Posted: Sep 12, 2010 1:18 am
blasphemer_number1 wrote:Your title is sure to get the attention of "The Complete Idiot's Guide" series. If they wind up as your publisher I imagine they might have page-number and other restrictions on your work. From the suggestions so far, it appears that this book could be quite epic -- it is worth noting that idiots have limited mental faculties/attention-spans so focus and brevity will be key.
I was going to add: do not forget pictures; idiots love pictures. In fact, I'll jokingly suggest that if you could forgo the text and make it a picture book, you might reach more idiots.
Regardless, I am excited about the prospect and look forward to what you write.
[Edit: after looking at their site, the series does not seem to have the page requirement that I had suspected (see: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Bible (3rd Edition) 448 pages -- a real page turner no doubt)]
I would go with more of the style of the O'Reilly books. These are informative and well referenced and have a high bar in quality and audience. They are not all computer and programming but the brain as well e.g. Mind Hacks (Tools and Tips for using your brain).
I really think we need introductory texts for children on skeptism, critical thinking and reasoning but I don't actually think schools would ever teach children that at a very young age else the children won't be as easily manipulated through their remaining school life.