I'm keeping this post short, because I want your help in creating a "blogshpere" storm. You know, the ones where a bunch of bloggers unite until the "mainstream" gives in to our demands.
Charles Petzold is one of the great authors of our time. He's been writing Windows programming books since... well, since they started writing Windows. His books have always held great insight into the details of writing Windows applications. I have never read another author that can explain a concept better than Mr. Petzold.
Mr. Petzold has a deep passion for understanding how things work. This is evident in Code - a book for everyone not just programmers. I wrote a detailed review of Code, but the short of it is if you ever wanted to know how 1's and 0's can become the computer system your reading this on right now, this is the answer. The explanation and history is presented in a way that anyone can understand and enjoy; told in the way only master storyteller can.
Last month ago, Mr Petzold wrote in his blog he's been working on a sequel to Code. An explanation of Alan Turing's work on computability. I know this will be a great book, just like Code, but I'm afraid like Code it will sell far less copies than his programming books. This is a shame, because while the programming books go out of date with the next release of Windows, Code and it's sequel are timeless.
Part of the reason I write this is I have two girls, one first grader and one still in preschool. Someday their generation will look back and study the history of computers. I don't want this to be the dry textbook account of facts and dates I had, I want them to understand why things happened and become fascinated with the story. I want them to read it from someone who's lived though the rise of computers. This is why we need Mr Petzold to finish his book.
So here is where you come in: I got an email from Mr Petzold today that he is getting turned down by publishers. They don't see the market in such a book. He's going "door to door" now to try and sell it. Let's show the publishers there is a market. Do this by reading Code ($12 at amazon) if you haven't, and by passing on the word you want to see his next book in print as well. Better yet, if you're a small publisher looking for the high quality work the big guys miss, this is it.
