Our look is the result of reader comments, our own experimentation, and feedback from distribution channels. Distinctive covers complement our distinctive approach to technical topics, breathing personality and life into potentially dry subjects.

The animal on the cover of Transact-SQL Cookbook is a tree swift. Swifts are small, swallow-like birds related to hummingbirds. They are found all over the world, especially in the tropics. There are many different species of swifts that are specific to certain regions.

Swifts range from 3.5 to 9 inches in length. Their powerful, streamlined bodies have long wings; small, weak legs; and small feet. Swifts perch on vertical surfaces, but, due to their weak legs, once they perch, they have a difficult time returning to flight. Because of this, swifts do nearly everything on the wing, including feeding, drinking, bathing, courting, and sometimes mating. Their strong wings also make them rapid fliers.

Jeffrey Holcomb was the production editor and proofreader for Transact-SQL Cookbook . Tatiana Apandi Diaz was the copyeditor. Linley Dolby, Leanne Soylemez, and Claire Cloutier provided quality control. Phil Dangler, Leanne Soylemez, and David Chu provided production assistance. Johnna VanHoose Dinse wrote the index.

Ellie Volckhausen designed the cover of this book, based on a series design by Edie Freedman. The cover image is a 19th-century engraving from the Dover Pictorial Archive. Emma Colby produced the cover layout with QuarkXPress 4.1 using Adobe's ITC Garamond font.

David Futato designed the interior layout. Neil Walls converted the files from Microsoft Word to FrameMaker 5.5.6 using tools created by Mike Sierra. The text font is Linotype Birka; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is LucasFont's TheSans Mono Condensed. The illustrations that appear in the book were produced by Robert Romano and Jessamyn Read using Macromedia FreeHand 9 and Adobe Photoshop 6. The tip and warning icons were drawn by Christopher Bing. This colophon was written by Linley Dolby.

The online edition of this book was created by the Safari production group (John Chodacki, Becki Maisch, and Madeleine Newell) using a set of Frame-to-XML conversion and cleanup tools written and maintained by Erik Ray, Benn Salter, John Chodacki, and Jeff Liggett.