The Pragmatic Bookshelf

A Brief History, With All The Swearing and Crying Taken Out, and With All The Good Stuff Emphasized

After writing two best selling books with a traditional publisher, Andy and Dave decided to publish their next books themselves. After all, how hard could it be? (right…)

We had no idea how publishers should work, so we created a business based around the sound ideas from software development: automate everything, keep books as plain text in version control, keep code separate, so it can be tested when the book gets built, be transparent with authors, and pay them 50% of all income.

We were typical readers of the books we produced, so we set things up the way we'd want them: no DRM, ebook purchases get you all formats (PDF, epub, and mobi), and beta books give you access to content as it is being developed. The content is never dry: our professional editors apply modern learning theory to guide our authors to create interesting narratives. And there's no fluff—most publishers ask for a minimum number of pages; we set a maximum.

We still read every book we produce, and we're proud of them all. We think you'll enjoy them.