The Software Architect Elevator

My new book the Software Architect Elevator (buy on Amazon) is heading to the printer! I thank the O'Reilly team for all the hard work during particularly difficult times and can't wait to hold "my baby" in my hands.

The book is the evolution of 37 Things One Architect Knows with new and expanded chapters, professional graphics, index, and many edits. With the new title being released in just a few weeks, the existing print title will disappear from Kindle Direct Publishing.

I will surely miss seeing the amazing 100% 5.0 stars rating but I am sure that the new title will also delight the readers!

Seeing that the new title is an evolution of an existing book, you might have two questions on your mind:

1. Why would I buy a book again that I already own?
2. Why did the title change?

Let's tacke these one-by-one:

Continuous Delivery for Books

Leanpub is an amazing platform for writing and publishing eBooks. The critical insight that propelled Leanpub to become a favorite of technical authors are twofold:

1. Leanpub doesn't treat an eBook like a bits-and-bytes copy of a physical book but realized that you can publish an eBook many times over without any additional cost. Leanpub therefore encourages authors to make books available before they're finished. Early readers usually get a better price and benefit from free updates down the road. Authors benefit from early feedback and motivation.
2. In a traditional publishing model, only a small fraction of the price paid for a book (usually less than 10%) actually goes to the author. Leanpub charted a major departure from that model by making the author royalties fully transparent and allowing the reader to set the price, within limits identified by the author. Leanpub therefore builds a much stronger connection between reader and author, which also triggers behavioral economics that reduce pirating - now you're not stealing from some anonymous publishing house but from a hard-working and already underpaid author. Shame on you!

37 Things benefited greatly from being written and published incrementally with over 3000 copies sold. However, just like some customers favor stable releases, not all readers are willing or able to re-read updated chapters. It's therefore natural for Leanpub titles to "graduate" to be published via a more traditional imprint. Such publishers have a broader distribution network, on-line learning platforms, professional editors and cover artists, higher quality printers, and so on. Traditional publishers can thus reach a wider audience.

If you already own 37 Things, is it worth buying The Software Architect Elevator? I'd say so, for two reasons, one being pragmatic and the other one more philosophical. First, The Software Architect Elevator contains 5 new chapters and many of the other chapters are updated and expanded. So, you are getting the "platinum collection" edition. Second, by buying The Software Architect Elevator you are supporting a publishing process that creates better books than a one-shot publication could every do. This means you are getting a book that is in fact worth paying twice for (even though it's likely much less than that). If you own the print copy of 37 Things, perhaps pass it on to another reader or keep it for collector's value :-)

Meanwhile, O'Reilly was generous enough to let me continue to host the eBook version of 37 Things on Leanpub.

The Architect Elevator and 40 Other Things One Architect Knows

So, if The Software Architect Elevator is an evolution of 37 Things, why did the title change? It's the magic of feedback. Admittedly, "37 Things One Architect Knows About IT Transformation" was a bit of a cheeky title. Early readers consistently commented, though, that the Architect Elevator concept particularly resonated with them. I hence chose to name my website, architectelevator.com, and the book based on this feedback.

So, how did "Software" sneak into the title, especially knowing that the book covers IT architecture as a whole instead of just software architecture? Again, there are two reasons. First, I edited the book to appeal to a broader audience of not only enterprise architects but also software architects who are looking for the next step in their career. Second, books these days aren't discovered on a physical book shelf but found via web search. Hence, the addition of "Software" is also a small offering to the gods of SEO - Search Engine Optimization.

As I was looking to expand the book I naturally aimed for it to become 42 chapters (you know, the universe and everything), but one chapter didn't make it, so The Software Architect Elevator contains 41 chapters. One of the original chapters was taken out, so there are still five new chapters, and particularly good ones!

I thank all the early readers and supporters and am excited to see my book with a spiffy new cover and quite a bit of new content!