Kindle Book Customers...

I wanted to say THANK YOU for your continued Support!  Seriously. I had kind of ignores the sales reports thinking the numbers had fallen to nothing by now, but I was surprised to see more activity lately. You have no idea how much I appreciate that and want to Thank you for your patronage.

Please post feedback on the books you've purchased? Be honest and straightforward? I would very much like to know what you like and don't like and what I can improve upon.

Respectfully,
Dave

The Reviews are Coming In!!!

I've already blabbered about my new book, "Grinding More Gears: Software Repackaging for World Domination", but while I await real reader reviews, I had to get some make-do reviews to hold things over until the holidays (okay, technically: holiday) are done.

"Oh my goodness.  Tragic.  Tragic, is the word.  I pray for this author and whomever reads this.... book... thing...what have you." - Mother Theresa

"Relatively speaking, of course, one could derive a postulate that would infer a certain intransigent preponderance that the verbiage was of some theorem that implicated a form of intelligence which could not be excluded or precluded, maybe not even occluded, but which certainly does not interject a notion of sensible intellect that a cognizant being could construe as knowledge." - Albert "Dr. Relative" Einstein

"What. The... ?..." - Aristotle

"Best book I ever read!" - Helen Keller

"What's a Kindle?" - George Washington

I'm truly flattered!  Thank you!

Big News! E-Book Price Reductions!

If you have ever stayed awake long enough to read through any of my books: THANK YOU!

If you've read one or two of them, and wondered if any of the others are any good, well.... now is your chance to explore.

Big News...
Major Pricing Discounts on my E-Books!

Major Discounts will be applied starting this week.  Amazon has to process the price changes, so they may not be posted for another 24-48 hours (from today: July 24, 2013).

If you still see the "Old Price" posted on the Amazon product page, refresh the web page or come back to it until you see the updated prices.

The new prices are shown below.  Read the Q & A below for more information...

Amazon Kindle Publication	Old Price (USD)	New Price (USD)	Discount
Grinding Gears: The Art of Software Repackaging and Deployment Packaging, Testing, Deploying, Uninstalling and Upgrading Software Applications on the Windows platform.  Also covers Configuration Manager, Scripting, Group Policy, and more!	$6.99	$5.99	15%
Why Your Next IT Project Will Fail (and What You Can Do to Avoid It) Why do Projects fail? More specifically: Why do IT Projects fail? Is there a common thread or pattern that exists among failed IT Projects? Is it predominantly a failure of technology; of people; or a failure of both? Are there warning signs that make it easy to spot the causes before they become problems, with sufficient time to correct them? Are there steps that can be taken to correct the problem once it's begun? Are there strategies that can help prevent these potential issues from occurring again?	$4.99	$2.99	40%
The Visual LISP Developer's Bible: 2011 Edition Developing, Testing and Compiling VLISP code for AutoCAD 2011.  VLIDE options as well as tips and tricks.	$7.99	$5.99	25%
The Visual LISP Developer's Bible: 1st Edition The Original. The e-book that started it all for me.	$4.99	$2.99	40%
The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible: 2013 Edition Setting up FlexLM and network licensing. Building, Testing and Deploying Autodesk 2013 products (aka "Deployments"), logs, option files, troubleshooting and more.	$9.99	$7.99	20%
The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible: 2012 Edition Setting up FlexLM and network licensing. Building, Testing and Deploying Autodesk 2012 products (aka "Deployments"), logs, option files, troubleshooting and more.	$6.99	$4.99	30%
The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible: 2011 Edition Setting up FlexLM and network licensing. Building, Testing and Deploying Autodesk 2011 products (aka "Deployments"), logs, option files, troubleshooting and more.	$3.99	$2.99	25%

In addition: Some of my e-Books which were not enrolled in the Amazon KDP Select program, are now enrolled! 

• The Packager's Pocket Reference, 2nd Edition ($5.99)
• Grinding Gears: The Art of Software Repackaging and Deployment ($5.99)
• You're Only as Good as Your Last Mistake ($2.99)

Q & A (Questions and Answers)

How Long will this Discount Offer Last?  These prices will remain in effect until August 10, 2013, or roughly 16 days from when the new prices go into effect.  After that, they will be returned to their previous prices.

