Introduction

On 18th of May, 2005, ITJournoAsia posted an interview titled "To Write A Right BIOS – The Rojakpot.com Way".

In this interview, ITJournoAsia's Aaron Koh grilled our very own Adrian Wong about being one of the few Asian tech writers to actually publish a book!

Check it out below!

To Write A Right BIOS – The Rojakpot.com Way

by Aaron Koh

Not many tech writers make the move from journalist to author but Adrian Wong, editor and CEO of computer hardware website Rojak Pot, has done just that with his first book 'Breaking through the BIOS barrier'.

Not that it was easy. Wong said the 368-page book was a result of five years of research and postings to Rojakpot.com. And even once the book was completed, it took six months of protracted negotiation with the publishers, mostly via email, before they came to an agreement.

"The biggest hurdle was convincing the publishers that the book was even worth publishing," said Malaysia-based Wong.

"There are tons of writers out there with a book to sell.

"Furthermore, publishers have to look for authors who are worth taking the risk to develop and market their books. As a new author, it took a lot more explaining and quite a bit of luck for me to get the publisher to see the value of the book."

The six months of negotiation taught Wong some valuable lessons. For IT budding writers, he advises they send their manuscript to as many reputable publishers as possible, before deciding on the final one.

"Prentice-Hall is one. Que is also a reputable publisher they can try. There are actually many other reputable publishers but different publishers have different focus areas. Prentice-Hall and Que are probably the main ones I would approach for IT-related books."

The process isn’t even over once you have found a publisher, Wong continued.

"I had to study the contract and negotiate points that were not in my interests or in Rojakpot.com."

For Wong, the path to becoming a computer harware guru with his own successful website and book did not come from toying with the latest and greatest technology. In fact, it was just the opposite, he said.

"I had my first PC when I was 17. It was a clone PC using an Intel 386SX-16 CPU with just 4 megabytes of RAM and a 40 megabyte hard disk.

"I have never had the benefit of being able to purchase the latest and greatest hardware in the market. Hence I have been obsessed with optimising my PC to push the hardware to its performance limits.

"One of the steps in optimising the PC was to optimise the BIOS. However, I quickly realised how useless motherboard manuals were... They were often inaccurate and always cryptic. Most online articles about BIOS features were merely regurgitated from motherboard manuals.

"That’s when I decided to do a little research myself and post my findings in the BIOS Optimization Guide."

Wong said he hoped that hardware motherboard manufacturers, like MSI, will be reading his book soon, with many motherboard failures due to improperly configured BIOS.

"Understanding and optimising the BIOS is not only important for better performance but also for system stability. If everyone reads the book and understands what each BIOS option does, then they will be able to properly configure their motherboard BIOS for optimal performance and stability.

"This reduces the incidence of system failure and subsequent RMA costs."

Adrian Wong, based in Malaysia, can be reached at *******@rojakpot.com. His website Rojak Pot can be seen at www.rojakpot.com.