After nearly 10 months of work, early access to Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches is now available from our favorite publisher, Manning Publications!

For years, people have asked if any dbatools books are available and the answer now can finally be yes, mostly 😅. Learn dbatools in a Month of Lunches, written by me and Rob Sewell (the DBA with the beard), is now available for purchase, even as we’re still writing it. And as of today, you can even use the code bldbatools50 to get a whopping 50% off (valid forever).

Right now, the first few chapters are available, and we’re going to release a new chapter at least once a month. Here’s our current Table of Contents.

What is MEAP?

Manning’s Early Access Program was introduced in 2003, because the publisher “found it frustrating that while authors were working on later chapters, the earlier ones sat gathering dust, of no use to anyone.”

According to the website, MEAP offers several benefits over the traditional “wait to read” model.

Get started now. You can read early versions of the chapters before the book is finished.

Regular updates. We’ll let you know when updates are available.

Get finished books faster. MEAP customers are the first to get final eBooks and pbooks.

What I appreciate as an author is that this allows early-adopters to become part of the writing process and can help make the book even better. As Manning puts it:

The content you get is not finished and will evolve, sometimes dramatically, before it is good enough for us to publish. But you get the chapter drafts when you need the information. And, you get a chance to let the author know what you think, which can really help both them and us make a better book.

Occasionally, Manning will decide not to publish a book that’s become available in MEAP. Fear not! If they cancel your MEAP, you can exchange it for another book or get a refund.

Thanks 💙

For those 300+ of you who have already purchased our book, Rob and I very much appreciate your support and hope that you find the book super useful 🚀

Also, shoutout to Mike Shepard (b | t) and Cláudio Silva (b | t) for the technical edits and to the anonymous community editors who took the time to review our book before it went to MEAP!

- Chrissy