Do you need a Kindle to read these?  NO.  You can download a FREE Kindle Reader App for almost any mobile device.  You can also read them in almost any web browser using the Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader.

You can read these, using a FREE reader app, on your iPhone, iTablet, iPod, Blackberry, Android device, Windows device, and more.

What Locations will see these Discounts?  The new prices will go into effect in all markets in which Amazon applies international currency conversions.  If you live or reside in a location which is not handled by their automated currency conversion process,  you will see whatever discount is applied as a derived translation of the U.S. Dollar value, as best as I can figure out. 

The markets which are covered by their automatic conversion process, as of now,  include: The United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, India, Japan, Brazil, and Canada.  For more information, visit the Amazon web site and be sure to drink plenty of caffeine.

What does this "KDP Select" stuff mean?  It means Amazon Prime members can LEND and BORROW those e-books for FREE.  Yes.  For Free!  Ok, well, becoming an Amazon Prime member isn't really "free", but it does give you some pretty darn amazing discounts and cool features you can't get otherwise.

How Many of my e-Books are enrolled in this "KDP Select" program for Amazon Prime members to benefit from?  All of them.  If you find any that are not available for lending and borrowing on Amazon Prime as of July 26, 2013, please post a comment here and let me know!

How do I know which books are written by this same "David M. Stein"?  I've been told there are other "David Stein" authors out there, some with rather interesting tastes in book topics.  Rest assured that I have only written the books you see listed on my Kindle Author's page

Why am I doing this?  It's simple:  I have four kids still living at home, and my car is pretty darn old.  So you can rest assured that while you save money, and stuff your brain with new information, you're also helping a good cause.

Another Book Announcement and More!

I've just published another book!  Yes! I know exactly what you're thinking:  "What the...? Why do they let him keep doing this?!  Have they no mercy upon our eyeballs?!"

Well, in the interests of science, humanity, environment and the ever-pressing need to keep gasoline in the tank of my car, I've decided it was time to pull together as many of the mindless stories I could from my old-as-dirt years working in the world of IT.  That was a very long run-on sentence.  My high school English teachers are probably rolling over in their graves right now.

There's also quite a lot of blabber about how I got into the world of IT and how I swam through the sea of CAD into the ocean of Infrastructure Management and Software Development. It really is fascinating.  Not how I got into IT, but the fact that I could construct a sentence that almost sounded coherent.  Wow!

What's this New Book All About?

The new book is called "You're Only as Good as Your Last Mistake".  Sub-titled "25 Years of Boneheaded Reflection and Stupid IT Stories to Dull your Senses".  It's a blending of a little biographical nonsense, some seriously pretentious pontification, some articles adapted from my blog (this blog), and stories about things going bump in the electronic night. I suppose it could be called a BioTechieHumorFailDisasterFest.  Uhhh.  Yeah.

It's available on the Amazon Kindle store in every country where Amazon can sell books (US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, Spain, Canada and Brazil, as far as I know).

Here's the GOOD NEWS!

• It's only $2.99 (USD) and whatever that translates to in other currency
• Don't have a Kindle?  No problem.  You can download a FREE Kindle Reader app for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Windows XP/Vista/7/8, Mac OS, and ...
• You can read Kindle books online in almost any web browser using the Kindle Cloud Reader!
• If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can "borrow" eBooks, including all of my eBooks, for FREE!

What's the Catch?

• I only ask a small favor:  It's a BIG favor for me, and a small effort on your part, but I really would appreciate honest reviews of my books.  If you've purchased, or borrowed, any of my eBooks and actually read them (without pausing in the middle to stab yourself in the eyeballs with a fork), please go to the Amazon web site for the book(s) you've read and submit your opinion on them?
• You can start at my Author Profile page to make it easy.
• Thank you!

Sample: "Where it All Began: From Doritos to Digital Ships"

"Chronologically it's weird, because some of those jobs were in parallel with others.  For example, in that maze of titles I managed to fit in roughly five good years of rock and jazz band, but whatever. I also weaved in about ten years of artwork (painting, drawing, squishing clay stuff around, and so on) which never earned me more than "Hey man, that's cool!"  I remember responding a few times with "Cool enough to buy?", and the response to that being something like "Yeah! By somebody.", but somehow "somebody" could never be found. 

