Technical Blogging, Second Edition
Amplify Your Influence
by Antonio Cangiano
Version: P1.0 (June 2019)
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To my incredible wife, Jessica. And to all the kind souls who helped us in the aftermath of losing our home in an arson fire.
Table of Contents
Copyright 2019, The Pragmatic Bookshelf.
Early Praise for Technical Blogging, Second Edition
Im in absolute awe at this amazing book, which has the best advice Ive ever heard on the subject, with helpful Do this suggestions. I wish Id read this years ago, because I had to learn the hard way. This book inspired me to write and publish more.
Derek Sivers |
Founder, CD Baby |
New consultants often ask me how to market themselves. I recommend blogging. Then, I recommend Technical Blogging as the one book they should read and use as a guide. Even after blogging for 16+ years, I found gems that I put on my list to address.
Johanna Rothman |
Author, Create Your Successful Agile Project |
Antonio covers everything from the philosophy of what makes good blog content to the nitty-gritty of what software plugins to use and the best time of day to publish articles. Every few pages, I added another item to my to-do list to improve my blog.
Andy Lester |
Author, Land the Tech Job You Love |
A lot of us drag our heels on blogging because we have so many decisions to make before we even get started: the name, the audience, the platform, the style, and so on. Antonio will deftly steer you through these crucial early stages while your enthusiasm is still fresh, and hell be your steady guide as you start writing and building momentum. Youll say to yourself, I have no excuses any more. Lets do this!
Erin Dees |
Principal Software Engineer, Stitch Fix |
Acknowledgments
Its customary for authors to thank everyone who has even remotely touched their book and offer platitudes about the invaluable contributions these people have made.
In the case of this book, there is no false modesty. I genuinely have to thank a great many folk who have helped make it possible. The volume of feedback I received shaped the book and made it far more useful than it would have been otherwise.
I want to start by thanking my unofficial editor, my beautiful wife, Jessica. She put in countless hours helping me refine my message and providing me with endless support and patience as I worked on each chapter. Without her, this book would be a lot less clear.
I must thank the whole team at the Pragmatic Bookshelf, in particular my editor, Mike Swaine, for his insightful suggestions and for demanding nothing but the utmost quality from me throughout the writing of this book, both in its original incarnation and in this revised second edition; my publisher, Andy Hunt, for believing in this project from the very beginning; my managing editor, Susan Conant, for providing important advice on the development of the book from its earliest stages onward; my production manager, Janet Furlow, for ensuring the book would end up in your hands as a polished product; and last but not least, Gilson Graphics, for withstanding my incessant search for the perfect cover.
Between the first and second edition, I was privileged to have a team of world-class technical reviewers who cannot be thanked enough for their contributions. The impressive list includes Andy Lester, Brian Hogan, Dan Wohlbruck, Derek Sivers, Giles Bowkett, Gregg Pollack, Ian Dees, Ilya Grigorik, Jeff Langr, Johanna Rothman, John C. Dvorak, Kent Beck, Lukas Mathis, Patrick McKenzie, Peter Cooper, Satish Talim, Scott Mace, Sebastian Marshall, Steve Yegge, Susan Visser, and Thom Hogan.
My list of informal reviewersa small group of family, friends, and colleagues who read early draftsmust also be thanked for their feedback and support. In particular, I wish to thank Lynn Schill, Bradley Steinfeld, Davide Varvello, Henrique Zambon, Kalid Azad, Laurent Sansonetti, Leon Katsnelson, Ludovico Magnocavallo, Marco Beri, Marius Butuc, Ninh Bui, Piergiuliano Bossi, and Rav Ahuja.