How to Become a Packt Author – Your Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing with Packt
I just published a book with Packt on 'Reverse Engineering Armv8-A Systems'. After the release, many friends asked me questions: How did you get this opportunity? How long did it take? How did you choose the topic? What is the process? Is Packt a good publisher? How is Packt editor?
So, I decided to write this post to share my experience. I think it might help many software developers who want to become Packt authors.
How did I start this project?
A Packt relationship manager contacted me with this message:
“Hey, I’m looking for someone to write a book about embedded software development. Let me know if you would like to author this book with us.”
I asked myself—why did they reach out to me? I believe there are two main reasons:
I had a large professional network (more than 6,000 LinkedIn connections at that time).
I had a proven record in publishing books—I had already written two Korean books on Armv8-A architecture and the Linux kernel.
Even if a Packt manager doesn’t contact you first, you can still propose your own book idea. If you have strong material or expertise, you can visit their contributor site:🔗 https://partnerships.packt.com/contributors/
1. The Outline
After a short call with the Packt manager, I started to write the outline. For me, filling in the outline with detailed information was the most challenging step—it took 15 days.
The outline included the followings:
The target audience
The top competitor books in the field
The learning outcomes for readers
The book structure: chapters, sections, and the expected number of pages for each
This part was difficult because I had to keep asking myself: How will this book help my peers in embedded software? It took me 12 days to develop the main idea (the pitch) for the book, and then another 2 days to complete the outline.
This experience was very important for my career. The outline template became a valuable tool for other tasks. Whenever I propose a new software feature or pitch a new book idea (e.g: RISC-V development), I still use this same structure. It became a turning point in my career as both an author and a trainer. I learned a lot from this process.
2. Approval
After I submitted the outline, the Packt product manager told me that the board members of Packt needed to review it. One week later, I received positive feedback—the board approved my proposal and I could start writing the book. And I signed the contact document.
3. Writing Schedule
When writing a book with Packt Publishing, there is a simple “magic formula” to remember:
write 2 pages every day (Mon to Fri).
Based on this formula and the total number of pages in the outline, Packt will give me a writing schedule. I asked for a few extra days for holidays or special events, but in general, I did my best to follow the plan.
In my case, I estimated the book would be about 400 pages. That meant I had 6 months to write it, with a set deadline for each chapter. However, in reality, it took me about 8 months to finish all the chapters.
The writing process
Once the overall schedule and outline were confirmed, the writing process began. When I break down the writing process, it has the following steps:
PD (Preliminary Draft) Version Submission
Technical Review Process
FD (Final Draft) Process
CE (Copy Editing) Process
1. PD Version Submission
Every chapter starts as a PD (Preliminary Draft) version. The process of submission of PD version is as follows.
(Austin) Write each chapter as the PD version.
(Packt editor) Review and give feedback.
(Austin) Resolves the comments or makes changes based on feedback.
Writing the first two chapters was the hardest for me because I was not used to writing a book in English. After finishing each chapter, I often felt burned out because I spent more than 20 hours every weekend writing. But I never thought about giving up.
Lesson learned: I spent too much time correcting grammar and small errors at this stage. It used a lot of my energy.
There is one important thing to remember: if an emergency happens and you cannot work on your draft, you should contact your Packt editor immediately. They are flexible in such situations and may give you a backup plan.
The most important rule is—never disappear without communication during the process.
After all chapters were in PD version, they were sent to technical reviewers.
2. Technical Review Process
The process works like this:
(Packt editor) Sends each PD chapter to technical reviewers.
(Technical reviewers) Read the chapter and add feedback directly in the Word document.
(Austin) Resolves the feedback and makes improvements.
This process took 2 months. I was very lucky to have excellent technical reviewers with different perspectives on binary analysis.
It was enjoyable to address their comments. I want to thank all technical reviwers (Bojun Seo, Rafiuddin, Namhyung Kim, and Youngmin Nam) for pointing out mistakes and suggesting improvements.
Lesson learned: At this stage, it’s better to focus on the reviewers’ feedback and improve the logical flow of the content, rather than spending too much time on grammar.
3. FD – Final Draft Process
After the technical review process is complete, we can move on the next step - FD process. The process works like this:
(Austin) Updates the content to resolve final feedback from editors or technical reviewers.
(Packt editor) Gives the final approval or asks for small changes.
This is the last chance to add extra material based on feedback. However, I did not add much new content because the book had a page limit, and I needed to meet the deadline.
4. CE (Copy Editing) Process
After the final draft was finished, the CE process started.
(Packt copy editor) Check grammar, spelling, and flow.
(Austin) Fix and update based on the copy editor’s comments.
This step is not about technical content—it only focuses on grammar, spelling, and readability. Typos are also corrected in this stage.
Promoting and Publishing the Book
During this stage (CE process), Packt Publishing created the pre-order links for the book on both the Packt website and Amazon. At first, I thought my work was done. But then the Packt marketing team contacted me and asked me to do more to promote the book.
I began preparing for this new task—promoting the book through a marketing campaign. One of my first jobs was to write the Amazon A+ page content with detailed product information.
Other marketing tasks included:
Recording a promotional video with a Q&A session together with the Packt marketing managers.
Writing LinkedIn posts to promote the book.
Finding LinkedIn influencers who could introduce the book.
Finding editorial reviewers—experts in the field who could write reviews on Amazon.
Working with the Packt marketing team was a great experience and could be a turning point in my career. They are passionate, professional, and very smart. I learned many lessons from them and enjoyed our calls and idea exchanges.
1. Book Release Announcement
On 14 August, Packt officially announced the release of my book on their social media channels.
Afte this announcement, the pre-order option was removed from both the Packt and Amazon websites:
2. Publication Promotion
It is great to see that the Packt marketing team continues to support the promotion of this book. They are now promoting it exclusively through the Packt website with the best discounts available. These offers are valid until 17 August (2025):
40% off the eBook
30% off the paperback
🔗 https://lnkd.in/gn4wNmzQ
Final Thoughts
While writing this English book with Packt Publishing, I learned some important lessons:
Keep a steady writing pace. No matter how busy you are, try to write at least one page in English every day. In my case, I stopped writing for 3–4 days because of work (critical crash issues), and I found it took more time and energy to start again. Writing regularly saves effort in the long run.
English technical writing will improve. After finishing the book, my English technical writing skills improved a lot. I also learned better ways to express and organize ideas. I now believe English is an excellent language for technical documentation.
Communicate effectively with Packt editors. I usually communicated with my Packt editor and marketing team by email. When I received an email from them, I tried to reply within 12 hours, or at most within 24 hours. It is important to respect their opinions and keep an open mind so they feel comfortable sharing ideas.
Last Message for My Connections
Just before publishing this book, I became a technical board member at Packt. In this role, I share trends and insights about the embedded software world with the Packt team. This gave me a great opportunity to understand the embedded field from a big-picture perspective.
Message to my connections: If you are interested in creating a new book idea, please contact me via LinkedIn Messenger or email (austindh.kim@gmail.com). I will be happy to help you.
08/15/2025
Packt | Product | Strategy | GTM | Revenue & Marketing Ops | Dev-Rel
5dThanks for trusting us and for all the kind words, Austin ! 😊