It's out!

...and on the shelves.

Thanks to everyone who helped make it a reality!

Moodle Makeover Article

Check out this taster for the new Moodle Course Conversion book...

http://www.packtpub.com/article/moodle-makeover

Enjoy!

First print run completed...

...and it's got a new cover. That's because Moodle Course Conversion is the first publication in the new Packt Publishing Beginner's Guide series (click here to learn more). And have just received an email to say that the first copies of the book have just been delivered from the printers. We're almost ready to start shipping!

Pre-finals Complete!

Finished reading through the pre-finals. Authors don't get involved with page layout, so was really impressed with how the book had been arranged. Just a few issues to correct - all the details sent off to Packt ready for going off to the printers on Tuesday, all being well!

Still plouging through pre-finals

Still three more chapters to read through to make sure everything is tickity-boo. Am finding quite a few typos and layout problems so it's well worth the effort. Problem is that the book is going to the printers on Tuesday (it's currently Friday approx 2.00am) so I haven't got long...

Pre-Finals Starting To Arrive

All the chapters have now gone through the complete editorial process: editing, indexing, layout and proofreading. Now all that's left is for me to give each chapter a final read-through and then sign them off ready for printing.

Six chapters received so far...

It's also very exciting to see how the book is now spreading itself through the Internet. Googling "Moodle Course Conversion" now picks up lots of links.

Rewrites finished!

Chapter rewrites are finished and sent off to the publishers (yesterday, in the middle of the night). We've still got the pre-finals to put together and then there's some proofreading to do.

Still... there's now a good deal of light at the end of the tunnel. Only a few weeks to go before it's on the shelves.

Rewrites in progress...

Am about half way through chapter rewrites. Lots of ideas and suggestions to work through. Am very lucky as I've got a great set of reviewers helping me with the book. Problem for me is that this means lots of comments to think about and possible alterations to make.

And what's more exciting is that you can pre-order the book now:

http://www.packtpub.com/moodle-course-conversion/book

Don't forget to order your copy now!

1st Draft Finished

Huraah!

The first draft is complete :)

Sent this through to the project coordinator, whose response was: "Thanks for that. I'll soon be sending you through chapters for rewrites".

Boo!

... I really didn't like the sound of the word "rewrites" ;(

More excitingly, my publishers have set up a competition for cover artwork. Check out...

http://www.packtpub.com/article/submit-book-cover-images

Do you have any ideas for an eyecatching photograph? Looking in the thesaurus for "convert" I came up with metamorphose, mutate, transfigure, transform, translate, transmogrify, transmute, transpose. So I was thinking of trying to get a closeup of a butterfly with shimmery wings. My family are currently hunting around our locals woods for a baby oak tree. I'm sure you've got your own great ideas, and if you have remember there's a $100 prize.

The Final Chapter...

You find me making this first post as I am just working on the final chapter - which is, in fact, the first chapter...

Excitingly, this is my first book and I had, quite wrongly as it turns out, expected to be writing the chapters in order...as you do.

Well... no you don't.

Under strict (but incredibly helpful) instructions from the commissioning editor, the writing started with Chapter 3. Which confused me thoroughly. But then I'm easily confused. The idea (and it is a good one) is to jump in right where the action begins. Starting that way does indeed get your mind focussed.

That said, I still had to rewrite great chunks of Chapter 3.