Writing a book in 2017
summary
Describes writing a developer book as an open source project: replaces fragile ODT workflows with folders on GitHub, uses asciidoc for content, automates HTML builds with Travis CI and npm, embeds runnable examples via asciidoctor.js so code is linted and tested, attracts pull requests and local meetups during a travel-writing tour, exposes publisher pain points around editing and royalties, produces a paper edition and an interactive web edition, and ends unfinished but demonstrably workable.
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chapters (13)
- 0:00Introduction
- 1:46Why write a technical book
- 3:11Traditional publishing experience
- 5:16Playful book concept design
- 8:06AsciiDoc and modular tooling
- 10:54Open writing and community
- 12:41Traveling to write
- 15:48Separating code and text
- 17:34Automating the book build
- 19:40Publisher collaboration
- 21:47Traditional publishing limits
- 22:30Publishing industry reflections
- 23:55Final thoughts and Q&A
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