Sometime in early 1984, Mark, one of my brothers stoned friends, walked into our kitchen while I was maniacally inhaling a bowl of Fruit Loops (my favorite cereal at the time).He stopped at the doorway to exclaim "I got a job, dude!" to which we all replied with stunned silence.  I decided to inquire, saying something intelligent like "Oh yeah? What?"  

He explained that he was hired as a "Naval Designer" at a local Naval engineering firm, and went on to indulge us in this magically mysterious thing called "benefits", and something even more interesting, called a "salary". If I hadn't grown up in a Navy town (okay, a Navy "region"), I would have assumed a "Naval Engineer" designed belly-button replacements or something. 

Most of what Mark said was really fascinating, even though I could barely hear his muttering over my own cereal-chewing noise.  The best way to describe him is to think of someone who looks, sounds, and acts a lot like Jeff Spiccolli (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), only not as funny, has a mustache and wears glasses, coming in and telling you he was hired at an engineering firm.  You get the idea. 

Somewhere towards the end of my bowl of cereal Mark said something that perked my ears up.  I think it was something he mentioned about there being more positions needing to be filled, and that they paid pretty well. As it turned out, there were roughly twenty openings for "Drafting Apprentice" jobs, so I ran down and applied.  After a short interview ("Can you hold a pencil, boy? Alrighty! You is hired!"). 

I was finger-printed, scanned, questioned, photographed, probed and stamped with a badge and told to show up at 7:30 AM the following Monday.  That led to five or six years of my work as a Drafter/Designer in the U.S. Naval engineering field." 

Sample above (C)2013 David M. Stein, All Rights Reserved. May not be reproduced or copied, transmitted, in whole or in part, for any purposes or derivative use, without explicit written consent of the author (me). And let's face it: If you're so desperate that you'd consider copying this literary fast food schlock, well, you may need some serious medication already.

Book Prices, Obama-Care, and Meteorites

What do these three things have in common?  I have no idea.  But I was thinking about blaming the latter two for why I had to raise the prices on two of my Amazon e-Books:  The Visual LISP Developer's Bible, 2011 Edition, and the original Visual LISP Developer's Bible (2003).  I raised each by $1.00 (USD) to help offset the overhead of supporting my four kids (yes, four, go ahead and joke), who all live at home.   I admit it: I slept through Sex-Ed too often, but I did pay attention when they talked about female anatomy.  That has to count for something. Four? (ba-da-bing!)

I tried changing the locks, moving and wearing disguises, but they found me anyway.  I'm kidding. Although, the idea has crossed my mind a few times.  Anyhow, the prices went up from $6.99 to $7.99, and $3.99 to $4.99, respectively.  I'm sure that will piss off some potential customers, but as the saying goes: You can't please all of the people all of the time, but you can always please yourself (oh, hey! I won't go there).

Blog News and Updates!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything mildly interesting here (even if you include the article I just posted before this).  But I have an announcement to make...

I've accepted an offer to write for 4Sysops.com!

I will post an update here when my first article is published, so please stay tuned.  I'm putting a lot of time into it, so I hope you find them useful and entertaining (yeah, I will still insert my stupid humor where I can).

Publishing Your Own E-book

Someone asked me how hard is it to publish your own e-book.  The answer is: It's easy.

The hardest things about it are (A) deciding on what to write about, and (B) spending the time writing and editing.  Besides that, the technical part is amazingly simple, but there are a few small things to watch out for. Ultimately however, this is an exciting time to try on your author hat and see where it can take you!

Tools

You can use all sorts of software products to "author" or write your e-book.  I prefer Microsoft Word, but some authors find that absurd.  However, you can make some adjustments in Word to avoid the pitfalls that many Word-haters cite as reasons to avoid using it.  I'll touch on that under "Tricks" later in this article.

The other "tool" you'll need is something to convert from the writing/editing output into the publishing format. Most e-book readers can open EPUB and MOBI files, however, Amazon Kindle won't open EPUB.  There are quite a few other formats as well, but EPUB and MOBI are the most common.  (for a comparison/explanation, check this out).

