Preface: 

I started using ELK in the year 2012 for a project, at that time it was difficult to get the documentation or to find a solution when you stuck with any issue. We were using ELK Stack for a Log Management project where we were pulling data from different sources and were applying data searches to analyze the logs.   

Since then I have been using Elastic Stack for multiple projects with different use cases but couldn’t find any suitable book through which I can quickly and practically learn Kibana. I never thought about this idea to write a book before as it is a time taking process which requires much dedication.

 It is never easy to sit for extended hours after a hectic routine office schedule.   Moreover, it takes away most of your relaxing weekends too. 

The Project Initiation Phase: 

In 2017, I started writing blogs on LinkedIn about Elastic Stack like log analysis, data migration, and search using Elasticsearch. Luckily, I got some good responses and feedbacks for my small tech writeups. 

In December 2017 I received an email from one of the Packt editors asking me if I could write a book on Kibana. That was a little surprising but a challenging moment for me as I was a blogger and had no experience of authoring a book. I took some time to decide and accepted the offer by reverting on the email.  

After the confirmation, I received multiple calls from Packt to discuss the format and overview of the project. After putting some hard work the book outline was finalized and the contract was signed up by me. I was very excited as the title of my very first book has also been decided that is “Mastering Kibana 6.x” 

The Book Writing Phase: 

When I started working on my first book my journey was not that much easy. Being a Technical Lead in a multinational company my job doesn’t allow me to think about doing something else. I get very little time to spend with my family after coming back from the office so it was very tough to manage the leftover time. But I am very thankful to my family who supported and helped me to keep focused on writing the book.  

My idea of writing this book was to make it more practical, so instead of explaining in theories, I picked up the practical examples to cover the topics. I wanted that every reader of my book can easily learn and implement Kibana in their projects. 

It took many sleepless nights, busy weekends, and more than five months to complete this book. When the content was finalized, I got the chance to see the cover design of my first book which had my name on the front.  

The Book Release Phase: 

After a few days, I got to know that the book has been published and it is available on various online platforms like Packt, O'Reilly, Amazon, Flipkart, etc. My editor told me that I would be getting the hard copies of my book within a few days. I was super excited and just waiting for it. After a week, my first book was in my hands which made me so happy, confident, and motivated. I must say that this book helped me a lot to grow professionally as well as personally. It is my pleasure to share the screenshot of it: 

The above screenshot is showing my first book "Mastering Kibana 6.x".

My confidence level has increased after seeing that “Book authority” had rated my books in several categories of Elasticsearch and Elastic Stack books. My book is top-rated under “27 Best Elasticsearch Books of All Time”. 

I have written three more books after this one and will explain them in future blogs. So, this was my journey of authoring books. If you have any queries then please leave your comment.

Learning Kibana 7 made it to the Best New Elasticsearch Books

The book is available for purchase on Amazon.