I wrote a book for engineers that want to become engineering managers
Hey folks. Last year I was fortunate enough to sign a deal to write a book with my favorite technical publisher, The Pragmatic Bookshelf. When I started out as an Engineering Manager many years ago, I found that there wasn't a huge amount of material that specifically and practically helped me understand how to do my job. When you learn to program there's all of these amazing tutorials, examples and guides, but what was there for new managers? In response to this, a couple of years ago I started a blog over at https://www.theengineeringmanager.com which got a decent amount of…
In plain words
This is a practical book published by The Pragmatic Bookshelf designed for software engineers transitioning into management roles. It addresses the gap in accessible guidance for new engineering managers, covering real-world management challenges and skills. The book grew out of the author's blog at theengineeringmanager.com and draws on the author's own experience navigating the transition from individual contributor to manager. It is available in beta format with DRM-free access.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hey folks. Last year I was fortunate enough to sign a deal to write a book with my favorite technical publisher, The Pragmatic Bookshelf. When I started out as an Engineering Manager many years ago, I found that there wasn't a huge amount of material that specifically and practically helped me understand how to do my job. When you learn to program there's all of these amazing tutorials, examples and guides, but what was there for new managers? In response to this, a couple of years ago I started a blog over at https://www.theengineeringmanager.com which got a decent amount of traction - I had a few front-pages here too, which was awesome. I improved a lot as a writer. This gave me the confidence to pitch a book to numerous publishers and thankfully my ideal choice wanted to work with me. The book has now been released in beta, which means you get DRM-free access to the first 240 pages (13 chapters) and more chapters will be pushed out as they get finished. I've written 17 out of 19 of them so far. The hard copy should be out in the Spring. It's available with free excerpts here: https://pragprog.com/book/jsengman/become-an-effective-softw... If anyone's at all interested in learning about what it's like to pitch a publisher with their own book idea, then I guess I've been successful at that now, so I'm more than happy to give you any advice. I've had a great time working with PragProg and my editor and the other staff there have been (honestly) fantastic. I'd love to hear your feedback, and the nice part about the beta process is that the book still isn't finished, so there's plenty of scope for improvements. Thanks all!
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