 | | Fax: +61262925183 | | Mobile: +61414443449 

"Controlling developers is like herding cats." Kevin Loney, Oracle DBA Handbook

"Oh no, it's not, it's much harder than that!" Bruce Pihlamae, long term Oracle DBA

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Hall [mailto:tim_at_oracle-base.com] Sent: Friday, October 17, 2014 11:23 AM
To: Jeff Smith
Cc: Oracle-L Freelists
Subject: Re: OT: Reasons to NOT write an Oracle book

+1

On Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 12:37 AM, Jeff Smith <jeff.d.smith_at_oracle.com> wrote:
> I've also found you don't really realize just how much you don't know about something until you go to write the book...so if you're looking for an excuse to expand your knowledge, writing a book does much more than just reading one.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tim Hall [mailto:tim_at_oracle-base.com]
> Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2014 7:29 PM
> To: Oracle-L Freelists
> Subject: Re: OT: Reasons to NOT write an Oracle book
>
> Joined the chain of mails part way through, so sorry if this is a repeat of other answers, or off topic from the OP.
>
> For people of my generation there is still a lot of prestige associated with writing a book. I've written two and know exactly what it has and has not done for me, yet when my colleague recently got a book published I was really impressed. I've not read it and never will because it is not from my subject area, but just seeing the book with his name on it impressed me. For all I know it could be rubbish... :)
>
> If you come across employers from my generation, I would suspect they will have a similar reaction. I'm not sure what younger people think, who've grown up with self-publishing and eBooks as the norm. Their perception might be different...
>
> Don't do it for the cash. Most people earn very little. Don't do it for the fame. There are loads of Oracle books out there and I couldn't tell you who half of the authors are. Do it for the challenge and to see if you enjoy the process. If you enjoy it, do it again. If you hate the process, don't write another. You will still have written 1 more book than most people. If something good comes out of it, that's great. If not, you've lost a few months of your time and you have something to show the grandchildren...
>
> Good luck!
>
> Cheers
>
> Tim...
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