New book: Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner

[Mark]

Hi!

It is official! The book Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner can now be pre-ordered for 32 euro (USD 42). Look here http://qery.us/3fh for more information about the book and download the first 25 pages. We're still working on the last few details and expect to print within 2 weeks. Note: we need orders to make this new book possible! Order now!

Kind regards,

Mark

[andrewmk]

Page 23 of the sample PDF. This isn't correct, surely?

Andrew

[Mark]

Andrew,

We're still working on the last few details

but surely any comments, suggestions and corrections are welcome, if submitted through the contact form on Economy-x-Talk's website.

Kind regards,

Mark

[Mark]

Hi,

Current status:

We have had a number of orders, but not enough to start printing just yet. Please, tell your friends about this book and let them order it if they are interested in LiveCode. Don't forget to order a book yourself as well.

We have found a great low-budget printing company, which is ready to print my book as soon as we give them the green light. The great thing about this is that we don't need to wait 2 months for the books the arrive in Economy-x-Talk's office. We will have the books when we need them.

Another round of corrections has been made and we are now perfecting the lay-out and cover. We will also upload a new sample of the book soon.

Kind regards,

Mark

[drfaisalfarooqueBUSJWQK]

Hi Mark,

What about the ebook ?

Cheers,

Faisal

[Mark]

There is no ebook, Faisal.

Mark

[Mag]

Hi!

It is official! The book Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner can now be pre-ordered for 32 euro (USD 42). Look here http://qery.us/3fh for more information about the book and download the first 25 pages. We're still working on the last few details and expect to print within 2 weeks. Note: we need orders to make this new book possible! Order now!

Kind regards,

Mark

Hi Mark, thank you for the good news. I can't wait to read the book.

[drfaisalfarooqueBUSJWQK]

There is no ebook, Faisal.

Mark

No worries, I just bought the paper one

Cheers,

Faisal

[Mark]

Cool! Thanks for your support, Faisal!

Mark

[Mark]

Hi,

Here follows my e-mail to the LiveCode Use List, including some info I hadn't posted on the forum yet.

Best,

Mark

Hi LiveCoders,

A new book about LiveCode, titled Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner, is now available at http://qery.us/3fr

In 2011, I started writing a book. The purpose was to write a book simple enough to get people started with LiveCode and advanced enough to elevate the reader beyond the beginners stage. It took me slightly longer than I had planned for as I had a few small setbacks, but I have finally finished writing it.

The first few chapters of the book deal with basic syntax, such as mouseUp handlers and the go command. The next few chapters discuss subjects like chunks, variables, repeat loops and printing. Special attention is paid to the property inspector, controls and their properties. Halfway the book, the reader should be able to create a simple programme.

Advanced subjects discussed in the second half of the book include unicode, databases, sockets, MySQL, XML and more. A complete overview of the contents is available in the sample of the book on the website (please note: I will post the latest version of the sample in a few days).

Currently, I'm making the last corrections to the lay-out, registering an ISBN and adjusting the book cover according to the printer's specifications among other things. I will send it to the printing company on 1st May and it should be available right before the conference in Edinburgh. I won't be there, but with a little luck a few copies of my book will be.

I have sold quite a few copies already, but not enough to break even. If you think that the LiveCode community needs a book like this, please consider buying your own copy. Obviously, if you're just starting with LiveCode, then I wrote this book especially for you. The more copies are sold, the more likely this book is to stay available for years to come.

There are several ways to order the book. Shipping costs all over the world are included. Contact me for reseller and bulk rates.

--
Best regards,

Mark Schonewille

Economy-x-Talk Consulting and Software Engineering
Homepage: http://economy-x-talk.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/xtalkprogrammer
KvK: 50277553

Use Color Converter to convert CMYK, RGB, RAL, XYZ, H.Lab and other colour spaces. http://www.color-converter.com

Buy my new book "Programming LiveCode for the Real Beginner" http://qery.us/3fi

[Mark]

Hi,

I sent the book to the printing company two days ago and am now waiting for delivery. We expect to have the books in the office on between 10 and 14 May. We'll start shipping the books as soon as they arrive.

Now that the book is ready, I can tell you a little about the last changes I made. I removed the MySQL table of field types in the appendix, because that isn't really the subject of the book. Instead, I added a much longer table with all specialfolderpath codes available on Mac OS X and Mac OS 9 (Classic). A table for Windows was included already. I thought these tables would be more useful. I might post the MySQL table on the website of the book later. The website hasn't been set up yet, but will include a place to discuss the book with other readers and I might give an explanation occasionally.

I can now also announce the ISBN of the book: 978-90-820741-0-9. With this number, anyone is able to order the book at a book shop, but it is much quicker to order it directly from Economy-x-Talk's website. More trivia: the final version of the book has 248 pages, three prefaces, a table of contents of 6 pages and an alphabetical index of 9 pages. There are 17 pictures and 15 tables, some tiny and some big. I really had to squeeze in all the info, because the book wasn't supposed to count more than 240 pages (you get 8 pages for free).

Sales are going very well. The printing costs have been earned back already, but a few other things like envelopes and stamps and the ink I used to print my drafts still have to be paid for. Therefore, if you know someone who considers taking up programming either as a professional or for a hobby, tell him or her about my book. We'll need to sell quite a few more copies to make it worth the effort.

There have been quite a few questions about an ebook edition. There are no plans to publish an ebook. DRM's are uneffective and ebooks are hacked too easily and if the community edition of LiveCode gets world-wide attention, we don't want people to get the book for free, because that would mean there won't be a second edition, not to mention a completely new book. Please, don't ask for an ebook anymore.

I'll let you know when I have more news.

Kind regards,

Mark

[Mark]

Hi,

This is an e-mail for everyone who has bought the book.

I've noticed that some people using PayPal are paying with an invalid e-mail address. If you used PayPal to pay for the book and didn't get an automatic reply, please log in on your PayPal account and check that the e-mail address is one on which we can reach you.

If you are not sure that we can communicate with you, send an e-mail from your PayPal address to support@economy-x-talk.com and wait for the reply. If you don't get it within a few hours, you should change your PayPal address and notify support again. Once your (new) e-mail address has been checked successfully, we will change it in our order database if necessary.

When you contact us, make sure to use your PayPal address. Otherwise, all this doesn't make any sense.

An automatic reply means a reply from Economy-x-Talk, not PayPal. The From address should be support@economy-x-talk.com.

This is really important(!) because we use your PayPal address to inform you about your order status and to check the shipping address among other things.

Kind regards,

Mark

[Mark]

Hi,

They have been printed! If you bought the book, we'll be contacting you soon with an update on its status.

Kind regards,

Mark

[MarcVanCauwenberghe]

I am the awaiting the book eagerly.
And Belgium is not far to send the book

Regards,
Marc

[Mark]

Hi guys,

The book has arrived in the office. Three boxes full with books waiting to be shipped all over the world. I must say, it is really cool to have my own book in my hands.

Most books have been sold now. If you want to have a first-print copy, you'll have to be quick. Only 30 copies are still available and I expect them to be sold out within three weeks. We will probably print more books, but obviously there will never be another first print.

If you work at a company, university or school, we might be able to give a discount if all your colleagues or students buy the book together. Contact us and find out how to save a lot of money.

The book has a Facebook page now. Open the URL http://qery.us/3gi to go to the Facebook page. As soon as we have 1000 "likes", we will raffle off 10 copies of the book. Sometimes, I post brief updates about the book on Twitter. Go to http://twitter.com/xtalkprogrammer to follow me.

We have started shipping. The first books should arrive shortly.

Kind regards,

Mark