Amazon actually converts your content into their own AZW if you choose to lock down the digital publishing rights (something you should do if you don't want people making copies of your book and sharing it for free).  I have tried several such products, even Amazon's own KindleGen, but I've settled on Calibre, which is a free converter and library manager for Windows, Mac and Linux.

KindleGen is also nice, but it's a bare-bones converting tool.  In fact, it has no graphical interface (GUI), it's a command-line tool, but fortunately it's not difficult to use.  The download from Amazon is a .ZIP file, so you need to extract the kindlegen.exe file out from the .ZIP file in order to use it.  After you extract it to a folder, right-click on that folder while holding down your SHIFT key, and select "Open Command prompt here".  You can also click the Start button, and type CMD and press Enter, then use the age-old DOS command "CD" to switch to the folder, then type "kindlegen" to view the usage information. I figure if you can suffer through my idiotic ramblings this far, you're probably capable of figuring out the rest from here. :)

Tricks

As I mentioned above, if you want to use Microsoft Word to write your book, you'll want to make a few changes to formatting to avoid problems during the conversion process.  For Word 2010, click the "File" tab, click "Options", select "Proofing", and click the "AutoCorrect Options..." button.

Select the "AutoFormat As You Type" tab, and de-select (disable/un-check) the following options:

• "Straight quote" with "smart quotes"
• Fractions (1/2) with fraction character(1/2)
• Hypens (--) with dash (--)
• *Bold* and _italic_ with real formatting

Other things to be careful with are the use of borders and tables, and nested indenting.  E-book readers tend to apply their own formatting voodoo on top of the final output, and these objects tend to confuse some of them pretty badly.\

Tips

I don't recommend trying to write an e-book if you don't already have an e-book reader.  The good news is that today (in 2012), you can read e-books in a web browser, on your phone, in a dedicated reader application, as well as on smartphones, and physical reader devices and tablets.  The array of options is pretty amazing actually.

If you don't own (or borrow) an Amazon Kindle or Kindle Fire, or a Barnes & Noble Nook, or a Sony Reader, or whatever, I strongly recommend you go buy one first.  Why?  Two reasons:

1. You need to become familiar with the end-user experience.  It helps to understand what your readers (customers) will see when they pay hard-earned money for your works.
2. You need a means for testing the output prior to publishing it for purchase.  You'd be surprised how many times you will copy and re-copy your e-book to the device to fix formatting errors, and make corrections that you only happen to see on the reader device.

While the "cloud" readers are fine, most of your customers are likely to read your works on a dedicated reader device.  If you plan on publishing through Amazon, I recommend getting a Kindle or Kindle Fire.  Each market tends to favor a certain class of device however, so make your choices accordingly.

The Business End Low-Down

Each publisher has their own particular set of rules and guidelines, so I strongly urge you to review each of them, and weigh the potential marketing prospects, to decide which you intend to use.  Some will actually place limits on whether you can publish a particular work through other sites or publishers. Be careful!

I've used Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Google Play.  Of the three, I prefer Amazon.  Amazon offers two royalty rate options, and a variety of tools such as Lending, and Kindle Select, as well as control over free "offers" to help you tailor your marketing goals to suit your needs.

Basically, the way the "model" works is you upload and publish for "free".  Amazon earns revenue off of a percentage of each sale.  You can choose a 70% or 35% royalty rate, where each has its unique limitations and benefits.  For details about Amazon's KDP pricing options, go here.

Royalty payments are disbursed at the end of each sales period, or roughly every 30 days.  They will also send you an e-mail to let you know in advance what will be deposited into your bank account (if you choose direct deposit).

Unless your book is a major "hit", don't expect to retire from our day job (unless your day job happens to be writing e-books).  I will admit my book sales don't come anywhere close to those of Dan Brown or J.K. Rowling, but I earn enough to cover lunch costs and fill my gas tank most of the time.  Is that bad?  Not really.  I fully realize the niche market my books are aimed at, so I don't expect high volume sales.  But every bit helps.  As for taxes: Amazon, like all the others, sends you a 1099 form to help you file your tax return appropriately.

