About Brian Austin | Author | Web Designer | ePublisher | Web Strategist

Results of some personal research suggested a long dormant interest in 'How-to...' writing - particularly technical authorship. During the following year, I steadily completed all the challenges of retraining necessary.

Thank You Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing

However, if I was to get those words on-screen quickly enough, I needed to learn touch-typing, so having acquired a copy of the wonderful interactive software application: "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing", I set to work.

Using this software became a daily ritual - I laughed too, but ...

... it worked!

Almost painfully slow at first; all fingers and thumbs - for what seemed like months. But steadily, over a period of weeks, I could see improvement; speed increases - WITH accuracy, what a bonus!

So now, armed with the necessary mindset, tools, skills and decades of real-world technical experience behind me, I felt confident of soon finding the right employment in my new field.

A new learning experience beckons

However, the 1980s recession soon hit the United Kingdom with a vengeance, and companies up and down the country often decided that cutting technical support was a great way to save money.

I soon found that at that time, typically, a chief programmer tended to think in terms of: "Why would a customer need a written software guide when all the help they need is in the software?"

Hello... reality... did I miss something?

The painful lessons of the 1980s recession no doubt helped weed out those companies that had such little regard for their customers. Today, the best most successful organizations - both small and large - around the world routinely promote an ethos of genuine client service, help and support.

Somewhat downhearted but undeterred and with a touch of crazy determination, I jumped in the deep end without a life belt and with no sign of land: in plain-English what this really means is that like many technical authors, I opted for self-employment.

Being in business - where the buck stops with me - was a life-learning experience for someone with a deeply ingrained employee mentality - but it was worth it!

Freedom, choice, flexibility - and yes, longer work hours; not quite what I expected, but the seeds of something far better had been sown. With the baptism of fire endured and finally over, during the following years, I completed a wide range of computer-, DTP- and Internet-related projects, learning a little more from each project.

Getting published and learning the ropes

Within my first year of self-employment, through the wonderful power of networking, I was invited by a small established UK publisher to write two new guide books covering Microsoft Works and Adobe PageMaker.

Illustrated Microsoft Works for Windows and The Guide to PageMaker 5.0 were completed a few months later amid a sigh of relief and a newly developed nervous tick :-) (only kidding).

Worry not young Skywalker, and so The Guide to PageMaker Classic followed soon after. In addition to completing the text for these books, I also carried out the DTP page layout design, created all the screenshot illustrations and completed the indexes, which at the time was considered unusual. Most authors created only the main text.

Collectively, a huge task, nevertheless, essential skills were gained within weeks instead of months.

Crash!

About a year later, on a cold November morning (just to set the scene :-), news arrived that my then main publisher had filed to wind up the company with heavy debts under puzzling circumstances.

Oh joy! With book royalties only due to be paid to a then financially struggling author every 6 months - which in practice means 7 - 9 months - and a host of excuses why overdue payments hadn't been made, I soon found that over 12 months of hard work had been wiped out in seconds, with untold thousands of pounds in lost royalties and little chance of ever recovering monies that were due.

Through legal loopholes, even today I still find these now hopelessly out of date books are still being listed for sale on the web! When a publishing business fails, the remaining stock is more often than not resold by the managing Receivers in an attempt to repay supplier debts.

Writing tip: This has to be the Number 1 reason why authors need to take closer control of their own affairs. Authors can work together and create writer communities like this one.

Typically for these kinds of circumstance, under UK law, the author almost certainly lies at the end of the payment chain, and so has little chance of ever getting paid.

So prospective writers, beware! Key point: find a great publisher - get testimonials from other writers - Or investigate self-publishing, ebooks and Internet publishing.

Toward In Easy Steps...

Thankfully, even gray skies must let the sun shine through eventually. At about that same time, Computer Step, a new small but tightly focused computer publishing company invited me to write a plain-English book on a popular software product: Publisher, the well-known desktop publishing software from Microsoft.

To my delight, in time, Publisher in Easy Steps received a favorable review from Computer Active magazine.

Still tentative and feeling bruised from my first publishing experience, and with the slightly crazy streak still clear for all to see, I accepted and started work earnestly - again!

Following these early successes, many further follow-up editions an new books were also completed, including Upgrading Your PC which as a wonderful surprise, received a PC Home Magazine Silver Star Award bolstering sales to create a UK computer best seller - and Web Page Design - both from the best-selling "In Easy Steps" series, which also subsequently became rated in The Sunday Times Bestseller list.

Over a period of years, Computer Step, increased their range of titles and deservedly grew to become the UK's largest independent computer book publisher.

Key point: this is indeed a clear indicator of a gap in the market being met by superb skill in publishing and marketing leadership; meeting a high worldwide demand for "How To..." books written in simple, plain-English format.

Weaving the web and even getting a life!

During the following years, further titles followed, including: my 14th book and my most ambitious writing project to-date: a 512-page "simple" £4.99 guide book: Using the Internet.compact edition, followed by the Pocket version.

In between writing projects, I also get asked to help create Web sites for individuals, businesses and organizations including, creating and managing 2 full-blown 80-page+ eCommerce Web sites for a UK management consultancy in South-East England, a variety of organizations in England and several up here in Scotland.

To keep in touch with writing developments, I'm also a Member of the Society of Authors (SoA) http://www.writers.org.uk/society/ and became a Member of the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (MISTC) http://www.istc.org.uk/ (no longer active).

Now, with a little help from your friends, can we now make it your turn?

The real point of this page is not to indulge myself of "blow my own trumpet", it's just to show how one person carved out a career in writing and web design - and was lucky enough to be presented with a few opportunities along the way - just like you are now with an offer to join InternetTIPS.com and tap into my experience - including mistakes as well as triumphs - for pennies.

After being asked by many people many questions about how to make a success in their writing, I decided to start an ongoing project and create InternetTIPS.com Website Entrepreneur Support Center - a low-cost one-stop, continually updated resource designed to help anyone create profitable writing and epublishing both paper and digital products. So that's where the answers lie.

When not beavering away at the keyboard writing about computers, the Internet or designing Web pages, I enjoy spending quality time with my wife and children, Jessica and Mark - my family are without doubt my true pride and joy.

One thing is for sure: the digital writer's life is never dull :-)

Warmly.

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