We thought the best way to commemorate this momentous occasion, both for the For Dummies brand and for WordPress For Dummies, would be to host a giveaway! It has been awhile since our last giveaway, so we figured this was the perfect opportunity to bring it back!
First, though, here’s a little bit from Lisa about where she was ten years ago, and what led to WordPress For Dummies’ creation. There’s no doubt that the book is considered a highly valuable resource to WordPress newbies, and with the increasingly popularity of the WP platform, it will only continue to remain so.
Read ahead for a little bit of history, and enter to win some damn good goodies too!
Ten years ago in Austin, Texas, I had the privilege to get asked to speak at the South By Southwest Interactive Festival on the topic of WordPress. Specifically, it was a panel presentation titled “How To Make Money With Your Blog Design Skills.” This was 2006, after all, and WordPress was only three years old and considered a great tool for blogging. Tools like BuddyPress and WooCommerce didn’t exist back then, but it was an exciting time to be blogging and WordPress was fast becoming the tool to use. This was also the first time that the topic of WordPress ever graced the stage at SXSW, and I was thrilled to be the one to bring it there.
It was at this event that I was first approached to write WordPress For Dummies. The discussion about it happened after the panel was over with someone at Wiley Publishing, who recognized the emerging popularity of the blogging tool. It was a brief conversation over brunch when I expressed my interest in writing the book and talked about my experiences with using WordPress. I had never written a book before and was completely honest when I told them that writing a book was not something that was on my ‘to do’ list in life; however, I was deeply interested in the topic of WordPress, passionate about open source, and had a deep understanding of the tool, from both a user’s standpoint, as well as a theme developer. I had, after all, built a small business around building web sites for clients with WordPress as the primary tool. It was a great conversation and I was excited to have been asked.
I flew back home to Wisconsin the next day and went back to my daily business of building WordPress sites for clients. Weeks and months went by since that day in Austin in March of 2006, and I had decided that the discussion on the book was one of those one-off conversations you have at conferences where everyone is excited about emerging, cutting-edge technology. I told myself, at the very least, it was flattering to have been asked and, at least for the moment, singled out and noticed for my experience and knowledge about the platform. It wasn’t until October of the same year that I received an email from Wiley Publishing with the subject line of “WordPress For Dummies … still interested?” and by November of 2006, I signed my first book contract.
There is, literally, a For Dummies™ book for everything! In the past ten years, I have enjoyed the unique privilege of writing books on a topic I truly love. This year, in May, the For Dummies™ celebrates their twenty five year anniversary of making learning easier for millions and millions of people around the world.
For ten of those years, it has been my great privilege for contributing my small part as the author of WordPress For Dummies (all EIGHT editions!), WordPress Web Design For Dummies and WordPress All In One. I’m excited to continue my journey with my readers, with WordPress and with Wiley Publishing and the For Dummies brand for many more years to come!
Here’s what we’re giving away:
- One signed copy of the latest edition of WordPress For Dummies
- One signed copy of WordPress Web Design For Dummies
- One signed copy of WordPress All-In-One For Dummies
- A WDS pint glass
- Some nifty stickers
And if we get more than 250 entries, there will be a surprise second prize as well!
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The giveaway ends Friday, May 6th at 11:59 AM ET, so GET YOUR ENTRIES IN WHILE YOU STILL CAN, and good luck!