Thursday 19 January 2023

Book review: The Art of Writing Technical Books


Title: The Art of Writing Technical Books

Author: Peter H. Gregory

ISBN: 978-1-957807-49-2

Price: US$15

GH rating: 85%


Summary

If you are thinking seriously about writing your first book, Peter's plain-talking guidance slices through the bewildering cloud of choices and issues you face.  Working with a literary agent, publisher and assorted experts is an obscure and convoluted process.  Peter explains it well.


Pros

Peter describes the writing and publishing process straightforwardly, offering valuable advice and tips accrued in the course of writing more than 50 books. For instance, I learned about the distinct roles of project, technical and copy editors.

I believe Peter's advice is sound or at least largely applicable to other genres, aside from 'technical books'.


Cons

The book primarily concerns conventional publishing, with relatively little to say about the most creative and time-consuming part of the process i.e. the book writing. The laborious research and fact-checking necessary for technical books, for example, is barely mentioned. Self-publishing gets a few mentions: I'd welcome more on that.  

Authors have individual approaches, methods and styles that may differ from those discussed in the book: I would have appreciated more discussion and guidance on alternatives, such as working systematically through a mind-map or similar outline to structure, develop and elaborate on the content, rather than writing the table of contents first. 

Despite the title and subtitle, the're not much about the art and Peter barely even hints at the lifestyle aspects. I was looking forward to hearing about living the high-life of the rich and famous!


Value

Thanks to Peter's matter-of-fact approach, strong focus on the topic and succinct style, I read the entire book cover-to-cover today and I am already making use of tips from the book.  At just $15*, it is a bargain!



* That is Barnes & Noble's current (rounded) list price for the paperback as this review is being written. Prices vary over time and between retailers and formats. 

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