Now this is just plain liquid awesome:
When WROX decided to dump the author photos on the book covers, I was bummed out. One of the big selling points of a book is to have your name on it, to point to it in the bookstore and say, “I made that.” Having the authors on the cover was even cooler, especially in a platform like SQL Server where the personalities are so identifiable. The new book covers don’t seem to have anything to do with the content, and they don’t have any personality. They scream “cheap stock photo.”
But when I found out ours had a race car on the front, I cheered. No, cars don’t have anything to do with internals or troubleshooting – but it’s a car, and it’s going fast! Woohoo! I can’t wait to say, “Look for my book in the SQL Server section. It’s the one with a race car on the front.” Shazam!
Here’s a postcard Wiley/WROX is using to promote the book at SQLBits next weekend:
I’ve read the other authors’ chapters, and I can tell you with complete authority that I am by far the dumbest guy involved with this book – not just the brilliant authors on the cover, either, but also including two other folks involved, Cindy Gross and Jonathan Kehayias. I am completely riding on their coattails.
Before I did this, I glanced at books and just figured that any author on the cover knew everything that was in the book. For example, when I saw my buddy Jean-Claude Armand on the cover of Professional SQL Server 2005 Administration, I just assumed he was a genius who knew everything in that book cover to cover. While JC is indeed a genius, don’t assume that I knew everything in our book’s chapters – on the contrary, I’ve learned a *lot* in every single chapter I’ve had the privilege to read. Christian Bolton’s chapter on memory alone was worth the entire book, because the Quest LiteSpeed support folks are always asking me questions about MemToLeave and my answers suck. Now, my answers suck much less.
I’m starting to see what authors mean when they say the writing process doesn’t seem as bad when it starts to fade into the rearview mirror. Now that the book’s coming closer to press time, I’m feeling more and more psyched about it. My junk still hurts, but there’s a very small part of my brain that’s starting to think about how to make it easier next time.
The book’s scheduled to be available in late December or early January, and you can preorder it now from Amazon for around $38.
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Congratulations, Brent! I am looking forward to the book.
Congrats! It’s exciting to see that your book is finally going to be out there. I’ll make sure to pre-order my copy.
“I am by far the dumbest guy involved” Thanks that gave me a laugh. However, saying that is like saying “I’m by far the shortest guy on the Lakers.” Umm… you’re still the equivalent of 6’6″. 🙂
HA! Well, that’s true, I guess. I’m actually out on the floor, so I can’t complain. I can’t call myself the water boy!
It has always been traditional with a Wrox book to stuff it in the bookcase so you can’t see the front cover. Those photoshopped mugshots were always hard on the eye. This is a great improvement.
Wrox writers aren’t any uglier than the rest of humanity, but the overlapping cut-n-paste of several faces with the light coming from different angles really makes the eyes blink. It looks quite unreal, and does the authors no justice. Would you really want your devoted aunt to see your face up there with the others? The most memorable Wrox front cover for me is ‘SQL Server 2005 Administration’. Have you a ‘favorite’ blood-curdling Wrox cover?
Hahaha, yeah, the lighting was hilarious. Sometimes the faces don’t even look in the same direction. Ends up looking like a class photo, hahaha.
I am going to get me one of these. Also: much better to be the dumbest guy on a project than the smartest, as long as everybody else tolerates you. If you’re the smartest, you don’t learn anything.
.. forgot to add, many congrats to all. I’ll be there in the queue to get a copy when it comes out. It is a great team of writers!
Can’t wait to have my hands on this book! Will I ever get an autographed copy? It’s such an inspiration if the book you’re trying to learn from is signed by the authors themselves. Based on the authors listed, this is a must-buy book! This will surely give me in-depth knowledge about SQL Server 2008!