Open source has transformed how we build software, but writing and publishing a technical book can still feel surprisingly closed, fragmented, and difficult to automate.

While writing the "Engineering Manager's Compass", we started on the traditional publishing path and quickly ran into the realities many new authors face: slow feedback loops, limited control over the production process, and tooling that was not built for the way engineers work. As we moved toward self-publishing, we realized we wanted to treat the book less like a document and more like a software project: plain-text source, trunk-based development, reproducible builds, automated checks, and continuous delivery of preview and release artifacts.

That journey led us to build "letterpress", an open source AsciiDoctor-based template for creating technical books with support for diagrams, code examples, mathematical formulas, images, PDF and EPUB output, linting, and CI/CD automation. It gave us a way to turn fragmented publishing steps into a repeatable pipeline: write in AsciiDoc, validate style with Vale, check EPUB quality, generate samples, convert assets, and use automation to keep the book consistent from draft to release.

In this talk, we'll share the journey from publishing frustration to open source tooling, explain the engineering practices that made self-publishing manageable, and show how "letterpress" helped us compile, design, and publish a real book. The result: we did not just publish the our book; we created a reusable path for other authors who want to share technical knowledge with the same care, transparency, and automation they bring to software.