One year ago, the Splunk documentation team published The Product is Docs to help our colleagues inside and outside the information development community find practical approaches to creating useful, relevant documentation in today's product development world.
Over the past 12 months, it's been exciting to watch The Product is Docs find its audience. Sales have been steady throughout the year, and we have received positive reviews on US and international Amazon sites, some periodicals and from a variety of people contacting us directly with questions and comments. We have heard the book mentioned at conferences, in job interviews, at meetups and seen it appear on reading lists in professional newsletters. It has prompted some really great discussions inside our team and across the industry, which was exactly what we hoped for.
Your hardworking Splunk documentation team
When we published the book, we also said that all proceeds from it would go to charity. I'm very pleased to report that in 2018, your support of The Product is Docs enabled us to donate over $2,000 to a number of compelling organizations:
- Prisoners Literature Project
The Prisoners Literature Project is an all-volunteer grassroots group that sends hundreds of free book packages to needy prisoners in the United States every month. - First Book
First Book is creating equal access to quality education—making everything from brand new, high-quality books and educational resources, to sports equipment, winter coats, snacks, and more affordable to its member network of more than 400,000 educators who exclusively serve kids in need. - San Francisco Dress for Success
Dress for Success empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. - Code 2040
Code2040 works to ensure the full representation and leadership of Black and Latinx people in the innovation economy by creating pathways to their educational, professional, and entrepreneurial success in tech. - Techbridge Girls
Techbridge Girls excites, educates, and equips girls from low-income communities by delivering high quality STEM programming that empowers them to achieve economic mobility and better life chances.
Our hope is that our readership—and the royalties—will grow even more in the coming year, so that this book can do further good both inside the tech industry and beyond.
Here's to a happy 2019! The Splunk community is what makes Splunk docs great. Thank you to everyone who has read the book and carried its ideas into your own teams and workplaces.