My Works as an Author

In the meantime, this small list has to be enough:

• BASIC PDS 7.1 - Programmieren mit dem Microsoft Professional Development System, Vieweg 1991 (second edition 1992). 600pp, 2nd ed. with disk, DM 98.
  out of print
  Thanks to the efforts of BASIC enthusiast Thomas Antoni (see his BASIC website), I can offer a free PDF download of the whole book, and of course the accompanying 5,25" diskette. Re-publication in any form requires my permission.
• Programmieren mit Visual BASIC für DOS, Vieweg 1993. 550pp, with disk, DM 79.
  out of print - this time, I even did all the layout myself. Maybe that was the reason why only about 800 copies were sold, or was it the waning importance of Visual BASIC for DOS? This book is also available for free download, as is the accompanying diskette. Again, thanks to Thomas Antoni.
• Publizieren und Recherchieren im World Wide Web, Vieweg 1995 (second edition 1996), 320pp, DM 69.
• OpenStreetMap - die freie Weltkarte nutzen und mitgestalten, (co-authored with Jochen Topf), Lehmanns Media 2008, 288pp, EUR 29.95.
  The book has its own web site.

I have also been the Editor for two other books published by Vieweg:

• Businessorientierte Programmierung mit Java, by Claudia Piemont, Vieweg Verlag 1997, 330pp;
• Business im Internet, by Frank Lampe, Vieweg Verlag 1996, 265pp

If you are thinking about writing a computer book yourself, here's two recommendations from my experience:

1. The financal rewards are usually meagre. With only few exceptions, you can surely make more money by applying your knowledge directly (i.e. writing programs, designing HTML pages or whatever). On the other hand, you might be in a business where the reputation of being an author comes in handy. I have sometimes had the impression that people tend to respect you more if you have "proved your knowledge" by writing some books. This applies especially if you're young. And of course it's fun to create something that for once is "real", a physical thing available in a book store, and not just a pile of 0s and 1s on a web server.
2. Writing skills are at least as important as the knowledge of your subject. If you can write, you will be able to fill the gaps in your knowledge by research, but if you cannot write, all the knowledge in the world won't help you. Therefore, don't let the thought that others are much better at the subject you're going to write about cloud your mind: The others may not be able to write (or they simply might not want to or have no time).

So much for my column "ask uncle Frederik".