Writing a technical book is generally viewed as a labor of love, since the economics of it tend to be pretty bad. As with many things viewed as a labor of love, they can be emotionally draining and its important to practice self-care throughout the process. We will examine some of the different tools frequently used and how this can shape the writing process, common sources of stress, methods to handle deadlines, the benefits and downsides of having co-authors, and techniques to survive the process. This talk is based on my experiences writing two books on the same topic (solo & as a co-author) with two different publishers (Packt & O’Reilly) as well as conversations with other technical authors at a variety of publishers.

This talk was recorded at AltConf 2015. Watch all the videos!