Okay, no one asks me the “so cheap” part, but it’s really the same question.  The price of the books is beyond my control; it is set by the publisher. The publisher is also responsible for every ad you see and the title and the marketing copy on the outside of the book. Most marketing companies will test a market by setting a low price for a first release, then increase the price for the second release to make up for the money they could have made on the first release.

That's more of a command than a question. I get requests like this from time to time; people confuse the author with the publisher. The publisher is in charge of the books; the author just generates the raw material. I don't have stacks of books. For each book released, I get a set number of books specified in the contract. These get distributed to people who helped me with the book. Also, I'm not allowed to sell any books myself. Authors are a lousy source of books, myself included. If I had an extra book around, I'd've given it away already.

 

The last time I had a box of books to give away I gave them to the JMU library in honor of Matt Horning, a DBA whom I worked with in the World Trade Center.  His mother helps run http://www.wtcfamiliesforproperburial.com.  He was a great guy.

I get this question a lot, but it's the wrong focus to have. If you're doing this for the money, spend your time elsewhere in more lucrative endeavors. There is money to be made in books, but you'll be surprised at the amount of work it takes.

 

Figure it this way: if you're really good, you'll crank out a finished page in an hour (that's incorporating writing time, editing time, reviews, more edits, etc). So for a 500 page book, you'll spend at least 500 hours. If you've never done this before, double that time estimate. If you know enough to write a book, then you know enough to be a consultant. Say you charge $100 an hour as a consultant. If you spent your writing time consulting, you'd make $50,000. Unless your book fills an intense need, you may not see enough sales to hit that amount of royalties.

Plus, while you're writing, you'll probably want to maintain your standard of living, so the 500 hours you spend on the book comes out of other time - lunch, dinner, sleep, play time. The related question I get a lot is "where do you find the time?". You make time for the things that are important to you.

 

So, why should anyone ever write a book?  Because it is a great way to help a lot of people at once. And if you enjoy the process and enjoy helping people, then you'll probably make enough to make it worthwhile.

Frequently Asked Questions

Developed using Word and Notepad, the old site was originally optimized for access by a friend who used a dial-up in Australia.  It’s been mothballed.

 

Where’s the old site?

How much can you make writing Oracle books?

Send me a free book.  Here’s my address.

Why are books so expensive/so cheap?

I'm not making this up, people send me their college projects and seem to expect that I will drop my paid work and do their homework for them. If you need help with your homework, ask your teacher. Teachers don't want you to fail, they want you to succeed.

Here is my homework.  Please do it and send me the answer.

kevinloney.com

Put the pieces together.

I didn't; they found me. I had been writing technical articles for Oracle Magazine since 1990. The Oracle Magazine articles came from a cold call I made - I felt I could write a useful technical article, so I called them and offered to submit an article. I sent the editor an overview, then sent an article. A dozen articles and four years later I got a call from the editor-in-chief at Osborne and the ORACLE DBA Handbook was born. Six months later it became the first Oracle Press book.

If you'd like to submit a book proposal, visit my publisher's web site, http://www.osborne.com . They'll want a writing sample. I strongly encourage prospective writers to first publish articles in local newsletters and magazines, which gives you a writing local sample to submit and benefits the local newsletters. Also, write a full chapter as a test. Doing that gives you a feel for the amount of work that will be involved in writing the first draft of a book; edits and reviews and rewrites probably double that time.

How did you find a publisher?

Changes go into the books with each printing, so it may already be fixed.  Check the Errata page of this site.

I found an error/typo.  Do you know about it?

All are published by Osborne/McGraw-Hill:

ORACLE10g DBA Handbook (w/ Bob Bryla)
ORACLE10g: The Complete Reference (w/ George Koch)
ORACLE8 Advanced Tuning & Administration (w/ Eyal Aronoff & Noorali Sonawalla)
ORACLE SQL & PL/SQL Instant Scripts (w/ Megh Thakkar and Rachel Carmichael)

Most of these books have been translated into multiple languages, including Spanish, Italian, short form Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and German. Contact your local McGraw-Hill company for translation availability.

The code for the ORACLE8 DBA Handbook is available on the Osborne web site. For the 8i edition, the scripts are on a CD provided with the book.  For 9i and 10g, they’re on this site; see the Freebies page.

What are your current/latest editions?

In 1996, I was an active member of the Compuserve Orauser forum. In a response to a post I made there, a person whom I'll identify only as "Glenn" made the following post there. It was in a public forum so I'll quote it verbatim:

Kevin,

Your DBA Handbook is great. It's helped to give me a pretty good base in Oracle. Many's the evening I spent with this book in one hand and a good cold beer in the other. Don't worry, I really do have a life.

Keep up the good work.

Glenn

Favorite feedback about the books?

Sure. Some people can't express themselves in a civil manner. I feel sorry for them.

Ever get hate mail?

Yes, if you go to the right schools and do the associated coursework. My books have been used at a many universities. A search of the Web reveals that the books have been used as either required or suggested reading for courses. If you attend these schools and have already read the books, find out the current class number for the database classes and pick up easy credits.

Can I get credit for reading these books?

No. "Oracle Press" is an imprint used by the publisher, Osborne/McGraw-Hill. I am not privy to the contents of the contract between Oracle and Osborne/McGraw-Hill, but a few things are clear:

 

- You can buy Oracle Press books through Oracle. Each Oracle Press book has an Oracle part number printed on it.

- Oracle Press authors sign contracts with Osborne/McGraw-Hill, not Oracle. Both Oracle and Osborne/McGraw-Hill have an interest in developing good titles and using dependable authors.

- Oracle does not necessarily provide reviewers for each book. That can be a good thing - I can write about using unsupported features - but can also be a bad thing if you expect that everything you read in an Oracle Press book is supported by Oracle.

 

The book's content is generated by the author, and reviewed by a tech reviewer contracted through the publisher.  That reviewer may or may not have any relationship with Oracle Corporation.  For my books I always attempt to have an Oracle employee as the technical reviewer.

Does Oracle review all the Oracle Press books?

Five, using multiplex throws to do Five-Ball Splits in fountains and cascades.  This Oracle gig is just a temporary thing.  See Charlie Dancey’s books for guidance in this area.  Then there’s the Devil sticks, diablos, astrojax, clubs, rings, etc.   This may seem completely off-topic, but it’s important for database professionals to exercise both halves of their brains.  Play music, sculpt, build bridge models – do something creative and hard.

How many balls can you juggle?