Download free book chapters (PDFs), ebooks, and more!

I've collected together free PDF book chapters from my books about web design, Scratch, the Raspberry Pi, the music industry and more. You can find them below. These PDFs can be read on your computer, or your phone or tablet device. You can also import them into your Kindle app and may be able to read them on a Kindle device.

If you like what you see, keep reading! You can find links to buy the full books from various shops here.

Download the Web Design in Easy Steps sampler

Web Design in Easy Steps is a #1 web design book on Amazon.co.uk. Take a look inside with this free sampler, which includes Chapter 4 in full, together with the table of contents and index so you can really get to know the book.

In this free sample, you'll learn about some of the key principles that underpin good layout and website design. This book is taken from the 7th edition, which introduces CSS technologies such as grid and flexbox for creating responsive designs.

Find out more about the book here!

Get your free PDF book sample!

Download a free sampler PDF of Scratch Programming in Easy Steps, 2nd Edition

In this full colour 216-page book you can learn how to use the Scratch programming language, now widely used in schools, to create your own games and other programs. The 2nd Edition of the book has been fully updated for Scratch 3.

This free sample PDF includes Chapter 1 in full, the title page and first page of each chapter, and the table of contents and index to give you a flavour of what else the book covers. There's a bonus project in here too: rather than break a project mid-way, we've included all of Penguin Patter from Chapter 10.

Find out more about the book here and see my bonus Scratch resources at www.sean.co.uk/scratch.

Get your free PDF book sample!

Download a free sampler PDF of 100 Top Tips: Microsoft Excel

This book is essential reading for anyone who needs to use Excel. It's packed with time-saving tips to make you more effective, and full of advice on how you can get more value from your data. You'll learn shortcuts for common activities, discover how to create pivot tables and carry out What-If? analysis to better understand your data, and see how to build formulas that make your spreadsheets work harder for you.

This free sample PDF includes the first ten tips in full, and the table of contents, so you can see what's in the rest of the book.

This pocket-sized book is available at a budget friendly price, so order your copy today!

Find out more about the book here.

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Download a free sample from my novel Earworm

My novel Earworm received fantastic reviews from Electronic Sound, Record Collector, Metal Hammer and Music Tech magazines. It explores what happens when the music business and artificial intelligence collide, and tells the story of a band struggling for success as the industry collapses around it. The PDF sampler includes the first five chapters.

My University of Death bookmark pays tribute to one of the bands in the book and is compatible with all your printed books. Download it, print it off and cut it out.

There's also an author interview and more information at the book's mini-site.

Get your free PDF book sample!

Download a free PDF sampler of my Mission Python book

In my book Mission Python you learn how to build a game set on a space station, using the Python programming language. You can read the book and build the game as you go, or download my version of the code to customize with the book as your companion.

As you work your way through the book, you'll learn about data structures and using Pygame Zero to display the game's images. The free sample PDF includes the Introduction (with game play instructions), and the first chapter.

You can also download the Mission Python game files here.

Visit the book's webpage for additional bonus content.

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Download a free chapter PDF of Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps

Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps features projects for making mazes, musical instruments and more. It comes with 3D glasses and the book shows you how you can use them to code 3D effects with objects appearing to pop out of the screen.

The free PDF from Cool Scratch Projects in Easy Steps presents the Introduction and the first chapter, which shows you how to build the Magic Mirror project. In that project, the cat's image distorts as it walks past a mirror, as if in a fun house.

Find out more about the book and discover additional resources here.

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Download two free chapters from Raspberry Pi For Dummies

Get to grips with Scratch in the free PDF sample of Raspberry Pi For Dummies. It includes Chapter 10 in its entirety, which introduces you to Scratch programming on the Raspberry Pi.

This free PDF sampler also includes the tables of contents, Introduction, first chapter (so you can get to know the Raspberry Pi), Chapter 9 which introduces Scratch, and the book's index.

You can get the demo files here. There's more information about the book here.

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Download a free PDF sample of Coder Academy

The free PDF sample of Coder Academy includes the chapter on making music using Scratch, with projects to turn a pattern into a tune, and to design your own musical instrument.

You can also download a sprite pack for use in Scratch, based on images used in the book design.

There is a wallpaper showcasing coding careers too, available in 1280x800, 1366x768 and 1920x1080 resolutions.

Find out more about Coder Academy and discover additional resources here.

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Download the Microsoft Office for the Older and Wiser PDF sampler

Microsoft Office for the Older and Wiser will show you how to get the most from Microsoft Office with practical projects including making posters and newsletters, printing off labels for your Christmas cards, managing your address book and budgets in Excel, and making a photo slideshow in PowerPoint.

The free sampler includes the Introduction to the book, and Chapter 2 which shows you how to make a poster using Word.

Find out more about the book here.

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Small Business Websites That Work

Small Business Websites That Work was my first book for a conventional publisher. It shows small business owners how they could build a website that would help grow their business, including advice on online business strategy, resourcing and promotion. The book is quite a few years old now, so some of the companies and technologies mentioned in it will have changed, but when I looked at it recently I was surprised how much the central ideas still stand up.

The sample chapter is about planning your website and creating the content, and includes ideas for making your website effective and creating compelling content.

Small Business Websites That Work is now out of print and the rights have reverted to me. Contact me if you're interested in licensing.

Get your free PDF book sample!

Find out more about the book here

Get some Amstrad action

The first book I wrote was a guide to programming the Amstrad CPC computer. When I set up this website in 1998, it was one of the first things I put online. It's still online today, so if you're still coding for the machine, or you fancy a nostalgic read about what programming used to be like, check out The Basic Idea online here.

You can also download My Amstrad CPC games and utilities (dsk file). To help you get started with these games, I've compiled a page of Amstrad CPC emulator instructions.