Reflecting on Software Engineering Handbook

There’s a problem with the content of the book: you either don’t have the problems it helps solve (eg. you don’t have big scale), or, you hit scale and invent the same solutions on the fly.

I got sent a link to the book while working on very large scale & complexity problems at my day job.

Skimmed the table of contents; most of it we’d invented on the fly. It was reassuring what we did was not unique. But, the hard truth is, the book didn’t contain much new for us.

So unfortunately either you don’t need what’s in the book, or you move through a very quick phase of (career and company) growth during which it can save you a little bit of time.

I suspect that’s part of the problem. There aren’t many people who need this specific advice at this specific time.

Luckily - across a longer time, there will cumulatively be plenty of such people! Enough to make this book profitable!

My advice to the authors is: get through the burnout; plan your next round of marketing, and make a 2nd edition! You don’t need to stop “launching” - you made the content timeless! Publish the 3rd edition next year, the 4th the year after that! One day it’ll get picked up and sales will explode.

My wish for you is to not give up now. Finishing and failing your first launch puts you at the end of one road and the start of one that is much longer & much more lucrative.