Reader Question Day #48 – Android OS and GHOST IN THE FORGE
LCM asks:
Will you do a book on the mobile Android operating system?
I’m not currently planning one, since I don’t think it would be viable.
The reason I don’t think it’s viable is because I suspect that many of the people who would benefit from THE ANDROID BEGINNER’S GUIDE do not, in most cases, actually know they have an Android smartphone. Like, if you would ask them what kind of phone they have, they would answer that they have a “Samsung Galaxy” or a “Motorola Droid” or “the phone my daughter said would let me do Facebook.” They wouldn’t say “I have a phone running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich.”
This is a problem because nonfiction books work differently than fiction books. With fiction, you build up an audience slowly until you have people waiting to read the next book in the series. With nonfiction, what you need is people looking for a book on a particular topic, and I don’t think there are enough people looking for a book on generic Android to make it worthwhile to write one.
That said…there doesn’t really seem to be a book on generic Android. And I really do like Android, so I might change my mind.
But for now, my only definite nonfiction plans for 2013 are to update THE UBUNTU BEGINNER’S GUIDE to a fifth edition and the THE WINDOWS COMMAND LINE BEGINNER’S GUIDE to a second edition. Beyond that, I’m contemplating short books on Linux Mint, Windows Server 2012, and the iPod Touch, but I haven’t made any decisions yet. (The Linux Mint and the iPod books will be the most likely, though.)
Jenny asks:
Just finished reading your first GHOSTS book and have to admit it was really good. I love the way how you made the readers want to read more because you wrote it in a way where its all action all around. Something interesting is always happening whichever entices us to not want to stop reading the book!!!!
I am a huge reader and lately I have been reading random books of unknown writers to see if they are good and suggest it to those around me and my blog!!
lastly I cant wait to get all your other books to see what fun she gets into now!!!
The next THE GHOSTS book will be GHOST IN THE FORGE, and here’s what I have planned for it. Note that this has some spoilers for THE GHOSTS series.
The premise for GHOST IN THE FORGE will be that the Empire and New Kyre are still at war. The Empire has the better army, but New Kyre has the better fleet, so they’re deadlocked and looking for a face-saving way out of the situation. (Especially since Andromache engineered the war for her own personal benefit.)
Into this comes the neutral city of Catecharon, which is ruled by a reclusive order of sorcerers called the Masked Ones. The Masked Ones send an embassy to announce that they have developed a weapon of sorcery that will allow its wielder to destroy his enemies utterly…and that the weapon is for sale to the highest bidder.
Both the Empire and New Kyre (and a dozen other nations) send embassies to Catecharon to buy the weapon. The Ghosts send Caina with the Imperial embassy so she can figure out what is happening – after all, if the Masked Ones have such a weapon, why would they sell it? Kylon of House Kardamnos (you’ll recall him from GHOST IN THE STORM) comes with the Kyracian embassy.
And, of course, there’s Caina and Corvalis. Someone said that I ended GHOST IN THE FORGE on a cliffhanger, which I don’t think was true. That said, it’s obvious that there is more to come for those two.
And there’s also the fact that Caina has the Moroaica’s soul riding around inside her head.
So there’s a lot to do in GHOST IN THE FORGE, and I’m looking forward to starting it in February, after I wrap up SOUL OF SKULLS.
-JM