This content originally appeared on Ethan Marcotte’s website and was authored by Ethan Marcotte
Oh. Hello.
So as it happens, I wrote a book. It came out today. It’s called Responsive Web Design. I really hope you like it.
…right, so. In the spirit of transparency I should probably tell you I rewrote that meager introduction about eight times, probably because I’m not sure how to introduce something like this. I mean, by my count I’ve coauthored five books, and writing for each has been a fantastic experience. I’ve written alongside some of my favorite writers—and people—in the industry. But I’m having a hard time articulating just how much it means to have published my first solo title. I’m giddy, nervous, terrified—but mostly? Excited.
“So what’s the book about and stuff I guess,” you ask. Well, Responsive Web Design expands on the ideas I articulated in the original article. It’s a crash course in how you can apply fluid grids, flexible images, and media queries to your own work, but let’s face it: design is so much more than those three ingredients. As a result, I’ve tried to share a few stories I’ve picked up from working on real, live responsive projects: the lessons I’ve learned, the questions that have been raised, the hard choices made. The result is a beautifully designed little book (take a bow, Jason) that contains everything you need to start exploring a more flexible, more responsive approach to designing for the web. And at 150 pages, it won’t overstay its welcome.
I have to say, I’m incredibly proud of the end result. And that’s made all the more valuable to me by the fact that it was published by A Book Apart. Jason, Mandy, and Jeffrey have created a special thing in their little publishing powerhouse, and I’m impossibly honored to join a lineup that includes the likes of Jeremy, Dan, and Erin, and will soon include Aarron, Luke, and Jason among their number.
(“Honored” is one way to put it. “Intimidated as all hell” would be another.)
What’s more, this book wouldn’t have been possible without Mandy Brown’s careful, thoughtful supervision. She wrote a few kind words about the book, but I owe her a heavy debt: she is an impossibly talented designer, reader, and editor, and I can’t list the countless ways her efforts made the book so, so much better. I meant what I said on Twitter: if you ever have the chance to collaborate with her, leap at it.
So. If this little book sounds like something you’re interested in, I hope you’ll snag a copy. Personally, I’d recommend the paperback + ebook bundle, largely because I think both versions of the book are downright gorgeous: you get a lovely physical artifact, thoughtfully crafted by Stan, as well as an epub that has inline videos embedded in it.
(Seriously. A book. With goddamned video in it. We might very well be dealing with some profoundly flying-cars-and-ray-guns shit right here, people.)
If you’d like, you can read an excerpt from Chapter 3 right now. You can also read Jeremy Keith’s foreword, which might have made me well up a bit when I first read it. (Hush, you.) Dan Cederholm, who proved a thorough and brilliant and hilarious technical editor, also wrote up some wonderful words about the book. David Sleight, Jason Santa Maria, and Jeffrey have some thoughts online, too.
I guess I’ll close things out here, because I’m honestly touched by the reception thus far, that people I admire so thoroughly are excited about this little yellow book I spent ages thinking about. But that aside, I hope you’ll check out the book, find it relevant to your work, and maybe get a little excited. For what it’s worth, the web’s never felt more variable, more flexible to me than it does right now, and I haven’t felt more excited about designing for the web than I do right now. Things just feel, you know, fun.
Anyway, that’s it from me. I hope you like the book, and as always, thanks for reading.
This content originally appeared on Ethan Marcotte’s website and was authored by Ethan Marcotte
Ethan Marcotte | Sciencx (2011-06-07T04:00:00+00:00) So I wrote a book. It’s called Responsive Web Design.. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2011/06/07/so-i-wrote-a-book-its-called-responsive-web-design/
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