Posts in the Books Category

Although things may seem quiet, life certainly hasn’t lacked for Stuff To Do.  The companion pocket reference to CSS:TDG is getting perilously close to a printer, which means it might be available for purchase sometime soon.  It already has an Amazon.com sales rank of 1,667,067 (although that number may have already changed), so obviously the New York Times bestseller list is just days away.  In other ink-on-dead-trees news, my next book is nearing the end of the writing cycle, with just a few more things to be done, and technical review to be undertaken.  As we get closer to having that book go to a printer, I’ll share more details.  Then there’s the dead-electrons-on-monitors news, which is that I should (he said hopefully) have an article published on the O’Reilly Network tomorrow.  Update: looks like it will be published this coming Friday, not tomorrow.  I’m anticipating a bit of controversy, frankly, but you can’t push at a way of thinking without honking off someone.

• Monday, 15 January 2001 was published on Monday, January 15th, 2001.
• It was assigned to the Books category.
• There have been no replies.

Thanks to the addition of another negative review on Amazon.com, my book’s approval rating effectively dropped to 90%.  If I were a politician, I’d no doubt be wetting myself, but as it is I’m feeling downcast.  This morning’s radio show, which was plagued by technical problems and good-old-fashioned boneheaded mistakes on my part, didn’t much help.  In the grand tradition of my countrymen, I’m going to assign blame for my glum mood on external factors:  the approaching holiday, which almost never fails to depress me; and last week’s long-awaited resolution to the electoral situation.  It’s not for me to judge to the outcome, but my reaction to the players and tactics used in the whole long process were almost uniformly negative (I grumbled about this at the beginning, and things only went downhill from there).  Lord knows, I wanted to find someone to respect in the whole thing.  Only at the end did I get it, and that was while watching Gore’s concession speech.  So in other words, the only thing which gave me any hope was the loser’s exit speech.  Oh, that’s just great.

• Wednesday, 20 December 2000 was published on Wednesday, December 20th, 2000.
• It was assigned to the Books and Politics categories.
• There have been no replies.

CSS:TDG will be entering a second print run soon, thanks to strong sales.  It’s had an Amazon.com sales ranking as high as 113, and there are rumors that it went higher when we weren’t looking.  On a related note, the recently published Amazon.com editorial review of CSS:TDG is very kind indeed.  Here are a few quotes:  “…enthusiasm for [CSS] spills out of the pages, making a strong case for even the most skeptical reader to give CSS a whirl and count on its future… attention to both detail and architecture helps readers build a well-rounded knowledge of CSS…  This fine guide delivers on its promise as an indispensable tool for CSS coders.”

• Saturday, 20 May 2000 was published on Saturday, May 20th, 2000.
• It was assigned to the Books and CSS categories.
• There have been no replies.

Eric says: Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide has been published and is available.  I have held a copy in my hands (I got two last night via Federal Express); somehow I expected it to be bigger.  I suppose that’s probably an effect of the book’s psychological significance.  Preorders, as of the end of April, totaled 6,307.  …wow.

• Wednesday, 3 May 2000 was published on Wednesday, May 3rd, 2000.
• It was assigned to the Books and CSS categories.
• There have been no replies.

Kat is back in Cleveland!  Eric could be happier, maybe, but he isn’t really sure how.  Other good things happening: orders for CSS:TDG have already passed 5,200 copies, and the book won’t be available until the beginning of May.  Looks like we might have a winner on our hands, folks…

• Thursday, 13 April 2000 was published on Thursday, April 13th, 2000.
• It was assigned to the Books and CSS categories.
• There have been no replies.

Now it’s just silly.  CSS:TDG hit an Amazon.com sales ranking of 3,923 today, depsite having fallen from 8,423 to 26000-plus in just a few hours, and then rebounding to almost 7,000 in a few more hours.  We don’t know what the heck is going on, but it’s kind of morbidly fun to track the numbers anyway.

• Tuesday, 28 March 2000 was published on Tuesday, March 28th, 2000.
• It was assigned to the Books category.
• There have been no replies.

At one point today, CSS:TDG hit an Amazon.com sales ranking of 8,423.  This appears to confirm the suspicion that these rankings are simply randomly generated numbers.

• Sunday, 26 March 2000 was published on Sunday, March 26th, 2000.
• It was assigned to the Books category.
• There have been no replies.

Eric has officially left CWRU, which means that he’s technically unemployed until Monday, when he starts work with a firm known as The OPAL Group.  He’s joining a start-up division, which means it has all the advantages of an ordinary start-up with the established-company luxury of having a list of clients already waiting; literally, the best of both worlds.  CSS:TDG continues to move up the Amazon.com sales rankings, at one point reaching 51,270.  (I’ve heard that the book has already sold well over 2,000 copies—and it hasn’t even gone to the printers yet!)

• Saturday, 18 March 2000 was published on Saturday, March 18th, 2000.
• It was assigned to the Books and Work categories.
• There have been no replies.