Tips for writing a tech book

When I first started writing my book, Mastering Kafka Streams and ksqlDB, I had no idea what I was doing. However, as my book finally heads to the printer, I have decided to reflect on some of the things that helped me get to the finish line.

In this post, I will share some tips for writing a tech book that I learned along the way. I have kept this advice short and to the point, but if there’s anything you’d like me to expand on, please leave a comment at the end of the article. Without further ado, let’s take a look at my tips for writing a tech book.

Tips

Create a very detailed outline ahead of time

Writing a book is super stressful at times, but the outline will be your map if you feel lost or overwhelmed at any point. Also, getting eyes on your outline from industry experts ahead of time will validate your ideas and keep you from second guessing yourself as you get deep into the weeds.

How long will it take to create your outline? I assume it varies widely depending on the book. The outline for my 12 chapter, 400 page book took about a month to create and another two months to get approval from O’Reilly. In other words, it’s not a quick process, but you will be thankful that you have it once it’s time to start writing.