After I finished writing the book, I swore I'd never write another book again.
A few months ago, I toyed with the idea of writing another, but decided that I'm not up for the task. Today, I feel no differently. Writing a book was, for me, amazingly stressful. With the new freelance business, I've got enough stress. Not to mention, I don't have the time for that level of responsibility right now.
Oh, but I do enjoy writing. And I love sharing information and knowledge. So when Christopher Schmitt contacted me about contributing to a new book on HTML5, I decided that was a perfect scenario for me right now.
I could write, teach some things, learn some things and not have any of the overall responsibility. Plus, I've been really into HTML5 these days, so the topic was immediately appealing.
HTML5 Cookbook from O'Reilly
The book is another of O'Reilly's Cookbook series, this time focusing on HTML5. If you are familiar with the Cookbook style, you know these are extremely practical resources. The focus is less on theory and more on takeaways that you can use everyday in your course of designing and developing.
In addition to having a practical focus, HTML5 Cookbook will explore the entire HTML5 specification, not just the markup elements and front-end differences.
Web designers like me will get information about the stuff we go ga-ga over, like the new semantic elements, outline algorithm and wrapping links around block-level content. And developers will also get all the information relevant to their work … JavaScript APIs, local storage and web forms (oh my!).
The Talent
I don't have the full list of all contributors for HTML5 Cookbook, but who's already onboard is impressive:
- Christopher Schmitt, lead author
- Kyle Simpson, lead author
- Kimblerly Blessing, contributing writer
- Anitra Pavka, contributing writer
- Marc Grabanski, contributing writer
- Tina Ramey, contributing writer
- Molly Holzschlag, technical reviewer
My Contribution
As for myself, I'll be lending three chapters to the book: basic web page syntax, audio and video. And I'm quite excited to tackle all three … and then leave the completion of the book to someone else.
Personal Thanks
Seriously, though, I'm so thrilled about this opportunity. I've been biting my tongue for weeks, because I wanted to make sure all the contracts were signed and I had the go-ahead to mention this publicly.
Now that it's official, I really must thank Christopher for asking me to be involved. I've always admired his work, and I'm just honored that he's been pleased enough with my work to trust me with a project he cares so much about.
Stay Tuned!
Since this book isn't my responsibility (yay!), I'm not going to be doing the same thing I did last time around and blog about the whole thing. And aside from my chapters, I won't know much else about the book.
That said, I will keep you posted on A Blog Not Limited when HTML5 Cookbook is ready for sale (maybe mid-2011), as well as when the rough cuts version is ready for your preview.
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