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I love books, and I’m a voracious reader. But books pose a few problems in the techie space:
- they are out of date the day they are printed
- they can be cost prohibitive – lots of pages and a small audience
- folks go to Google for answers now
However I think I have a solution that skates past these issues – a free e-book. Self-published in PDF format, I can distribute it for free, and update it as time allows and changes to the product demand. So now the problem boils down to focus and time.
Focus – what shall the book be ‘about?’ Time – can I find time to write it?
Content isn’t an issue. It’s in my head and on this blog. But I want a book that addresses multiple audiences, both the beginner and advanced user. And I don’t want it to be JUST a mashup of existing content from here. I’ve written a similar book before, but it didn’t quite have the impact I wanted it to. Hopefully lessons learned a few more years experience will result in a much better product.
So all this being said, I’m putting it in writing and out there on the innerwebs, my 2013 resolution is to make this book happen. If you’d like to encourage me with ideas on what you’d like to see covered, please do 
I like to use stories to demonstrate technical features, and you folks have given me SO many.
If you have a story of how SQL Developer has helped ‘save the day’ – please tell me about it here and I’ll include it in the book. Your reward will be a free copy and the warm feeling one gets knowing that they have helped the community by sharing their experiences and knowledge.
They say resolutions don’t work without a plan. So here’s my plan: outline it, write it, have it reviewed, publish it. And do so BEFORE Summer 2013. Now make it so!