So, I said that I didn’t know if I ever wanted to write a book again. Apparently I lied.

As the image at the top of this post suggests (assuming that you are looking at the blog version and not a feed), I’ve been working on something new for SitePoint – what they are calling ‘The Ultimate HTML Reference’. I couldn’t possibly use the word ‘ultimate’ without getting all terribly uncomfortable and just so darned British and bashful about it. But hey ho, that’s what it’s called, and it has taken enough evenings for it to be getting close to ultimate – and it’s definitely been an ultimate pain the arse to put together! Please, if anyone ever asks me to write a reference book again – that’s to say one where you have a formula to follow and templates to complete rather than writing free-form as you would with a normal book – be sure to stop me signing on the dotted line

Writing a reference is not an easy task – this has taken about 5 months on and off, mostly late in the evening when my wife is asleep, the dog has (mostly) calmed down and I can concentrate on the task in hand, but only for as long as I can physically stay awake. And you can forget about such frivolities as playing Nintendo Wii! But now that the job is pretty much done, excepting a few minor amendments that may be passed my way to address, it feels pretty good to see the end result on SitePoint.com, all searchable and just waiting for the likes of Google and co to start indexing it. Once the initial rough edges are all smoothed out and all the in-house editing has taken place, it’ll then be printed in (their words) a ‘sexy hardcover’. Yay! A hard-cover author, no more of that second-class ‘trade paperback’ malarkey for me, I tells yer! For the next one I want to gilt edge, embossed and with some kind of fancy lazer-cut emblem on it, no less. Which is fine, because there will be no ‘next one’, or at least not a book of this format (ie, the reference kind).

In recent days, as I’ve been telling people at SXSW Interactive about the work I did on this, I used the analogy of having a child. When a mother has her first child, sure it’s hard work – and for a long time, too – but in most cases once the child arrives, the stresses and hardships get quickly forgotten because the baby is here, so never mind all that. And later, the parents think “Let’s have another child”, conveniently forgetting the hardships they faced before. But before long, the memories come flooding back. And so it was with this book. I’d mentally blanked any of the difficult moments from writing the first book, forgot that it can take over your free time when deadlines come around and technically this was a much more challenging book than the first one. But, like I said, the baby has arrived and I feel a bit like a doting father.

So, please do have a poke around the HTML reference and feel free to add comments (need to be a SitePoint member to add comments to any topic file). But if you feel like leaving a comment here, then that’s all good too.

Now, as I’ve no longer got to write about stuff, I’m going to settle back sown and watch a nice film. And it’s bliss!

Lastly don’t forget that there are many ‘Website’ books out there which probably shouldn’t be on the shelves still; if you want a fast track to correct and compliant code you couldn’t do better than this beginner’s book.
Oh and just in case you’re not convinced, I’ve been using the excellent HTML-reference appendix ever since.

The full review of the book is here.

A little while ago I received the sales figures for the book covering the March-December period. I won’t say what the figures are, as I’m not sure if it’s something I’m allowed to state publicly, but at the time I wasn’t sure if the figure was average/good/excellent (I was later informed by on person that what I’d sold with this book was more than what they had sold with two different books, so that was encouraging). Because the book is a beginner’s book, it comes with a lower retail sale price than others published by SitePoint and as such I just missed out on making enough in sales to cover the advance but we don’t do this for profit, right?

I do actually enjoy the writing process and have since contributed to other books (Pro CSS Techniques and Web Standards Creativity), but there’s still nothing quite like having one all of your own and be able to say “I did that”. I’d definitely be interested in doing another complete book at some point, although right now it’s nice not to have to worry about deadlines and have to put other stuff (general life things) aside when there’s a chapter due!

Maybe you do, and maybe you don’t - or at least not as well as you thought you did. Paul Haine is certainly hoping that you don’t feel in any shame in putting yourself in the latter category otherwise his hard work on HTML Mastery will be for nothing. The book, which is due out in January (but you can pre-order on Amazon), goes beyond the simple basics that many of use on a day-to-day basis, looks at some of the lesser-known HTML elements and their uses (and, indeed, the lesser-known ones that deserve to stay lesser-known!). It’s a great refresher for people who think they know HTML pretty well but would like to really master the craft, a task that is helped greatly by the chapters on Microformats and a look at the development of XHTML 2.0 and Web Applications 1.0. But what really makes this book a great read is Paul’s writing style - if you’ve ever read any of his blog entries you’ll know he has a great sense of humour, and this has translated well to the topic at hand, a topic that, in the hands of others, could have been a very stuffy affair.

