Special Edition Using Excel 2007

It is always an exciting day when a new book arrives. I spent a good part of 2006 writing Special Edition Using Microsoft Excel 2007 for QUE. The first copies arrived from the printer today.

There are three huge books that get published about each version of Excel. Wiley publishes JWalk's Excel Bible. Microsoft Press published the Inside Out book. QUE publishes the Special Edition title. Each book tips in at 1000+ pages and covers every feature of the product.

I am thrilled that QUE trusted me to write Special Edition Using Excel 2007. This book is part of the series made famous by Woody Leonhard and Ed Bott. While keeping with the editorial guidelines that make the Special Edition books similar, I did manage to add my own flair to the book:

• All three books typically have a rehash of Excel help when it comes to Excel functions. I am not sure anyone has fun reading 300+ pages of dry function references. So - I made an effort to come up with a real-life use for the 356 functions in Excel. You could actually sit down with the function reference and learn new things that you can do with Excel.
• I started the book with 19 chapters about what is new in Excel 2007. While most books leave pivot tables until late in the book, my chapters on pivot tables are right up front, showing off the new pivot table features in Excel 2007.
• After the chapters of new material and the function reference, I cover all of the features that have been inExcel, but that you might not have used before.
• In Chapter 1, I produce a table showing all of the old features in Excel 2003 and where you can find them on the ribbon in Excel 2007. This is a must have reference for the first week that you are using Excel 2007.

Excel 2007 hits store shelves on January 30, 2007, but you can buy the book today from Amazon.com