{"id":49964837,"title":"Show HN: I wrote a book to help developers to improve their writing","points":5,"user":"mtlynch","time":1791207948,"time_ago":"4 hours ago","type":"link","content":"

I've been writing online about software and entrepreneurship for the last decade. You may remember me as the guy who quit his job at Google to bootstrap my own business (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16483241) or the guy who spent $46k on a website redesign that got out of control (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32179563).

Other developers have asked me for help with their writing, and I realized that there are certain techniques and best practices I've picked up over time that most developers don't know. Some of the rules take practice to apply, but a lot of them you can apply as soon as you understand it.

I've spent the last two years capturing all the writing techniques I've learned into a book called Refactoring English: Effective Writing for Software Developers (https://refactoringenglish.com/). I'm launching the book today in both print and digital formats.

This book would not be possible without HN. I initially funded it with Kickstarter, and sales had plateaued at around 80% of my target with only four days remaining (https://mtlynch.io/book-pre-sale-just-barely-succeeded/). Fortunately, a reader posted one of my sample chapters to HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43503872), and the support from HN users pushed me from 80% of my goal to 130% of my goal.","url":"https://refactoringenglish.com","domain":"refactoringenglish.com","comments":[{"id":49964929,"level":0,"user":"tmarice","time":1791208375,"time_ago":"4 hours ago","content":"

Excellent! I enjoy your blog, and just bought a copy, looking forward to reading it.","comments":[]}],"comments_count":1}