CSS book progress
Here I keep track of the progress of my CSS book. Publication date as yet TBD; probably in 2024. Estimated length: K words.
Preliminary table of contents below.
I'm very glad I started with the biggest and most complicated part: Layout.
Process
- Unwritten
- A rough outline with chapter names and notes on their contents, plus a rough estimate of
a word count. The word count of the rough draft is usually higher than my estimate,
rarely lower.
- Rough draft
- The first round of writing is mostly concerned with creating the examples and illustrations,
deciding in which order topics will be treated, and writing the easy parts. When this stage ends
I usually have quite a few notes, questions, and concerns to address.
- Draft 1
- This stage cleans up the mess in the rough draft. Sometimes I make changes to the order of topics. I address all my notes and questions, do some extra tests, and make sure that the entire chapter actually flows from start to end.
- Then the chapter goes off to the tech editor.
- Tech edit
- In this stage I incorporate the feedback of the tech editor. In the Layout part (which so far is the only tech-edited part) I made only one single really major mistake - though there were frequent clarifications, wrong use of terminology, or vague sentences that needed to be cleaned up.
- Some chapters only need a few tweaks, some need extensive rewriting.
- Then the chapter goes off to my publisher.
- Edited
- The next stage is in the hands of my publisher. A professional editor edits the chapters and sends
them back to me.
- Draft 2
- In this stage I incorporate the editor's feedback. Also, during draft 1 I left some notes for
myself to be resolved during draft 2, especially around browser compatibility.
- I will start on draft 2 only when the entire book exists in draft 1 form, so I can't yet tell you what else will happen during this stage.
- After draft 2 the chapters go to my publisher again, who edits them again, and then I create the final versions. Also, we have to see if all illustrations are good enough or if I should recreate some of them.
Table of Contents
