Ditch the "History of the Internet" chapters

Your book doesn't need to cover the history of the Internet. Unless you happen to be writing a book called "The History of the Internet". If you are, good luck to you.

History of the Internet chapters usually appear when a new technology makes use of a whole bunch of preceding technologies. The author can't conceive that anybody could understand this new tool, without learning about all the old technologies that it relies on.

Readers hate it when books start this way. Readers are fickle creatures, swift to judge -- and if the first chapter reads like a history text book then they'll assume the whole book does. Cut out the history chapters.

David Barnes

David Barnes

Packt Publishing's elearning product manager.

Email me: davidb@packtpub.com.

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