An Eclectic Mind

I began writing how-to books in 1991, with my first computer book appearing in 1992. Since then, I’ve written over 70 books.

These days, I write or revise one to three print books a year, although I did 10 in 2001. Remember, at any one time, only four to six of these books are current; the average life of a computer book is only 12 to 24 months. These days, I’m spending more time working on digital publications, including screencast videos and ebooks.

Books Published Under My Name

Here is a complete list of my traditional printed books, in reverse chronological order. You can find a list of full-length books published in ebook format only on my Digital Media page.

• Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, August 2009.
• Quicken 2009: The Official Guide, Intuit Press, September 2008.
• Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, October 2007.
• Quicken 2008: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, September 2007.
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, April 2007.
• Creating Spreadsheets and Charts in Excel 2007 for Windows: Visual QuickProject Guide, Peachpit Press, December 2006.
• Quicken Premier 2007: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, August 2006.
• WordPress 2: Visual QuickStart Guide, co-authored with Miraz Jordan, Peachpit Press, June 2006.
• QuickBooks Pro 2006 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, December 2005.
• Quicken Premier 2006: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, August 2005.
• Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, April 2005
• Microsoft Word 2004 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, December 2004.
• Creating Spreadsheet and Charts with Microsoft Excel: Visual QuickProject Guide, Peachpit Press, October 2004.
• Creating Resumes, Letters, Business Cards, and Flyers in Word: Visual QuickProject Guide, Peachpit Press, September 2004
• Quicken Premier 2005: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, August 2004.
• QuickBooks Pro 6 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, May 2004.
• Microsoft Office Excel 2003 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, December 2003.
• Mac OS X 10.3 Panther: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, November 2003.
• Microsoft Office Word 2003 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, October 2003.
• Quicken 2004: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, August 2003.
• Microsoft Word 2001/X Advanced for Macintosh: Visual QuickPro Guide, Peachpit Press, April 2003.
• Mac OS X 10.2 Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide, Peachpit Press, December 2002.
• Mac OS X 10.2: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, September 2002.
• Quicken 2003: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, August 2002.
• Mac OS X 10.1: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, April 2002.
• Microsoft Excel for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, February 2002.
• Microsoft Word for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, December 2001.
• Mac OS X Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide, Peachpit Press, December 2001.
• Quicken 2002 Deluxe for the Macintosh: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, September 2001.
• Microsoft Excel 2002 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, August 2001.
• Quicken 2002: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, August 2001.
• Microsoft Word 2002 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, June 2001.
• Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, April 2001.
• Microsoft Excel 2001 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, February 2001.
• Mac OS 9.1: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, January 2001.
• Microsoft Word 2001 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, January 2001.
• Quicken 2001 Deluxe for Macintosh: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, October 2000.
• Quicken 2001: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, September 2000.
• Putting Your Small Business on the Web, Peachpit Press, July 2000.
• FileMaker Pro 5 Companion, Morgan Kaufmann, June 2000.
• Online Investing with Quicken 2000, co-authored with Susan Price, Quicken Press, January 2000.
• Mac OS 9: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, November 1999.
• Quicken 2000 for the Mac: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, October 1999.
• Quicken 2000: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, August 1999.
• Mac OS 8.6: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, June 1999.
• Excel 2000 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, May 1999.
• Word 2000 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, May 1999.
• PageMill 3 for Macintosh & Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, December 1998.
• Mac OS 8.5: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, October 1998.
• Quicken 99: The Official Guide, Quicken Press, October 1998.
• Microsoft Excel 98 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, August 1998.
• Microsoft Word 98 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, June 1998.
• FileMaker Pro 4 Companion, FileMaker Press, June 1998.
• Database Publishing with FileMaker Pro on the Web, Peachpit Press, April 1998.
• Mac OS 8: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, August 1997.
• PageMill 2 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, May 1997.
• Claris Home Page Companion, Claris Press, April 1997.
• America Online 3 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, January 1997.
• PageMill 2 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, December 1996.
• America Online 3 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, November 1996.
• PageMill for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, March 1996.
• Excel for Windows 95: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, January 1996.
• The Macintosh Bible Guide to Excel 5, Peachpit Press, December 1995.
• Excel 5 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press, July 1995.
• The Macintosh Bible Guide to Word 6, Peachpit Press, March 1995.
• Macintosh Slick Tricks, Random House Electronic Publishing, July 1994.
• Murphy’s Laws of Macs, Sybex, Inc., September 1993.
• Mac Power Toolkit, Hayden Books, May 1993.
• FileMaker Pro 2.0 for the Mac in a Nutshell, Sybex, Inc., January 1993.
• The Mac Shareware Emporium, co-authored with Bernard J. David, Brady Books, August 1992.
• Integrating PCs into the Internal Audit Process, Institute of Internal Auditors, Inc., 1991.
• Auditing Microcomputers, Institute of Internal Auditors, Inc., 1991.

Books Published Under another Author’s Name

I got my start as a ghostwriter in 1991, writing four chapters of a John Dvorak book as a work for hire. Here’s a list of the books (or portions of books) that I’ve written for another author.

• The Macintosh Bible, 9th Edition (one chapter), Peachpit Press, January 2004.
• The Macintosh Bible, 8th Edition (one chapter), Peachpit Press, November 2001.
• The PC Bible, 3rd Edition (one chapter), edited by Robert Laurriston, Peachpit Press, January 1999.
• Quicken 6 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide (one chapter) by Steven Schwartz, Peachpit Press, June 1997.
• The Macintosh Bible, 6th Edition (three chapters), Peachpit Press, August 1996.
• Dvorak’s Inside Track to the Mac (four chapters) by John C. Dvorak, Mimi Smith-Dvorak, Bernard J. David, and John A. Murphy, Osborne/McGraw-Hill, December 1991.