Fall 2012: My Two New CompTIA A+ Books Are Being Published!

Nearly a month ago, I announced the publication of a book I've heavily contributed to, Guide to TCP/IP, Fourth Edition which will be available for purchase in just a few days. Today, I have the pleasure of talking about two more books that I wrote or contributed to that will soon become available.

CompTIA A+ Complete Lab Manual is near and dear to my heart, since I have been the sole author on this book (previously Sybex's PC Technician Street Smarts series) since it began. The "Complete Lab Manual" has been retitled but essentially is the third edition of "Street Smarts" and historically, it has represented some of my best work.

The Book Description at Amazon says:

Designed to complement CompTIA A+ Complete Study Guide, this hands-on companion book takes you step by step through the tasks a PC technician is likely to face on any given day. It supports the theory explained in the test-prep guide with additional practical application, increasing a new PC technician's confidence and marketability. Various scenarios incorporate roadblocks that may occur on the job and explain ways to successfully complete the task at hand. In addition, each task is mapped to a specific A+ exam objective for exams 220-801 and 220-802.

Tasks are divided into categories: hardware and software installation, hardware and software maintenance, and installing and upgrading operating systems, networks, and security systems.

"CompTIA A+ Complete Lab Manual" comes out as a first edition on September 25, 2012, but you can pre-order it now at Amazon

I have a second CompTIA A+ book coming out on October 18: CompTIA A+ Certification Practice Exams, Second Edition, written with Michael Chapple (Mike Pastore hasn't been involved for a few editions now).

This book is essentially a really big bank of questions with which to test yourself against when preparing for the two A+ exams; over 1,000 questions in fact. The beauty of this book is that it hits every single exam domain item required by CompTIA. I got the good news via email just last night:

Good news. I just received word that your book has passed the CompTIA Approved Quality Content review. Your book will now be recognized as a CompTIA Authorized product. Many thanks to the diligence you’ve shown ensuring 100% coverage of the objectives. It was evident as you passed the review without one objective missed.

This book is designed to be used with CompTIA A+ Certification Study Guide, Eighth Edition, written by Jane and Charles Holcombe. You'll be able to buy both books as a boxed set in January

Writing two books at the same time isn't always a lot of fun (very little free time when you take my "day job" into consideration) but when the books are done, the sense of accomplishment is fantastic. I can't wait to see both books at my local Barnes and Noble and Borders.

If the CompTIA A+ exams are in your future, I'd highly recommend that you take a look at both of my new books. The Lab Manual will give you the hands-on experience you need, and the Practice Exams will provide an extremely thorough platform to use in testing your knowledge before taking on "the real thing."

Enjoy.

31 Days Before Your CompTIA A+ Exams (2nd Edition)

OK, I realize that the name on the cover says "Ben Conry" and he wrote the original content that was submitted to the publisher, but for unknown reasons he abruptly dropped out of the project. Meanwhile, the technical and production editors had marked up his content with a ton of questions and proposed changes and somebody had to deal with them.

Enter "me".

If you go to page "v" in the frontmatter, you'll see "About the Author" which tells you about Ben and then you'll see "About the Contributing Author" which is my bio. I don't get "cover credit" because the primary content isn't mind and I was brought into the book late in the game, on the other hand (sorry, Ben), I had to "fix" a lot of the content so it would make sense in relation to the current A+ exam domains. Hopefully, this will make the book more successful on the market, but you, the reader, will have to judge that for yourself.

If you're studying for the A+ exams and you want to give yourself an intense 31-day review prior to exam day, please pick up a copy of 31 Days Before Your CompTIA A+ Exams (2nd Edition), published by Cisco Press.

Please keep in mind that you must do your primary studying from some tome like Mike Meyers's CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, Seventh Edition or the McGraw Hill book CompTIA A+ Certification Study Guide, Seventh Edition (I wrote the companion to the McGraw Hill publication: CompTIA A+ Certification Practice Exams).

After studying with one (or more) of these "big books" and then using the "31 days" book, take the exam, then let me know how you did by commenting on this blog. I also encourage you to post a review on Amazon (be nice) to let others know how well the book helped you out.

Good luck to all A+ test takers. Cheers.

31 Days Before Your CompTIA A+ Exams (2nd Edition)

Product Description: This is the only A+ exam preparation guide that is mapped to several study resources. This new edition includes references to but is not limited to just the Cisco IT Essentials v4.1 course material to prepare for the new CompTIA 2009 A+ certification exams. Like all Cisco Press "31 Days..." exam prep books, it is organized by day, starting 31 days before the exam. Short, low-cost, and exceptionally readable, it gives you a highly-structured, simple tool that tells you exactly what to study each day to be fully prepared. 31 Days Before Your A+ Exams, Second Edition also contains easy-to-understand information on how to sign up for the exam, detailed explanations about what to expect during the exam, time-proven test taking strategies, and a tear out visual aid calendar. With these features, it is a true exam prep guide in every sense.

Ben Conry authored the first edition and much of the second edition of this book, but he needed some "backup". That's where I came in. Inside the front matter, you'll see me listed as "Contributing Author".

I'm no stranger to the CompTIA A+ exams and have previously authored PC Technician Street Smarts, Updated for the 2009 Exam and CompTIA A+ Certification Practice Exams (Exams 220-701 & 220-702). This is my first outing writing for Cisco Press and I hope it's not my last.

31 Days Before Your CompTIA A+ Exams (2nd Edition) will be available in October. Pre-order your copy now.

It's Here!

I came home last night and my daughter-in-law mentioned that I'd gotten a UPS delivery. She said the box was heavy and felt like books. Sure enough, my author's copies of my new book PC Technician Street Smarts, Updated for the 2009 Exam had arrived. I know it's technically available (in the U.S. at least) in just a few days, but having a copy in my hands makes the book seem so much more real.

Now, I need to line up my "usual suspects" and ship off a few copies for review. I encourage anyone out there who's reading this and who is either planning on taking the A+ exams or is a newbie PC or desktop support tech to have a look. Please review on Amazon or your blog (or where ever). If you do, let me know or post a comment here. I'd really like to know what folks think of the second edition.

Cheers.