So, congratulations on the book, Paul - it’s another great addition to the web standards armory.

Pre-order HTML Mastery from Amazon

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK
• Other Amazon locations

[Disclosure: I provided the technical editing on the book, in case you’re wondering how I know what it’s like before its proper release!]

I’ve had a lot of things on the go recently and I’ve been remiss in not doing a bit of self-promotion (and promotion for fellow authors Dan Rubin and Jeff Croft) for a certain CSS book. Pro CSS is the title and it does exactly what it says on the tin - it teaches professional CSS techniques for web developers/designers who already have a good basic understanding of CSS and want to refine their skills even further.

The book’s publication date (as far as Amazon is concerned) is the 27th November, so hopefully I’ll be getting my hands on my copies very soon (and I can tell you from experience that it’s a great feeling, although probably not quite as momentous as the first time, so to speak).

I’m looking forward to seeing Jeff and Dan at next year’s SXSW Interactive where we’ll get the chance to raise a (no doubt Yahoo or Google-sponsored) pint for a real celebration.

• Buy it from Amazon.com
• Buy it from Amazon.co.uk

Just over two years ago, I made a point of calling in to the offices of SitePoint in Melbourne , Australia . I was in town, passing through as part of my year-long world travels, and wanted to meet some of the people there who I’d emailed and written a few articles for in the past. We did lunch. We spoke about writing. And I said that I didn’t think that I was up to writing a book by myself but I’d like the chance to do something.

That something turned out to be a job of tech-editing a book by Shirley Kaiser. I got the offer to do it about a week after we did lunch and thought ‘why not?’. It was a job I could do while on the travels – all I’d need to do was call in at Internet Cafes from time to time to get chapters for review and send back my comments changes.

The travels ended, I got back to the UK , but there was no sign of Shirley’s book. Then, in February last year, I got an email from SitePoint entitled ‘Potential Writing Opportunity’. That was then, and this is now – the potential writing opportunity was fulfilled, but what happened to Shirley’s book?

I have just received my complimentary copy of her book Deliver First Class Web Sites: 101 Essential Checklists, after my own book which I began writing months after editing hers. It’s strange that it worked out like that, and I feel for Shirley having to wait that long for publication (I was just itching to get my hands on the printed copy of my own book!).

A peremptory scan through the book this morning suggests that it’s not that different a beast from the versions that I originally reviewed, but after a year and a half my mind is a little hazy on the fine details, so I could be wrong!

What this book does really well, if I’m allowed to pass comment on something that I had a hand in, is that it cuts out a lot of the waffle and gets to the point very quickly. I’m a fan of the checklist approach (especially if the person reading knows some background info and is not a total newbie) and with this book you can also download easily printable PDF checklists, rather than scribble on the pages themselves (or break the spine of the book by photocopying pages … which obviously you wouldn’t do for copyright reasons, nudge., nudge, wink?).

I’m looking forward to finding some time to re-read the book from start to finish. Who knows, I might even read it in the van and pretend that I’m somewhere exotic, just to take me back to where I was when I originally worked on it!

Thanks for writing this book, Ian. Build Your Own Web Site the Right Way Using HTML & CSS should immediately be made required reading for every single course on web design or web development across the world.

I added the emphasis there, of course. What a great testimonial!

“Haven’t a clue, and I don’t wanna know either.”

Is that weird? I’ll tell you my reasons why: I spent 7 months on the book, desperately trying to get things done to deadline while simultaneously selling up, moving house and beginning wedding plans. I certainly hoped I’d hit the target and that the book would be well received. Certainly the feedback I’ve had right from the beginning has been overwhelmingly positive. However, I was also worried that the last thing the world needs is another book about HTML and CSS, regardless of how well it’s written or how standards-compliant all the advice given is. So, I went by this rule:

Ignorance is bliss.

If I don’t ask how sales are going, I won’t be told, and therefore if sales are not good I won’t start getting all depressed that it was a failed venture and nobody was interested. If I remain blissfully ignorant of that possibility, then I will, I figured, remain optimistic and will continue to do the most I can to promote the book not thinking that I’m not flogging a dead horse. So, since publication I’ve been asked the same question and given the same answer all the time.

