There are two goals for the book. The first is to help readers understand why you do things in certain ways. In other words, I want the reader to fully understand what’s going on behind the scenes so that he or she appreciates the context for whatever bit of code. This big picture approach is what I think is missing among the current documentation. The second goal is to demonstrate common tasks using real-world examples.
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As you may know, I’ll be writing and self-publishing a book on the Yii framework this fall. I’m working on the table of contents now, and will likely post that in a week. You may also know that Qiang Xue, the creator of Yii, has graciously offered to act as the personal tech editor for the book, as has Alex Makarov, author of the popular Yii 1.1 Application Development Cookbook (Packt Publishing). It’s a great honor that both men have offered their time and assistance, and will clearly make for a better book.
With Yii 2 on the horizon, many readers asked if I planned to write the book for version 2 of the framework. And that answer was “yes”. But with Yii 2 not yet out, other readers are now asking if I’m still planning on writing the book for version 2. Well, in communicating with Qiang, there’s been a bit of a change of plans…
Qiang is working very hard on getting version 2 of his framework right (plus he has a job and family and other things to do). As of now, Qiang expects the alpha of Yii 2 to be out by the end of the year. Once the alpha is available, it would probably only be a couple of months before Yii 2 is production ready. Trying to be flexible, let’s assume that Yii 2 might be out in December and production ready in March 2013. (I know people are eagerly awaiting Yii 2, but the changes in this new version will be in place for years to come, so the new version shouldn’t be rushed. Also, Qiang is one guy, doing all this for free, so let’s cut him some slack, eh?)
Anyway, what does this mean in terms of my Yii book? What I’ve decided to do is write the book now for Yii 1: the version of the framework that you can use today. That way, if you buy the book now, you can use the information now.
If you haven’t caught this part of the plan before, know that I’ll be selling electronic versions of the book to start, and you’ll be able to buy it as I write it, and receive free updates as they are posted.
Next, when Yii 2 is out, I’ll update the book for Yii 2. I’ll probably do this when Yii 2 is in alpha or beta, so as to time the updated book’s completion with the production release of the framework. Those people that bought the Yii 1 version of the book will be able to download the Yii 2 version for free.
This approach means more work for me, but as I’m asking readers to take a bit of a risk in buying the book as I write it, I think it’s the fairest solution. If you buy the book, you’ll get a Yii 1 book and, when the time comes, a Yii 2 book, too.
I expect most people to be pleased with this solution, but let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thanks for the interest in the book!
This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series What It Means To Be A Writer
So you’ve decided to try writing a book: you’ve come up with the idea, sold it to a publisher, and perhaps used an agent in the process. The next step is to negotiate the contract. For those entirely new to the process, and even to those that have been around the proverbial writing block a few times, contract negotiating can be intimidating. If you’re using an agent, the agent will take care of this for you. If not, it’s up to you.
When I took a class on getting published (many years ago), the instructor informed us that you can negotiate contracts offered by publishers. Great! Just one hitch: most people don’t know what to negotiate! In this post, I’ll explain exactly that.
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This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series What It Means To Be A Writer
What agents do, and whether or not you need one, is an important topic for any professional writer. If you only think you have one book idea in you, you probably don’t need an agent. If you hope to do more writing, let alone attempt a career partially based on writing, then you have a decision to make. In this post, I’ll provide some information as to what an agent does. Understanding the role of the agent should help you make the decision, should you be in that situation.
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I’m just now putting the wraps on the third edition of my “PHP Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide” book, this one titled “PHP Advanced and Object-Oriented Programming: Visual QuickPro Guide“. That book will come out in late September, and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out (and hope you will be, too).
With that book almost done, this marks the first time in a long, long, long time (i.e., years) in which I am not facing a deadline. While I’m always doing some things here and there for clients, the books are the projects that have deadlines and around which other work has to be scheduled. With no book contracts currently signed, and therefore with no deadlines, I can now—finally—turn my attention to my book on the Yii framework. Here’s what you can expect…
