Hi Prof. Fiore! Thank you so much for sharing these golden nuggets of wisdom regarding scientific publishing. There were so many valuable insights in both videos which we don’t normally consider being on the other side of the isle. I highly respect you for prioritising students’ interest and thinking about the impact of pricing on them. I just came across your channel and then landed on these two videos. I have now downloaded two of your books and I am sure they would be valuable resources in my self-learning journey. I am a Mechanical Engineer who just completed his Master’s degree in robotics and control systems. I have a myriad of interests and I would love to write books as I mature and acquire firm knowledge. Your point about ‘publish or perish’ really hit me and I will keep that as a mantra to motivate myself. Do you have any advice on keeping patience throughout the arduous journey of shaping a book - from ideas in your head to final print? How was your writing journey, your schedule, your methodology to keep track of myriad of things going in your head, referencing older and contemporary books or research papers for content, etc. I would love your insight on that. Also, as my on-campus job, I worked as an illustrator for making scientific illustrations and diagrams for research papers and book chapters. The professor I worked for is a University Distinguished Professor and quite famous in her field. It was a highly rewarding experience and I would forever cherish the mentorship I got from her. I am sure seeing your thoughts in a form of well-structured book read by thousands of budding engineers and hobbyists feels highly rewarding to you. Thanks again for making these two videos and all the other ones for everyone’s benefit!
"Advice on keeping patience..." That, I think, depends a lot on the individual. Before writing, I think you have to get to a place in your head where the book is already done, that is, you can imagine it completed and in full form. You know what the topics are, how they will flow from one to the other, the level of detail needed, and so forth. At that point, writing is just the almost mechanical transcription of your existing thoughts into a proper sequence of words, sentences, and paragraphs. I can't sit down and write without already knowing what needs to be written. For me, the effort is in crafting the right words to convey a thought or idea. I imagine others approach this in different ways. I tend to keep everything in my head. I know what the chapters will be but I do not make detailed outlines and notes. Part of that may be because I only write books on courses that I have taught a great many times. I have internalized the material because I have heard myself explain it so many times. To speed the writing process, I will create numerous schematics beforehand. I know in general what I will need, and then as I'm writing, I can just dip into that pool and grab what works. It keeps things flowing, and that's important to me. Of course, at the end, I wind up with some schematics that I never use! Hope that helps.
I have one acoustic but I have not played it in a very long time. I spend most of my music time playing my percussion instruments. Good catch on the back cover. I guess this proves that almost no one reads back cover blurbs! Thanks. FYI, I just fixed this (and updated the bio for good measure). It will probably take a few days for this to bubble through their system.
Thank you for your knowledge of commercial and self-publishing. Yes, this will be my first-time commercial publishing.
Hi Prof. Fiore! Thank you so much for sharing these golden nuggets of wisdom regarding scientific publishing. There were so many valuable insights in both videos which we don’t normally consider being on the other side of the isle. I highly respect you for prioritising students’ interest and thinking about the impact of pricing on them. I just came across your channel and then landed on these two videos. I have now downloaded two of your books and I am sure they would be valuable resources in my self-learning journey.
I am a Mechanical Engineer who just completed his Master’s degree in robotics and control systems. I have a myriad of interests and I would love to write books as I mature and acquire firm knowledge. Your point about ‘publish or perish’ really hit me and I will keep that as a mantra to motivate myself. Do you have any advice on keeping patience throughout the arduous journey of shaping a book - from ideas in your head to final print? How was your writing journey, your schedule, your methodology to keep track of myriad of things going in your head, referencing older and contemporary books or research papers for content, etc. I would love your insight on that.
Also, as my on-campus job, I worked as an illustrator for making scientific illustrations and diagrams for research papers and book chapters. The professor I worked for is a University Distinguished Professor and quite famous in her field. It was a highly rewarding experience and I would forever cherish the mentorship I got from her. I am sure seeing your thoughts in a form of well-structured book read by thousands of budding engineers and hobbyists feels highly rewarding to you. Thanks again for making these two videos and all the other ones for everyone’s benefit!
"Advice on keeping patience..." That, I think, depends a lot on the individual. Before writing, I think you have to get to a place in your head where the book is already done, that is, you can imagine it completed and in full form. You know what the topics are, how they will flow from one to the other, the level of detail needed, and so forth. At that point, writing is just the almost mechanical transcription of your existing thoughts into a proper sequence of words, sentences, and paragraphs. I can't sit down and write without already knowing what needs to be written. For me, the effort is in crafting the right words to convey a thought or idea. I imagine others approach this in different ways. I tend to keep everything in my head. I know what the chapters will be but I do not make detailed outlines and notes. Part of that may be because I only write books on courses that I have taught a great many times. I have internalized the material because I have heard myself explain it so many times. To speed the writing process, I will create numerous schematics beforehand. I know in general what I will need, and then as I'm writing, I can just dip into that pool and grab what works. It keeps things flowing, and that's important to me. Of course, at the end, I wind up with some schematics that I never use!
Hope that helps.
Do you have any acoustic guitars? 3rd. Edition of Operational Amplifiers back cover 5th. Line word “building” repeated. Great work and content.
I have one acoustic but I have not played it in a very long time. I spend most of my music time playing my percussion instruments.
Good catch on the back cover. I guess this proves that almost no one reads back cover blurbs! Thanks.
FYI, I just fixed this (and updated the bio for good measure). It will probably take a few days for this to bubble through their system.