Yesterday I received an email from SitePoint which was, among other things, about sales. I’ll quote it here and insert my thoughts as I, well, thought them while reading it through:

“Just thought I’d let you know that your book is doing pretty well in terms of sales … “

Mmm, ‘pretty well’, not ‘really well’ or ‘fantastically well’. Reading on then:

” … from our site right now. Most books that we sell get an initial sales spike when the emails go out and then tail off. Your book, on the other hand, didn’t get that initial sales spike (as we expected pretty much) … “

Yeah, that’s the thing - trying to sell a book that’s aimed at complete novices is difficult to sell to people who already frequent SitePoint.com or subscribe to the newsletter and so on. They know this stuff already. Selling sand to the Arabs, and all that.So I carried on reading:

” … but it’s had much stronger ongoing sales. At the moment, it’s outselling every other book from our site once the spikes are removed. Good job!”

So, I wasn’t asking for sales news, but I’m more than happy to hear this, that’s for sure!

“Early reviews seem good too.”

That’s the one thing I’d love to see more of though. I’ve put together a collection of (summarised) reviewsof the book here, but would love to see some more out there in the wild. So, here’s a personal plea: if you read my book and enjoyed it, please do consider putting together a write-up of it. Currently if you search for reviews of the book on Google not a huge amount is turning up. And remember that if you are an Amazon associate you could earn a bit of commision from any sale that results from someone searching for a review, landing on your site and then clicking through to Amazon.

If you would like a copy to do a review on your site, please do drop me a line. I can’t promise to get you a copy (it’s SitePoint’s decision and obviously it’s dependent on your audience/influence etc) but if you don’t ask you definitely don’t get!

Now, Jess is studying to teach drama and English, so she could easily have taken the path of least resistance, but as we had just received our office copies of Ian Lloyd’s Build Your Own Web Site The Right Way Using HTML & CSS , I dropped one on her desk and hinted that she might find it interesting reading.

Less than a week later, she shot me an instant message one afternoon with a URL in it and asked me, “What do you think?” Bracing myself for the worst, I clicked through and blinked in astonishment at the green check mark that popped up at the bottom of my browser window. The site validated!

It turns out that Jess enjoyed the book so much, she even included an extra page on her site explaining how she had come by her newfound HTML and CSS skills:

And here’s what my happy customer wrote:

I read the book, which assumed no prior knowledge, and was quickly educated in how to use valid HTML and create snazzy web layouts in CSS, in a way that means I can apply my styling to a number of pages using one style sheet—very handy if I want to change something across all my pages.

The result? You’re looking at it. The fact that my first page I created, my homepage, is Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict is an achievement that very, very few first-time webpage builders can claim. In fact, all my webpages pass both HTML and CSS validation 100%, except for the Blogger code in my blog page. But that’s their problem, and another reason why I would ideally use hand-crafted weblogging technology if I were using blogging with students.

I should say, even though I know I’m pushing the boundary between exposition and just plain bragging - this website took me only FIVE days to make. From opening the book through to writing these closing words. That fact even has my head spinning.

And Kevin continued:

I’m still getting used to my girlfriend preaching the gospel of web standards, but I couldn’t be more proud - not only because Jess did such a professional job on her first-ever web site, but also because Ian has produced a book that can engender that level of enthusiam in building web sites the right way from someone with no prior web design experience.

And with that I’m going to sit back and crack open a nice cold fruit smoothie (well, I am at work - it’s a bit early for a lager!).

Buy The Book Here

You’ll just have to take my word for it, of course, but check out the ‘old man’s hands’. Yep, that’s my hand alright!

So, while I was enjoying the moment, I glanced around the shelves and spotted one of Rachel’s books, then another. Along the shelf a bit further was Andy’s CSS book, while Stuart’s and Dan’s books were nestling nearby. I could carry on, but you get my drift. And if not, it’s this – in that small section of that bookshop I could count many books, certainly more than I had fingers to count on, written by people who I would call friends, not just mere acquaintances or ‘know-the-name’ type people; there were probably loads more people there who tech edited books whose names are not visible on the front cover too. This got me thinking:

• Is that experience of knowing the other people on the shelves atypical?
• Do people who operate in other spheres of interest not only know the ‘competition’ (not that I think we truly are) but count them as friends?

I guess asking the question here won’t give me the answers, as most readers of this blog (other than family) are likely the very same tech type people whose books I see on the shelves. But if you have an opinion on this, and even better if you are a writer on another topic, please do let me know if what I experienced here (and will no doubt continue to) is typical or a complete anomaly.