Conclusion

If you've been putting off writing a book, maybe now is the time to reconsider.  It has never been easier (and more affordable) to get your material out into the world, and earn a little income from it as well.  Anyone who has a little creative spark for writing stories, or writing about their own experiences, or skills or ideas, or whatever, can now produce their own e-books to a thriving market with the potential to do very well.  The traditional approach to getting a printed book published is becoming increasingly more of a challenge, and more costly.  E-book publishing makes it possible to do it yourself and with greater control over the process and the content as well.

Table of Contents (Preliminary)

Here's the preliminary Table of Contents for my new book "The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible - 2013 Edition".  I'm very close to wrapping it up, and as soon as it is reviewed and checked, I can incorporate the corrections and publish it on Amazon.

Contents

Introduction

What’s New in This Book

About the Author (me)

Overview

Who This Book is For

Terms Used in This Book

Why Bother With Network Deployments?

Assumptions

Planning & Design

Testing

Roll-Out

Technical Support

Environmental Changes

Organizational Environment Types

The Small Office Home Office (SOHO)

Small Business

Small-to-Medium Business (SMB)

Enterprise WAN

International Enterprise WAN

Deployment Planning

Resources

Constraints

Designing a Deployment Solution

Autodesk Product Deployments

Target Client Devices

32-bit AutoCAD 2013 installations (minimum)

64-bit AutoCAD 2013 installations (minimum)

AutoCAD Mac installations (minimum)

More Client Device Types

Deployment Servers

License Servers

Storage

Naming Conventions

Software and Licensing

Designing a License Management Architecture

Distributed License Server Responsiveness

Distributed Licensing and Client Settings

Network License Manager Folders

Virtual Environments

Making Your Business Case Work

Deployment Methods

Interactive (Manual)

Scripting

Group Policy (GPO)

System Center Configuration Manager

Client Imaging

Creating an AutoCAD 2013 Deployment

Walking Through the Process

Including Service Packs and Updates

Exploring the Deployment Folder

Copying and Moving Deployments

Deployment Folder Security

Windows File System Security Basics

The “Domain Computers” Group

Removals and Upgrades

Deploying License Servers

Single Server Configuration

Verifying the FlexLM / NLM Version

Sharing Licenses with Other Vendors and Products

Upgrading FlexLM and LMTOOLS

FlexLM and Firewall Considerations

Additional FlexLM Features

Verifying FlexLM License Services on Windows

Additional Information:

