Four years on writing a tech book: pitching to a publisher

**Four years on writing a tech book: pitching to a publisher**

In 2019, I decided to write a book about software engineering. As an experienced software engineer and manager, I had the topic clear in my head, and assumed the whole project would take between six and 12 months in writing and publishing it.The first proof copy of The Software Engineer’s Guidebook – hence the “not for resale” markupIn the end, this process took several times longer; 4 years, in fact. Happily, it was worth it: readers’ feedback about The Software Engineer’s Guidebook has been overwhelmingly positive, and on launch, the book became a #1 bestseller among all titles in two Amazon markets (the Netherlands and Poland), as well as a top 100-selling book in most Amazon markets. In 24 months it sold around 40,000 copies, and was translated into German, Korean, Mongolian and Traditional Chines – with the Japanese and simplified Chinese versions releasing later this month.A lot of people ask why I chose to self publish, and it would be nice to say this was always the goal, but it wasn’t. Originally, I wanted to work with a top tech publisher, who would get the book to market fast, and give it a higher profile...

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