Writing is not as easy as it looks

It’s been nearly a year in the making, but Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Unleashed is due to hit bookstore shelves on November 22, 2005. You can pre-order your own copy at Amazon.com or one of several other on-line bookstores. If you’ll be attending SMB Nation in Seattle September 9-11, you can meet several of the contributors to this title, including Amy Babinchak, Anne Stanton, Chad Gross, Javier Gomez, Susan Bradley, and yours truly.

Having contributed to a number of books over the past 8 years (including The Internet Unleashed 1997, Windows 2000 Server System Administration Handbook, MCSE Windows 2000 Server Study Guide (EXAM 70-215), Deploying Windows 2000 with Support Tools, MCSA/MCSE Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment: Exam 70-290 Study Guide and DVD Training System, and MCSE Exam 70-294 Study Guide and DVD Training System: Planning, Implementing, and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure), taking on this project wasn’t completely out of the blue for me. But it was the first time I took the lead role in a project of this size.

If you’ve never written professionally before, it’s not as easy as it looks. If you’re a published author but have never taken on an entire book project, it’s not as easy as it looks.

This project has been a labor of love for me, but I’ve had the chance to work with some incredible individuals who believed enough in this project to give it their all. That is what has kept me on track through the expected and unexpected delays.

All that being said, I think I’ll wait a bit before taking on another project of this size. I won’t say that publishing for the web is easier than publishing for the printed page, it’s just a different beast with much more immediate feedback, which can be both a good and bad thing.

So pre-order your personal copy now, or wait until you meet a few of the authors at SMB Nation and see what an amazing book this will be for your collection.