Writing the book on IT

In the IT realm, there are newbies, novices, experts and gurus - and then there are published authors. It takes a certain level of expertise, self-confidence, self-promotion and, above all, good grammar and writing skills, to make the jump from IT professional to IT author.

The path from IT or network professional to IT/network book author can be as circuitous as a packet's path across the Internet. IT pros who have written books in the areas of their expertise come from varying backgrounds - from English majors turned techies, to engineers with excellent grammar and punctuation skills.

Those whose names have made it to Amazon.com and the computing/technology shelves of Barnes & Noble offer a few suggestions: know what you're talking about; research it again; and plan some long, hard hours of word-processing.

Compensation for books varies widely by publisher, according to IT authors who have been through the publishing process. Some publishing houses give advances to authors, while others provide royalties based on the amount of books sold.

Michael W. Lucas, author of Cisco Routers for the Desperate, says that from taking money upfront may be tempting, but holding out for royalties is worth it. "You make far more if you're willing to wait for your money and take only royalties," he says. "But if you need the cash right now, you can take that option. If you take an advance, it's important to remember that that's probably all the money you'll see from the book. Very few books earn out their initial advances."

While it may seem obvious, one prerequisite for aspiring IT authors is to know what they are talking about. "There's a large gap between knowing something well enough to do your job and knowing it well enough to be able to write a book about it - and to not to receive pointed e-mails from readers of the book calling you an idiot," Lucas says.

Unlike blogs or some Web-based how-to sites, technical books will be your final word on a topic in a format that cannot be changed.

"When you're writing a book, it's out there forever," says James Trulove, author of LAN Wiring (third edition), Build Your Own Wireless LAN and Broadband Networking. You really have to be right."

This means that as much as a writer may think he knows about a subject, there is always more to learn.

For Trulove, this involved lots of primary research; 802.3 documents from the IEEE became regular reading when he was penning a tome on Ethernet and network cabling.

"Don't kid yourself; this is a lot of work," he says. Ultimately, the research made his books stronger and taught him some new things on topics he thought he knew completely.

Just as important as writing accurately is writing clear, understandable prose, authors say. Misunderstanding or misinterpreting correct information is just as bad as reading incorrect information, they say.

"Knowing the audience you're writing for is important," Trulove says. "You have to write so that any reader can understand it, not just someone with your same skills and knowledge."