Please pardon if this is a big breach of ettiquette; different forums have different levels of tolerance for posts such as this. Sometimes I shake my head at (other) clueless publishers who post idiotic questions in forums they don't understand. However, hopefully my circumstances are extenuating enough that you'll forgive....

Long sob story short: I'm a small publisher of narrowly focused software books, originally targeted at database developers, but adding a series of books for Windows folks moving to Linux. We're the most prolific publisher of OpenOffice.org books on the planet (our third just hit the printer last week, and a fourth is in the works.)

Personally, I'm a custom software developer specializing in database apps. I was a Microsoft MVP for 8 years and a Lifetime Achievement Award winner in their development tools division, but was ostracized for life when I switched to Linux and Open Source tools in 2002. I've also written a few books myself.

Anyway, after writing four rather marvelous chapters, the author for my Knoppix Komplete book has sort of had a string of bad luck, getting way behind in his work, and has disappeared. It's not likely that he'll write another word anytime soon, and I have a deadline to meet.

As a result, I'm looking for someone to take over and complete (komplete?) the book. I'm looking for someone who can produce about 150 pages of intermediate level material targeted at a Windows guy who suddenly needs to come up to speed on Knoppix, and needs a bit more hand-holding and thorough tutorial than the online docs, and something more in tune with 'getting started' than the wonderful ORA Hacks book that's recently come out.

Imagine that you were sitting next to a pal for a Saturday afternoon, showing him the ropes on using Knoppix, the tips and tricks, but also answering some (what seem to you to be) basic questions. That's the tone of the book, and the type of material we're covering in this book.

If you've read this far, maybe you're interested? Gimme a holler (reply off-list, pls) and we can talk about details - time frame, money, fame and glory, the sleepless nights, all that stuff.

Thanks,

Whil Hentzen
Hentzenwerke Publishing
whil -at- hentzenwerke -dot- com