Where Writers Stay Up Late…

Once again I am at the final stages of another book. The manuscript is copyedited and I am incorporating the corrections (a very monotonous and time-consuming task that I hate). It will take another two days.

Then I have to typeset it (I do the typesetting of most of my books), write the preface, generate the table of contents, prepare the index (another very monotonous and time-consuming task that I hate to do but am not willing to delegate), take the CRC (Camera Ready Copy) and send it to my publisher.

I have been working long hours for the past couple of weeks and will be doing so until the CRC is sent to the publisher.

So, in all probability, I will not be posting anything till this project is over. But it is always nice to read the posts, as it is a welcome break. So, keep posting…

30 Comments

  1. James Bright said,

    February 27, 2006 at 3:37 am

    My best wishes to you Alexis.
    You are a wonderful friend.

  2. Paresh said,

    February 27, 2006 at 6:34 pm

    Wishing you the best

  3. Sreejith Kumar said,

    February 27, 2006 at 6:38 pm

    A leave letter this one, right? LOL
    All the very best to your projects!

  4. Geo said,

    February 27, 2006 at 7:11 pm

    All the best Alexis…
    U didnt tell what u r writing abt… another techy book?

  5. Alexis Leon said,

    February 27, 2006 at 8:42 pm

    James, Paresh, Sreejith & Geo: Thank you very much. It is actually two books–one on Database Management Systems and another on Software Engineering.

  6. Mind Curry said,

    February 27, 2006 at 9:19 pm

    wow alexis..another book..you make it sound easy..congrats. do let us know once its released.

  7. silverine said,

    February 27, 2006 at 9:29 pm

    Congratulations!!! You do the typesetting yourself? That indeed is a tedious job, but then it reflects your passion for perfection. All the very best .

  8. arvindh said,

    February 28, 2006 at 1:47 am

    Good luck with the project! Let us know what the book is about.

  9. Alexis Leon said,

    February 28, 2006 at 10:05 am

    Mind Curry: Thank you; yes another book. 39th to be precise.

    Silverine: Thank you. Yes, I do the typesetting when the publisher doesn’t have a problem with that. I never liked the layouts that the publishers choose and used to argue with them and pester them with suggestions and change requests. So most publishers that I write for, allow me to do the typesetting. It gives me the right to decide the layout of the book and the pay is also not bad. I had to learn typography and typesetting, but now with more than 25 books, I have become reasonably good at it.

    Same is the case with indexing. If I ask the publisher to get is done by someone, after giving a list of key words, the results are never as good as I want. So I have learned indexing and prepare the index for my books. But in this case, I don’t get paid for the effort. 🙁

    Arvindh: Thank you.

  10. Dewaker Basnet said,

    March 1, 2006 at 10:47 am

    would love to buy a copy of your book once its done..will have the privilege in the mind of knowing an author “personally”;)
    all the best for the endeavor. Hectic job but am sure worth the sweat.

  11. chackochan said,

    March 1, 2006 at 11:14 am

    Wow …but u should give a review about u r book 🙂 😉

    all the best for u r endeavour …

    39th book ? …….. :O :O

    hope it will be finished soon ….

  12. Alexis Leon said,

    March 1, 2006 at 12:51 pm

    Dewaker: Thank you, send me you address, I will send you a copy once it is published. But it on database management systems, if you prefer some other title choose form one here and let me know 🙂

    Chackochan: A brief review of the books published are available here. Yes, the book will be released by the 15th of March. But my work will be over by the 5th.

  13. Dewaker Basnet said,

    March 1, 2006 at 3:26 pm

    man i am so much in awe with the number of books written…well nothing as such seems to be my forte..will wait for some book which would be of my understanding..till then..happy writing:)

  14. Suji said,

    March 1, 2006 at 5:04 pm

    Wow! All the best. I have read your book on Oracle 8. For a long time i thought your name sounded familiar…now i know why…:D

  15. Mind Curry said,

    March 2, 2006 at 1:49 pm

    39th!!!!!!!
    (faints)

  16. Geo said,

    March 2, 2006 at 2:49 pm

    39th!!!!!!!
    (faints)

  17. Alexis Leon said,

    March 2, 2006 at 8:07 pm

    Suji: Thank you. Oracle 8. That was long time back (1998).

    Mind Curry & Geo: Same comment. Even the same number of exclamation marks…Coincidence…No way…Geo, when you are involved, there is nothing like coincidence. You did a cut and paste 🙂 With so much of firefighting you are doing these days, I don’t blame you for taking a shortcut 😉

  18. roopa said,

    March 3, 2006 at 12:03 am

    Just happened on your site. Good luck with your book, I admire your determination and grit.

  19. -poison- said,

    March 3, 2006 at 4:27 pm

    🙂 all the best for the new release sir..

    and
    LOL@ Geo!!!!!!

  20. Ajith Prasad said,

    March 4, 2006 at 12:01 pm

    Happened to reach here after some random browsing..Have bought ur book on ERP.. Good one which gives an overview abt history of ERP, developments etc..But inside , I found the content to be a bit old..Pertaining to Oracle 11.0.3 and SAP R/3 releases…
    Ajith

  21. Alexis Leon said,

    March 4, 2006 at 1:24 pm

    Roopa: Thanks for dropping by and thank you for your wishes.

    -poison-: Thank you very much.

    Ajith: Thanks. I am working on the second edition of the book. This revised and updated book is scheduled to be released in June-July.

  22. anu said,

    March 6, 2006 at 10:38 am

    wow..!!
    all the best..!

  23. Kesi said,

    March 7, 2006 at 11:28 pm

    Hello Alexis,
    Best of luck with the revisions on your book. Both you and James are on a blog break at similar times:-(.
    Kesi

  24. Deepa said,

    March 8, 2006 at 2:29 pm

    hey !

    what do u do basically ???

    get done with ur book soon

    ciao
    🙂

  25. Alexis Leon said,

    March 8, 2006 at 8:16 pm

    anu: Thank you.

    Kesi: Thank you Kesi. James is back from his vacation. I have completed the book. Will be back in a couple of days.

    Deepa: That is an interesting question 🙂 I run a small software and IE consultancy company. I write books in areas like computer science, IT, management. Then I read a lot of books, listen to music, watch movies. I also manage 5 web sites. Yes, the book is complete. After a few days break, I have to start working on the next book which is about 60% complete. By May I have to finish another 2 books.

  26. Geo said,

    March 10, 2006 at 2:38 pm

    …yes another book. 39th to be precise.

    …. I have to start working on the next book which is about 60% complete. By May I have to finish another 2 books….

    Whatzdiz???

    U planning to break Guinness World Records or what?

  27. Alexis Leon said,

    March 10, 2006 at 10:39 pm

    Geo: 😉

  28. Mind Curry said,

    March 11, 2006 at 12:41 pm

    man..39th. i bet the cia must be waiting to seize your brains or something. amazing you are!

  29. pophabhi said,

    March 22, 2006 at 8:40 am

    Just went through the article and the comments!! Amazing, Alexis – Too Good!
    39 books 😮 – I think the word Born Tough suits you rather than Ceat! 🙂
    Best Wishes!! Would love to grab this one, once its published – I think I can get it from some bookshop in Cochin, once I come over, rite?

  30. Alexis Leon said,

    March 22, 2006 at 9:43 am

    abhi: Thank you. Once it is released, you can get it from almost all bookstores that sells computer science books.