This week I’m focusing on books – writing, publishing, and marketing.  So far I’ve covered how to make (or lose) money writing a book and how the Wine Trials might work as a business model, and today I’m talking to a first-time author.  Enjoy!

Tom LaRock needs no introduction, but you know that when you hear that phrase, someone’s going to do an introduction anyway, and here it comes.  There’s a handful of ways you might know Tom:

• @SQLRockstar on Twitter
• Blogger at ThomasLaRock.com
• He’s on the Board of Directors for the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS)
• Microsoft SQL Server MVP
• Editor of the Monitoring section of SQLServerPedia

And soon, you’ll know him as the author of DBA Survivor: How to Become a Rock Star DBA.  I interviewed Tom to find out why he was writing the book, who it was meant for, and how the business of publishing was working for him.

Brent: After I told you that writing a book felt like punching yourself in the junk, I see that you’ve decided to write a book.  What exactly was behind that thought process?

Tom: First, no one has ever accused me of thinking. Second, I misunderstood, I thought you said it was like pinching yourself a hunk of bacon. Naturally I was excited by that idea. And why would it matter if my writing a book made you punch yourself? it’s not like I would feel anything, right?

Brent: So what’s the book about?

Tom: About how you can survive your life as a DBA. I wrote it with the idea that it should help someone perform their job as a DBA more effectively.

Brent: Who’s the target audience?  When you think about the person on the other side of the page, what are they like?

Tom: It is intended for people who are considering a career as a DBA, or for people who have suddenly found themselves as the DBA. I often hear of these people called “accidental” or “involuntary” DBA’s. I was one of those same people and I set out to write the book that I wish someone would have written for me when I was getting started.

Brent: If someone takes away one thing from the book, what do you want it to be?

Tom: That you can’t do it all yourself. No DBA is an island, you need help from time to time.

Brent: I’d say the same thing about authors, too.  Before I got involved with a book, I had this preconceived notion that an author sat down by himself in front of a word processor, banged out hundreds of pages, then hit print, and it appeared in bookstores everywhere.  Who are some of the people involved in your book, and how are they helping?

Tom: Well, APress provides me with three or four people working on various aspects of editing. And I also have three or four technical reviewers, along with two or three other people that have reviewed at least a chapter or two at my request. Somewhere there is someone putting together a front cover for the book as well. I put the unofficial count at about eight, but it could be a dozen or more people that will help put this all together.

Brent: How did you go about getting a book contract?  What was the pitching experience like?

Tom: I was originally approached to write a book on Operations Manager for the DBA. I put together a rough outline and submitted a proposal, but after some discussion it was not accepted. I recall the relief I felt because it meant that I wouldn’t be punching myself in the junk for the next six months. I sent an email to the editor and explained my relief to him and how if I ever did write a book it would be on something more geared towards professional development.  His response was, “Why don’t you just write the book you want to write? Submit a proposal and your outline and let’s see where it goes.” So I did, and here we are.

Brent: WHAT?!? You know more about Operations Manager than anybody else I know.  Isn’t it enough to know your subject matter start to finish?  What are some of the reasons a book might not get accepted by a publisher?

Tom: Well, lots of people are subject matter experts but are not able to communicate their thoughts in a clear enough way, so I would say that knowing something inside and out is not enough to write a book. You need more than just the knowledge; you need to transfer that knowledge to others in some way, either by yourself or a proxy.

One reason your book may not get accepted is a simple one: money. No publisher is going to publish a book that they do not believe is going to make them a profit in some way. If you think about the target market for a book on Operations Manager 2007 for Database Administrators, then compare that to the number of ‘accidental’ DBA’s, you can see that there is a greater chance of selling more books to the latter than the former. In my opinion, best sellers are simply good books that appeal to the largest possible audience. Other reasons it may not get accepted would be that perhaps the publisher isn’t familiar enough with your ideas or concepts. I doubt APress does romance novels, for example, so they would probably reject such a proposal.

Brent: How is writing a book different from writing, say, a lot of blog entries?

Tom: Well, it takes longer, it is more organized, and you have people reviewing your words and offering suggestions. And at no point in this process did I ever feel I was being told to punch harder. I think all of your talk about how difficult it was for you made me have the mindset that writing a book was going to be very difficult. So, i went in with a certain expectation. I think other people, like yourself, go into the process with blinders on, have a different set of expectations, and are let down in the end. Watching you punch yourself for weeks on end was great for me.

I also noticed just how happy you are now that it is over. that’s how I feel when I get done with a run. I hate dragging my ass all over town for miles on end, but I love the feeling I get when it is over and done with.

Brent: Wow, I never thought of it that way.  Writing a book is a lot like running a marathon – there’s a long buildup and there’s really only gratification at the very end.  Writing blog posts is like sprints – the gratification comes more often in the process.  When I trained for a marathon, I learned a lot about myself, and I’ll stick with shorter runs!  You’ve finished the 26.2 mile monster, though, and you’re already training for your next one, right?  What about your personality makes you well-suited for marathons and book writing?

Tom: Yes, I have a guaranteed entry to the 2010 NYC Marathon, and I have already started building a base so that I can get a jump on my training when it officially starts in April. The program runs for roughly 20 weeks, so you find yourself running for about five months before race day. I’ll probably do well over 700 miles on the road this year, if all goes well. I am also hoping to do the Hartford Marathon as a tune-up for NY, as Hartford takes place three weeks before New York.

No matter what you choose to do in life, running, writing, whatever it may be, you need to have some level of self-discipline. You need to be somewhat organized, have an action plan of sorts, and be determined to follow things through to completion. Many people have all of those same traits, but they manifest themselves in different ways. Think about people who admire cars. They always seem to know all sorts of minutiae about various makes and models of cars. That ability takes passion, and time, and self-discipline. Me? I can’t tell you the make of a car on the highway without seeing the brand logo. But I can tell you six different inbounds plays to run against a zone defense, why the sideline break is the hardest to defend, and where the best spots on the floor are for offensive rebounds. Everyone has a different passion, a different focus, and applies their self-discipline in a different way.

Brent: What have you learned in the process of writing the book – about yourself, and about the process of becoming a DBA?

Tom: I learned that writing is a full time job. These days, if I don’t set aside enough time to write something, and write it well, I almost don’t bother getting it started. I used to just write stuff down and hit ‘publish’. Not anymore. Now I outline my thoughts, try to write complete sentences, and give myself time to get it done correctly. The book made me understand the difference between getting something done, and doing something well. I also learned that I made a lot of mistakes as a new DBA. Technical mistakes, no question, but also mistakes in how I communicated with others. You know, the ‘soft skills’ that everyone needs to improve upon? I think I am a lot better now than when I started, but some days it is hard to tell if the Universe is just sending bad karma back my way or if I am still doing a poor job of communicating with my peers.

Brent: Why did you start a web site about the book, and what do you plan to put on there?

Tom: I started DBA Survivor.com about six weeks ago. I plan to put links there for people to order the book, as well as some excerpts from the book. I was also thinking about doing some interviews with other DBA’s where I ask them some questions about what it was like for them when they first started. Over time I hope that I can use the site in order to help others along, almost like a coach. In fact, I have often thought about how cool it would be at some point if I was known as the DBA Coach, and people just called me Coach when they see me at PASS.

I’d like to thank Coach for taking the time to answer my questions.  In my next Book Week post, I’ll be talking about the mental costs and politics involved with the writing process.

Continue to the Politics of Writing Books