More Regarding IWS

IWS has been out for a short while now, and there have been a couple of reviews posted.  So far, it seems that there is some reticence to the book, based on the form factor (size), as well as the price point.  Thanks to feedback on the book on that subject from Jessica Hyde, the publisher graciously shared the following with me:

I’m happy to pass on a discount code that Jessica and her students, and anyone else you run across, can use on our website (www.elsevier.com) for a 30% discount AND we always offer free shipping. The discount code is: FOREN318.

Hopefully, this discount code will bring more readers and DFIR analysts a step closer to the book.  I think that perhaps the next step is to address the content itself. I'm very thankful to Brett Shavers for agreeing to let me share this quote from an email he sent me regarding the IWS content:

As to content, I did a once-over to get a handle of what the book is about, now on Ch 2, and so far I think this is exactly how I want every DFIR book to be written.

I added the emphasis myself.  This book is something of a radical departure from my previous books, which I modeled after other books I'd seen in the genre, because that's what I thought folks wanted to see.  Mention an artifact, provide a description of what the artifact may mean (depending upon the investigation), maybe a general description of how that artifact may be used, and then provide names of a couple of tools to parse the artifact.  After that, move on to the next artifact, and in the end, pretty much leave it to the reader to string everything together into an "investigation".  In this case, my thought process was to use images that were available online to run through an investigation, providing analysis decisions and pivot points along the way.  This way, a reader could follow along, if they chose to do so.

If you get a copy of the book and have a similar reaction to what Brett shared, please let me know.  If there's something that you like or don't like about the book, again, please let me know.  Do this through an email, a comment here on this blog, or a blog post of your own.  As illustrated by the example involving Jessica, if I know about something, I can take action and work to change it. 

How It Works
When a publisher decides to go forward with a book project, they have the author submit a prospectus describing the book, the market for the book, and any challenges that may be faced in the market; in short, the publisher has the author do the market research.  The prospectus is then reviewed by several folks; for the book projects I've been involved with, its usually been three people in the industry.  If the general responses are positive, the publisher will move forward with the project. 

I'm sharing this with you because, in my experience, there are two things that the publisher looks at when considering a second edition; sales numbers and feedback from the first edition.  As such, if you like the content of the book and your thoughts are similar to Brett's, let me know.  Write a review on Amazon or on the Elsevier site, write your own blog post, or send me an email.  Let me know what you think, so that I can let the publisher know, and so that I can make the changes or updates, particularly if they're consistent across several reviewers. 

If you teach DFIR, and find value in the book content, but would like to see something more, or something different, let me know.  As with Jessica's example, there's nothing anyone can to do take action if they don't know what you're thinking.