DEV Community

Cover image for Writing a Book with Packt

Writing a Book with Packt

Matt Eland on November 06, 2023

This summer and fall I had the opportunity to write "Refactoring with C#", a technical book on C# development, through Packt Publishing. When I co...
Collapse
 
zangassis profile image
Assis Zang • Edited

Amazing, thanks for sharing your experience 👏 I hope someday I can write a book with Packt, certainly I will read your book, I love C# for me is the best language in the world 😃

Collapse
 
integerman profile image
Matt Eland

It's a great language, isn't it? I learned it while it was in beta back when I was a student and I've remained in the .NET ecosystem since then. Microsoft just keeps evolving and expanding it and the tooling and context in which its used.

Collapse
 
neurabot profile image
Neurabot

Good.

Collapse
 
bellonedavide profile image
Davide Bellone

That's a great story!
I love all the BTS of your writing process, and I'm sure this article will be useful for all future writers :)

I'll surely read your book!

(ah, I can confirm that Packt's editorial team is great - I'm currently reviewing a book, and they are open to accommodate my needs)

Collapse
 
integerman profile image
Matt Eland

The more I work with the people over there, the more I like them. I think the historical problem has been more of a range of quality.

Collapse
 
crazycga profile image
James

Thank you for this! I've been seriously considering writing a book through them on my specific niche field but haven't because I didn't know what the process was like. Looking forward to your next instalments!

Collapse
 
integerman profile image
Matt Eland

I'm looking forward to writing them. I'm going to write about the outlining / proposal process, but I'm actually currently in this process with them for a new book in the new year I hope we can get to a "yes" on, so I'm holding off on that article until that conversation is more resolved.

Collapse
 
pbouillon profile image
Pierre Bouillon

Congrats on the new book ! Interesting insights 😄

Collapse
 
foxanna profile image
Anna Leushchenko 👩‍💻💙📱🇺🇦

Thanks for the insightful content! Congrats on the book!
I also worked with Packt earlier this year, I was a technical reviewer for one of their books. My main takeaway was to never work with them again, as well as to investigate the author and the quality of their previous work in advance.

Collapse
 
integerman profile image
Matt Eland

I'm sorry to hear that. I wish they compensated technical reviewers, and a weak area for them might be their search process for authors might not always qualify the technical skill of the authors they reach out to.

Collapse
 
adriens profile image
adriens

Thanks a lot for detailing the whole process. Writing a book is such an achievement !

Collapse
 
dorneanu profile image
Victor Dorneanu

Congrats on the book and sharing insights (especially about the writing process.. how long, how often etc.). Besides having a team of (technical) reviewers is there any particular reason why you would publish with Packt again? I like LeanPub's principles as you already mentioned: Git based, Markdown, book doesn't have to be completely finished yet.

Can you also share some details about the royalties (if you're allowed to talk about it)? Thanks in advance.

Collapse
 
michaeltharrington profile image
Michael Tharrington

Great read here, Matt! Appreciate you sharing this post about the behind-the-scenes process. Very cool to learn about this.

The release is coming up quickly! 🙌

Collapse
 
integerman profile image
Matt Eland

And I'm quietly 2 chapters in on an 8 chapter book I'll be self-publishing in the near future on Computer Vision on Azure. I'll be talking more about that process as we move forward. Meanwhile, I rejected a bad contract with a potential publisher (not Packt) for a book in the spring. Life moves on!

Collapse
 
neurabot profile image
Neurabot • Edited

Thanks to community to be opportunity to discover such brilliant things and minds.

Collapse
 
remejuan profile image
Reme Le Hane

Congrats on the book, I too worked with them many years ago on a video, and while the experience itself was not bad, it’s definitely something I would not do again.