Page Turner – publishing from the trenches

It was nearly a year ago when IBM Press Books was contacted by corporate marketing for expertise on book publishing.  Three great journalists were working on a book looking at 100 years of IBM.  We started with in persons meetings in NY including an emergency meeting in NYC to make sure all the ducks were in a row.  It seemed like every step along the way required 8 hours of conference calls – how many languages to translate, which languages, how many pictures, how much text, pricing, print runs, what images for the cover – and who will the publisher be?  “Who will the publisher be”?  For seven years I have worked as a program manager of IBM Press books – and here was a golden opportunity to publish a golden book that just so happens (by NO SMALL FEAT) to be publishing on the IBM 100 Anniversary on June 16th.  I  can’t re-live the conversation for fear of my head exploding – let’s just say – the powers that be  made the right decision and the book is part of the IBM Press portfolio. 

It was a crappy winter day when I read the first section by Kevin Maney.  Kevin was previously the tech editor at USA Today.  I have said his name over 500 times.  In a previous career, I was heavily involved in corporate PR – and on nearly every weekly call with the PR firm – my mantra was – “We  need Kevin Maney to do a story on this company”.  It didn’t happen – but I shut up once we got the Wall Street Journal story.  (I bought 30 copies before I realized that they spelled our CEO’s name wrong).  As Oprah constantly reminds people – when you dream big – you find that things happen even bigger than you can dream them – and the WSJ story was proof of that.  Anyway – Kevin’s section of the book sucked me in and I sat at my laptop reading the whole thing in one sitting. I loved it and found the it fascinating.  (geeky – for sure – but fun)

The bottom line is that the book is a great read.  It’s inspiring and interesting.  If you are an IBMer - there is no doubt you will feel amazed and proud of the accomplishments of the company.  It makes you want to dream big like Thomas Watson did – and then have the universe reward you with something bigger than you could have dreamed of.

As always – I am the discount coupon goddess.  I can save you 35% and free shipping in the US.

Making the World Work Better: The Ideas That Shaped a Century and a Company

Coupon code: IBM100

Talk about  last minute.    The book signings at Innovate have been a moving target.  I need to get this completed today.  In the meantime this is what I have so far – days/time to finalized today.  Come heck or high water.  (whatever that means!)

• Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution by Jeanne W. Ross

•  Software Engineering Best Practices: Lessons from Successful Projects in the Top Companies by Capers Jones

• The Economics of Iterative Software Development: Steering Toward Better Business Results by Walker Royce

• Eureka!: Discover and Enjoy the Hidden Power of the English Language by Walker Royce

•  Smart or Lucky: How Technology Leaders Turn Chance into Success by Judith Hurwitz

• Cloud Computing for Dummies by Judith Hurwitz

Its been awhile since we published from the Rational folks at IBM.  So I am glad to see that our next book off the press covers ClearQuest.  I wish it was going to make it to IBM Innovate.  It makes me mental when we miss having a new book at the bookstore.  (ggggrrrrrrrr) The book will be available for ordering at the conference bookstore and attendees will get it approximately two weeks after the conference ends.

As always – I’ve got a great offer on the book – allowing buyers to get 35% off and free shipping in the US by using code:  IBM1798.  Get it here.

Here’s more about book:

Coverage includes

• Understanding work items and their elements
• Using work items for changes, tasks, activities, test plans, test cases, risks, builds, and promotion
• Implementing best practices for work item application planning, analysis, design, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance
• Describing workflows, including advanced dynamic workflows
• Incorporating roles in work items and using them to meet business needs
• Using ClearQuest packages and custom integrations, and making the most of Jazz platform integration technology
• Getting the most of out the CQ-ALM schema
• Implementing effective quality and performance metrics, SLAs, and governance
• Improving test management with IBM Rational Quality Manager work items
• Creating effective workflows for Scrum and other Agile projects

I just wrapped up a report on the conference bookstore.  We certainly experienced a down turn in sales in 2008 and 2009 and things started to pick up again in 2010.  2011 was a great year for book sales.  If you missed the conference – or just want to see what the “hot” titles were – here you go.  I included the ISBN numbers so you can easily find the books.  We had record sales of IBM Press books – which of course made my day.

I also got to meet some great IBM Press authors and had the chance to interview them at the conference.  Check them out on our youtube channel.

Working on the IBM INNOVATE booklist.  Later.