Since the beginning of July, I've dropped my time at the university to
60% so that I can have two full days a week to write a book. I
originally set out to write on the subject matter of the class I taught
in the spring, "Mixing and Remixing Information." That is, the book is
geared to teaching how to combine the varied sources of information on
the Web into a new and useful creation. After a couple of months of
sporadic hard labor, with a solid book outline in hand, I am currently
looking for a publisher. The conceptual framework for the book has held
up to the scrutiny of knowledgable reviewers. Finding a sufficient
market of buyers, on the other hand, remains a major hurdle. The book
in its current form is pitched at programmers and designers who enjoy
the process of creating programs and websites. In writing the book
proposal, I was already challenged to broaden my audience from hardcore
programmers to non-programmers who are nonetheless comfortable with the
Web. Now, I strive to reach a still wider audience. I can't imagine
many of my friends' reading the book as outlined, for instance. How can
I write a book that would captivate people such as my friends and
family who certainly use the Web but who don't program? That's the
question I'm now exploring.