Using Configuration Manager 2007

Deployment Scenarios

Configuration Manager Basics

Configuration Manager 2007 Terminology

A High-Level Overview

Configuration Manager Deployment Overview

Selective Targeting

Configuration Manager Deployment Strategy Tips

AutoCAD Deployments vs. Distribution Points

Creating a Configuration Manager Package

Creating a Program

Creating the Advertisement

Testing your Deployments with Configuration Manager

Tracking Configuration Manager Deployments

Updating Collections

Advertisements and Web Report History

AutoCAD 2013 Installation Documentation

Using Configuration Manager 2012

Applications vs. Packages

Preparation

Creating an Application

Creating a Deployment Type

Targeting Users and Devices

Deploying AutoCAD 2013 with Group Policy

Assign an installation to a Computer

Adding a Language Pack to the Group Policy Deployment

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012

Configuration Manager vs. MDT

Overview of MDT 2012 Features

MDT 2012 Update 1

Basics of Provisioning

MDT Deployment Options

Manual Interaction

Boot Media

Windows Deployment Services

Configuration Manager OSD

Deploying DWG TrueView with MDT 2012

Basic Setup

Preparation

Creating an Application

Creating a Task Sequence Item

Updating the Deployment Share

Updating Deployment Media Content

Deploying AutoCAD 2013 with MDT 2012

Option 1, Leave the AutoCAD Deployment As-Is

Option 2, Copy into MDT and modify Deployment .INI file

Preparation Work

Screen Shots of the Deployment in Action

Conclusion

Deploying Prerequisites

Deploying Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

Deploying .NET Framework 4.0 with Configuration Manager 2007

Deploying .NET Framework 4.0 with Configuration Manager 2012

Design Review 2013

Deploying Autodesk Design Review 2013 with Configuration Manager 2007

DWG TrueView 2013 via Configuration Manager 2007

DWG TrueView 2013 via Configuration Manager 2012

Prerequisites

Create the Application

Create the Installation Deployment Type

Making an Uninstall Deployment Type

Setting up the Detection Method

Setup.EXE and Spawned Processes

Performance Optimization

Autodesk 360

Troubleshooting Tips

Investigating Deployment Issues

Forcing Windows Installer Logging

Troubleshooting Custom Deployments

Dave’s Troubleshooting Procedures

Communication Center / Information Center Issues

Restoring a Bad AutoCAD Profile

Forcing a Mandatory AutoCAD Profile

Restricted Users

Plotting Issues

Corrupted DWG Files

The PURGE Command

ObjectARX and Proxy Objects

Disappearing Dialogs

Converting DWG Formats

DWG vs. DWGx Files

Interoperability

Calling in the Big Guns

Environmental Changes

Server Changes

Printer and Plotter Changes

Product Service Packs, Updates, and Hot-fixes

Third-Party Add-Ons

Hardware Failures

Standalone License Activation

Network License Server and Client Changes

Facility Outages

Employee Changes

Packaging and Custom Automation Tools

CACLS and XCACLS

Comparing CACLS and XCACLS

REGINI

REG.exe

Microsoft Installer Clean-Up Utility

Sysinternals Utilities

PowerShell

Scripting Examples

CMD Script - Install AutoCAD 2013

Notes:

PowerShell Script - Install a Windows Installer Package

PowerShell Script - Install Multiple Windows Installer Packages

PowerShell Script - Install DWG TrueView 2013

What is a "Short" File or Folder Name?

Appendix A - Recommended Web Sites

Appendix B - Recommended Books

Appendix C - Helpful Blogs and Twitter Folks

Acknowledgements

Where You Can Find Me

Book Update

I posted some gibberish a few weeks ago about another book project.  Well, I'm getting close to wrapping it up, so I thought I'd go ahead and blabber about it in case anyone has anything they'd like to comment on or any topics they'd like to see included in it.

The book is titled: The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible - 2013 Edition

I know: Not very creative or clever.  However, this is not a typical dust-off and rehash book.  I've been painstakingly re-writing it from start to end.  Some of the major changes included in this book:

• AutoCAD 2013 network deployments
• Design Review 2013 deployments
• DWG TrueView 2013 deployments

In addition, I've updated the deployment vector scenarios and included much more detail for each...

• Deployments with System Center Configuration Manager 2007
• Deployments with System Center Configuration Manager 2012
• Deployments with Active Directory Group Policy
• Deployments with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2012
• Deployments with VBScript, CMD / Batch script, and PowerShell

There's still the familiar topics, which have been updated for the current product versions as well...

• Troubleshooting Tips
• FlexLM License Server architecture and implementation considerations
• Software Deployment strategies
• Tools:  Sysinternals, XCACLS, REGINI, MSICUU, REG, etc.
• Client Performance Optimization

As I've said before, if you have any particular ideas or topics you'd like to see included, post a comment and let me know.  I'm getting close to finishing it, but I'd still hold off for a good suggestion.  I'm looking forward to wrapping this project up so I can focus on my family and day job more as Fall sneaks into Virginia.

Cheers!

Amazon vs Nook vs Me

About once a month I get an e-mail about why I don't publish my books on the Barnes & Noble Nook platform (ePUB format).   The reason is simple: SALES.

I have about a half-dozen books published on the Amazon Kindle platform.  The basis was derived by publishing the same book on both Kindle and Nook and watching the numbers.  To be fair, I included Google as well.  The book was "The Visual LISP Developer's Bible, 2011 Edition".  That was in 2010.  As of February 2012, none have sold on Google, and I've sold a total of 2 copies for the Nook.  Two.  Compare that with 172 for Kindle.  The choice was (is) clear for me.  I'd say it is a "no brainer" actually.

