While you're waiting for the book to arrive...
To create a very basic custom template (you can build from there), you need:
- includes/languages/YOUR_TEMPLATE/english.php
- includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/index.php
- includes/languages/english/YOUR_TEMPLATE/header.php (to change the logo)
- includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/template_info.php
- includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_header.php
- includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/common/tpl_footer.php
- includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/images/logo.gif
- includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/css/stylesheet.css
Any where you see a /classic/ folder, you can create a folder for your custom template. Copy the files you need from /classic/, /template_default/ or the parent directory.
Edit includes/templates/YOUR_TEMPLATE/template_info.php to give your template identifying info (you'll understand when you open the file).
Always use a text editor like Notepad or Crimson Editor to edit php files.
Once you've built your template, go into your admin under tools->template selection and select it from the pull down menu.