Episode 287: Crafting and Editing In-Depth Tutorials at Real Python

The Real Python Podcast

What goes into creating the tutorials you read at Real Python? What are the steps in the editorial process, and who are the people behind the scenes? This week on the show, Real Python team members Martin Breuss, Brenda Weleschuk, and Philipp Acsany join us to discuss topic curation, review stages, and quality assurance.

We start by sharing the multiple roles our panel of guests perform across the editorial process. They describe the phases a tutorial passes through, including layers of reviews, from technical accuracy to educational effectiveness. We also discuss our editorial independence, external authors, and the continuous feedback loop with our readers.

This episode is sponsored by AgentField.

Topics:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction
• 00:03:33 – Martin’s role at Real Python
• 00:04:35 – Philipp’s role at Real Python
• 00:05:27 – Brenda’s role at Real Python
• 00:06:49 – Internal core team and external contributors
• 00:13:46 – Selecting topics and subjects
• 00:21:43 – Outlining and review
• 00:28:26 – Sponsor: AgentField
• 00:29:27 – Writing drafts
• 00:34:03 – Changes to our style and format
• 00:37:32 – Technical review and using Git
• 00:43:53 – Didactic review
• 00:52:59 – Language edit
• 00:57:16 – Spotlight: Claude Code Live Course
• 00:59:00 – Final QA
• 01:01:00 – Scheduling
• 01:03:36 – Reader feedback and updating existing tutorials
• 01:06:04 – Using modern tools
• 01:13:59 – Shining the light on contributors
• 01:16:26 – Independence and editorial choices
• 01:19:10 – Thanks and goodbye

Show Links:

• Editorial Guidelines – Real Python
• Meet Our Team
• About Martin Breuss
• About Philipp Acsany
• About Brenda Weleschuk
• Create Your Learning Plan
• Python Learning Paths
• Reference – Real Python
• Join the Real Python Team – Real Python
• Cohort-Based Live Python Courses – Real Python