So please, do not ask me to publish on Nook.  It does add time and effort to publish to different formats (they are not the same at all) and each publisher mandates their own policies and tools to contend with.  Amazon is by far the clear winner in the general e-book publishing realm.  Nobody else comes close.  The market numbers are very clear on that, as well as the tiny slice of numbers I see from my own experience.  I am not John Gresham, or Dan Brown.  I have a day job and four kids at home.  It's surprising to me that I have had the time to crank out even one book, let alone six or seven, and I'm not sure I can do any more.  I just don't have the time and it's not really a major source of income.

Please don't ask for a PDF version either.  That's the same as giving it away FREE.  I'm not about FREE anymore.  My time isn't free, as I'm sure your's isn't either.

If you don't own a Kindle, there's still hope:  Use Amazon's FREE online Kindle "Cloud Reader" or one of their FREE reader apps for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Blackberry and whatever else.

Book Sales Update / What Readers Want

Based on my subjectively constrained statistical analysis, it seems that the focus of AutoCAD readers are still more interested in Visual LISP most of all.  The second most demanded subject is deploying AutoCAD and managing it on a network.  Granted, I am fully aware that I don't have anywhere near the recognition or sales power of people like Ellen Finkelstein, George Omura, or Sham Tickoo.  If they were considered culinary chefs I would be more like a busboy, but that's ok.  I'm just happy to be here.

For those of you that have purchased or borrowed (yes, Amazon Prime members can check out my books for free), all I can say is....

THANK YOU!!!

As always, if you're interested in any of my books, check out my Amazon profile page for more information.

Book News: Grinding Gears / Software Repackaging and Deployment for the Windows Platform

Relax, I'm still in blog retirement.  But I did promise earlier that I would be posting an update on my next book and that time has now come.  This is now my seventh (7th) book published, and is the culmination of about a year of compiling notes and material and drafts.  I've been close to publishing it several times, but then decided to scrap it and start over because I wasn't happy with it.  I think I am happy with this one.  At this point I have no plans for another book, but that could change.

The book is called "Grinding Gears:  Software Repackaging and Deployment for the Windows Platform":

It's not just about packaging, or scripting, or AdminStudio, or Configuration Manager or any particular product or technology.  It's about the mindset, rationale, techniques and philosophy behind methods of packaging, repackaging, testing, and deploying software.  I've also covered some human aspects, business rationale, and so on.  Here's the Table of Contents...

I also wanted to thank a lot of people for helping me and inspiring me...

This book is currently in review by Amazon, and will be available for purchase very soon.   It will be published exclusively for Amazon Kindle at $10.99 (USD), and available for Amazon customers in UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.  Remember, you don't need a Kindle to read Kindle e-books.  You can read them on almost any mobile device, tablet, desktop or laptop computer using one of their Reading Apps, or using their Cloud Reader as well.

Meanwhile, you can check on the availability by visiting my Amazon page at http://www.amazon.com/David-M.-Stein/e/B006BHXOFE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1

Six Days and Counting

I've still been posting things as you can tell, but the days are winding down fast.  Six more left.

Meanwhile, I've been working on my next book, and it's killing me.  I'm hoping to have it out in January.  It's the biggest book I've done yet, and much more complex and challenging.  That's all I'm going to say for now because it's still not a 100% done deal at this point.  I will post something when it's for certain.

Amazon Prime Members: Check This Out

I am enrolling several of my ebooks in the KDP "Select" program, which makes them available for free check-out, on a monthly basis, to Amazon Prime members.  For more information check out Amazon Prime and look in the Books section.  The books I am enrolling in this program are:

• The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible, 2012 Edition
• The Visual LISP Developer's Bible, 2011 Edition
• The Packager's Pocket Reference, 2nd Edition

I am also working on another book focused on software repackaging and deployment for Windows platforms. It is tentatively due for release in January 2012.  When it is released, it will also be added to the KDP Select program.

Thank you!

It is now available on Amazon.com!

Download a free sample or buy it for only $7.99

Available for US, UK, Germany, and France Kindle shoppers.

Don't have a Kindle?  No problem.  You can download FREE Kindle Reader Apps for Windows, WP7, OSX, iOS (iPod, iPhone, iPad), Blackberry and Android

Still not satisfied?  You can use the Kindle Cloud Reader to read books in your web browser too.

