I say "The answer is in the book" when I think the answer is in the book.
Sometimes I'm wrong. Sometimes the reader does not agree with the approach
or does not take the time to read past the index before making a judgment.
My books (all 12 of them) are written based on questions I get in class, in
sessions, from my customers and from these newsgroups. The last (paper) book
I wrote took almost three years to write--time I could have used elsewhere.
These books pay about $2 each in royalties and last about 18 months on the
shelf before being dubbed as obsolete. If you think a technical author
suggesting you buy his or her book to make a JK Rowlings fortune, you're
sadly mistaken.  If you look at my reviews (and discount the reviews where
the reader did not like my humor) a number of them said they were not only
helpful but a significant contribution to forwarding their career--they do a
lot less to forward mine.

I don't write these books as a full-time job or to get rich but because I
want to help developers. No, they won't help everyone because the books are
all focused on one narrow aspect of the technology. If your problem is
outside that range, no, they might not help. However, if you're missing the
fundamentals (as is sometimes the case here) all too often only books or
formal courses will help get your skills up to speed. This way you will be
able to understand the more complex aspects of the technology--or even some
of the simple points.

As Mr. Tobey said, I, like many others here on these newsgroups and forums
volunteer our time (what's left of it) and only suggest our books, blogs and
other publications when we think we have answered the question in great
detail in our books or when the DVD that comes with the books have a
pertinent example. We also do this because we don't want to waste our time
answering the same question for the thousandth time or don't have the time
to provide the four hours of fundamentals training some questioners clearly
need. You might be a world-class expert on your subject and need a fine
point clarified. You might be a rank beginner and not know a COM object from
a RJ11 plug or your skills might be somewhere in between. That said, without
a bit more tact and courtesy to those who are simply trying to help, you
won't get very far. Don't bother replying. I have blacklisted your name as
you clearly don't need my help.

__________________________________________________________________________
William R. Vaughn
President and Founder Beta V Corporation
Author, Mentor, Dad, Grandpa
Microsoft MVP
(425) 556-9205  (Pacific time)
Hitchhiker's Guide to Visual Studio and SQL Server (7th Edition)
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