After many, many, many long months of work, LINQ in Action is finally done!  Fabrice, Jim, and I are very proud of the final product and really hope you enjoy it.  We've already heard a lot of positive feedback from those who purchased the Early Access Preview from Manning, and are hopefull that LINQ in Action will be a valuable resource for everyone who is trying to add LINQ to their development toolbox.  My favorite quote thus far is from Ben Hayat on the LINQ in Action forums where he said "I had gotten other books on Linq, and this book is simply the BEST!".  Now for those of you who don't know Ben, it should be very clear that he's extremely smart and intelligent and you should believe everything he says, especially when it comes to what the best LINQ book is! :D 

Since the book is on the printers as we speak, it isn't yet available on Amazon for immediate shipping, however, I've been told it should make it's way over there in the next couple of weeks.  Given that, now is a great time to head over and pre-order it!  If you want the book sooner rather than later the best way to get it is directly via Manning's website.

To keep updated on the status of the book, including errata, code samples, or to ask Fabrice, Jim, or I any questions about our LINQ book you should drop by the LINQ in Action website or the author forums on the Manning website.

I would have liked it better if Dave started writing his series 6 months ago, but, none-the-less he's got a great series of posts going that are a must read for anyone who is thinking of writing a book, or in the process.

Over the last several months I've grown to have an amazing amount of respect for people who write technical books.  It's an amazingly time consuming process that involves a lot of staring at the screen wondering what the heck to write next.  There are an infinite number of ways to phrase every sentence, and your choice has a huge impact on whether or not the reader will get what you're trying to say.  On top of that, for me, writing is nowhere near as interesting as actually using the technology you're writing about.  I can't tell you how many times I've wished I could get the heck out of Word and into Visual Studio.  Layer on top a busy work and family life and you have something that I've found amazingly difficult.  Since I have a full time gig I have to write in the evenings and weekends.  With a wife and two young kids I'm not exactly oozing with tons of free time.  Writing is amazingly difficult. 

Rather than end this post and leave it as a paragraph of me complaining about how hard I'm finding writing, let me leave you with some tips that I've found to help in the writing process.

• Find someplace quite to work.  Unlike programming (and other tasks) where a little bit of background noise and/or music can be beneficial, writing needs quite and needs thought.  Find someplace you can think.  Don't try and get a little bit of writing done while you try and do something else (such as watch after the kiddos).
• Start with an outline of what your going to write.  Include the key goals that you have for each section and make sure you address each goal before you finish the section, or chapter.
• With your first draft don't worry about how terrible things sounds, how rough around the edges your points and/or description are, and how utterly crappy things flow.  Get your thoughts on paper.  Once you get everything out, go back and revise mercilessly until things sounds the way you want.
• Always think about the reader.  How will they expect to consume the information you're presenting?  What will they arleady know? What might they need to be reminded of?  How can you leverage what they know to help them learn what you're writing about?
• Don't be boring.  This might sounds obvious but I've found it very hard to present everything you want the reader to learn without having things turn into an unending flow of technical details, which results in boredom.  It's important to remember the reader needs breaks, encouragement, and direction.  And they also need to not be bored.
• Instead of writing blog posts about how hard writing is and then spewing off a bunch of writing tips (as if you have any clue what you're talking about) stay focused on your book and the deadlines you have....doh! :)