Book Announcement: Packager's Pocket Reference, 2nd Edition

The 2nd Edition is out!  Chocked full of new examples, reference information and new chapters on lab setups, methods and approaches to making packages through a variety of means.  Scripting, packaging and all that stuff.  Still in a compact "reference" format and size, makes it easy to navigate and find what you need fast.

Available soon* on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Reader apps (Windows, OSX, Android, Blackberry, iPad) for only... $7.99 (USD)



* submitted to Amazon 11/19/2011 and should be available for purchase within a few days afterwards.

The Next Book Project

It might suck.  It might be good.  One thing's for sure: it's going to be different.  The project has begun.  Something I had to consider carefully for this one: I tend to express myself much more open on my blog, and on Google+, etc. (I gave up on Twitter), than I have in my books.  For this one I'm using the same voice.  Damn it: there is a place for humor in technology.  Just look around you at the office.   If you have something particular in mind you'd like me to include or discuss in this, now is the time to let me know.  You'll get your name mentioned if it makes it into the book. Ooooooh!

Target release is set for December 2011.

Amazon Kindle Books: German and French available

Amazon has opened up Kindle and Kindle eBook sales for French customers, in addition to the existing US, German and UK sales channels.  This means you can now purchase eBooks in more places with your local currency.  Why not take advantage of this by grabbing one of my books! (shameless plug)

The Visual LISP Developer's Bible, 2011 Edition

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France

The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible, 2012 Edition

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France

The Packager's Pocket Reference

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France

By The Numbers

Updated stats for my feeble social nutwork activities over the past 30 days.

Activity	Blog	Google+	Twitter	Facebook
Posts by Me	38	92	4,482	0
Replies / Responses	15	73	116	0
Unsolicited Contacts	0	0	4	0
Followers / Friends	7	98	79	71
Site Visits	2,673	?	?	?
Reposts / Retweets

As you can see, I do a LOT more talking than I get talked to.  That says a lot.  Sometimes seeing numbers in plain view has an impact like nothing else.  Heck, ask any MBA what kind of hard-on they get over Excel pivot tables and 3D color graphs.  It's like talking about Heroin in the company of Keith Richards.  Like my momma always said: if you don't have something important to say, enter politics.  No, she said something to the effect of "If you don't have something meaningful and important to say, it's probably noise."  I need to shut up and reserved my blabbering for when it really matters.

This kind of jibes with my stated plan to retire this blog at the end of this year.  I haven't really missed Facebook at all.  I get tired of Twitter and walk away from it, but as soon as I see something stupid in public, I want to tweet about it.  G+ started out really cool and has a nice mature feeling to it, but it seems a lot of the people I converse with are visiting it less often every week.  I'm no Dr. Phill, but I can diagnose my condition as trying to reconcile a lack of "real" social interaction with online interaction, and it obviously ain't working like my subconcious idiot brain assumed it would.  The problem for me is that I like to talk and write, and write about talking.  I write a lot of code and a lot of email messages, so it kind of carries through I suppose.  I'll have to figure out a way to let off steam without boring people to death or wearing out my welcome.

In the meantime, between now and December, 24, 2011, I am going to strive to post less often and practice the art of shutting the hell up.  Maybe I'll divert my energy towards more reading.

Book Pricing Announcement

Since I've decided to retire from writing books on Autodesk products and technologies, I'm going to be making some adjustments to pricing for them as well.  The following Kindle E-Book titles will be re-priced immediately:

The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible, 2012 Edition (was $7.99, now $6.99)

The AutoCAD Network Administrator's Bible, 2011 Edition  (was $4.99, now $3.99)

The Visual LISP Developer's Bible, 2011 Edition  (was $7.99, now $6.99)

The Visual LISP Developer's Bible, 2003 Edition  (was $4.99, now $3.99)

The Packagers Pocket Reference  (still only $2.99)

These price changes were submitted very recently, and may not have updated in Amazon's database yet.  If the prices are still the "was" price shown above, visit the Amazon page again after a few hours or a day to allow time for it to update.  As always: Thank you for supporting my work and purchasing my books.  It has really meant a lot to me and has helped me through some tough times.