A few moment ago, I finished writing Windows Phone Secrets.
Well. Put more accurately, I finished the initial writing pass, and submitted the final complete chapter to the publisher.
There’s still a lot of work to do, but the truly awful part is over.
Up next: The "front matter," which is actually about half written and consists largely of introductory material. And AR, or "author review," where I have to deal with all of the edits made by copy and technical editors. During this phase, I’m still working with marked up Word documents and I can easily add text. I intend to do so, mostly around shoring up the language so it’s consistent. (There are a lot of new Windows Phone terms and they’ve changed over time.) But I’ll also add information where I can, and I’ll do a pass through all my notes and other resources with each AR’d chapter to make sure they’re all as complete as possible.
After that is a quicker pass through PDF versions of the actual book pages. At this point, of course, only critical changes can be made, and nothing that will impact the flow/page count of the book.
And through all this, of course, I have a lot more to write, here on the blog, and on the SuperSite. I promised some discussions around money, and there’s more to say about the writing process, which hopefully isn’t as tortured for others as it is for me.
Anyway. I’m exhausted, and we’ve got a family from Germany arriving tomorrow for the home swap, so there’s work to be done around the house. And then we’re off to Germany for three weeks. I’ll be working each day while I’m there, but not on a normal schedule. I won’t be positive what that looks like until we’re there a few days.
Goodnight.
Update: It occurs to me that a more Windows Phone-centric "Achievement unlocked" graphic is in order. Yes, this will do nicely. :)
Congratulations!
Congratulations!!
Good Job Paul i’m sure the wife is excited for you to be finished! You should get her todo a little post on the site and how she had to live with your craziness! So again when can we pick up a copy of the book?
Congratulations to you! I’m very much looking forward to getting the book.
Great job Paul, love the graphic at the end as well, priceless!
Congratulations! I just received my free copy of Windows 7 Secrets today (thanks again!) and I look forward to picking up a copy of this book as well. Of course, this time I’ll be purchasing the book. ;)
Congratulations Paul! Great work. I wish I was as dedicated, we are running 2 months late with our software update.
I agree with @brianj2010 your wife must be more relieved then you!
Can’t wait to get the book
Congratulations! Excellent graphic.
sooo, paul, now that the book is finished(ish), can we get a link to pre-order it on amazon…i see that it is on there now…so we can give ya a kick-back(i think thats what its called)…..
Congrats.
Looking fwd to it :)
Paul, have you ever thought of having a Windows Phone 7 App that goes with your book? Something like a searchable index with animated and interactive figures all presented in sexy Metro style? That way when I’m on the go with my WP7 (can’t wait btw!!) I can still access your book, which is probably when I really need it anyway. If you do make an app, make sure to add a favorites feature for quick reference and possibly a “did you know?” rotating tool tip to help find features we might not know about. Congrats on the work!
Congratulations, Paul. Enjoy your trip to Europe.
Congrats dude!
That’s great Paul, you’re an amazingly fast writer. It took me a lot longer to write my Android book (http://pragprog.com/titles/eband3). I wish Google would let writers have access to prototypes and early releases like Microsoft did for you. We have to wait until the public release to start.
Fortunately for me it’s a pretty finite topic at this point. :)
But I’d have liked to have had a peek at some real third party apps. And I know Microsoft is going to improve this thing as soon as the publisher signs off on the book, that’s how it always works.
Enjoy your vacation, sounds like you’ve earned it.