A Ukrainian developer published a React manual in the US. Why he chose self-publishing on Amazon and what you need to know to become an author

From Ukraine to the USA

Serhii is a graduate of Lviv Polytechnic. He started his IT career as a system administrator, then became a web developer, and now has a decade-long career in frontend and mobile.

In 2021, he received an internal transfer opportunity within ELEKS and moved to the USA. He says that in Ukraine he felt a «ceiling» of growth and wanted to see more — projects, industries, technologies. «I always wanted to live abroad for a while. And when the opportunity arose for 1-2 years, it seemed like a natural next step,» says the IT specialist.

A random article turned into a book

The idea to write a book came to Serhii unexpectedly. At the beginning of the year, Serhii set a goal at Workday to write several technical articles. But one article became too long. During the review, a colleague jokingly asked: «Why isn’t this a book?»

«I did a little research and realized that it’s not as difficult as it seems. And that it can strengthen my professional profile,» explains Serhii.

That’s how he started writing — without deadlines, in his free time, collecting practical experience page by page.

What is the book «Enterprise-Grade React» about?

The full title of the Ukrainian developer’s book is «Enterprise-Grade React: Scalable Architecture and Secure Frontends in the Real World.» This is a practical guide on how to build enterprise-grade React applications — ones that can withstand the workload of large corporations.

Serhii tried to solve typical developer problems:

• chaos in the project structure; duplication of logic;
• poor attention to safety;
• lack of practical examples of tool integration, typing,
• caching and optimization;
• lack of a systematic approach.

The book focuses on real-world cases, frameworks, checklists, and specific architectural solutions. The author says the main audience for such literature is middleware developers, as well as those transitioning to React from other frameworks.

Self-publishing on Amazon

Serhii chose Amazon KDP to publish his book. He says he didn’t even consider alternatives — he was familiar with the platform before that. The publication took the author about three months. But working on a book isn’t just about writing. A lot of time is spent on layout and formatting; preparing the layout for Kindle and the paper version; cover design; technical requirements; marketing and communication.

«The publisher does it for you. But I wanted to have full control and the ability to come back with an expanded version after collecting feedback,» the author says.

Communities instead of big budgets

Serhii focuses on local development communities:

• React groups
• Frontend communities
• platform discussions
• thematic meetings and conferences.

After the book was published, he was invited to speak, be a mentor, or even a jury member for technical competitions. He does not plan to translate the book into Ukrainian. «Ukrainian IT professionals speak English well,» the specialist explains.

The writing process became a mini-master’s degree for Serhii. This experience, the specialist admits, taught him to think systematically; better structure thoughts; explain complex things simply; better feel how to teach others; deepened his understanding of React architecture.

«This is confirmation of expertise. People see that you are not just programming, but systematizing knowledge and sharing it,» Onishchenko shares.

The author is currently preparing to write a new book. «After the publication, I received many requests for deeper topics — complex UI architectures, custom hooks, frontend security. The next book will be more practical, he says, but the outcome depends only on how high-quality each chapter is,» the IT expert promises.

Advice for those who also want to write a technical book

Serhii is convinced that Ukrainians have unique prerequisites for creating global-level technical content. «Our specialists work with different clients, domains, and approaches. We see a wide range of tasks, not one narrow product. This is the source of high-quality books, articles, workshops, and open source.»

Ukrainian developers, he says, are distinguished by their depth of technical thinking and creative approach to solutions.

Here are some tips from Sergii for those who are thinking about creating their own technical literature:

1. Start with short formats — posts, notes, articles.
2. Write down the topics in which you are really strong.
3. Don’t try to write for everyone.
4. The book must have a clear audience.
5. Don’t wait for the perfect moment. It won’t happen.
6. Systematize your experience and everything else will fall into place.

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