How I Turned a USPS Delivery Crisis into a Technical Book: My Journey to Becoming an O’Reilly Author

Writing a technical book changed my career. Not because it made me famous, but because it turned my most frustrating moment into something useful. I want to tell you how — and how you can do the same. This isn’t about chasing fame. It’s about solving real problems with code, then teaching others how to do it too. My journey started with losing $900 in collectible coins to a USPS delivery failure. That pain point later became my O’Reilly book: Verified Delivery: Technical Solutions for USPS Claims & High-Value Shipment Security. Here’s how I went from angry customer to published author, with strategies for technical book structure, publisher pitches, audience building, and turning personal crises into content.

Why a Technical Book? Pain Is the Best Research

Three packages. All marked “delivered” by USPS. All missing. The GPS scan showed delivery at the post office, not my house. I wasn’t alone. Forums were full of stories like mine: USPS marks packages as delivered even when they’re not received. Collectors lost rare items. E-commerce stores ate fraud costs. And the system offered zero tools to fight back.

I didn’t want to complain. I wanted to fix it. So I asked: What if developers could build systems to verify deliveries, automate claims, and catch mismatches before losses pile up? That question became my book’s north star. It wasn’t just about USPS. It was about applying software to real-world logistics pain points.

Identifying the Technical Gaps in Delivery Verification

USPS collects GPS data and delivery photos. But it doesn’t share them with senders or recipients. My book shows how to work around that legally and ethically:

<
• USPS Informed Visibility API — pull scan data, timestamps, and delivery events

<

• FOIA requests — yes, you can get delivery photos (I did it)
• Geolocation checks — compare delivery scan coordinates to the real address
• Automated claims — Python scripts that file missing mail forms, upload proof, and track outcomes

No magic. Just practical engineering.

Structuring the Book: From Frustration to Framework

A technical book isn’t a diary. It’s a guided journey. I used a problem → solution → implementation flow. Each chapter solves one piece of the puzzle and builds toward real tools.

Chapter 1: The Delivery Crisis — Why “Delivered” Often Isn’t

I opened with hard data: “4.2% of USPS packages are misdelivered annually — $1.4B in disputed claims” (GAO 2023). Then I told my story: the GPS scan, the missing coins, the 3-week wait for a refund. This wasn’t a bug. It was a feature of a broken system.

<
• No public GPS access for recipients

<

• Signature-optional delivery = no accountability
• “Delivered” status ends the claim process, even if you got nothing

Chapter 2: The Tech Stack — APIs, Coordinates, and Code

This chapter gets technical — fast. I show how to access the USPS Informed Visibility API and decode scan data. Then:

<
• Parse GPS coordinates from delivery events (when available)

<

• Build a geo-fencing script to flag deliveries far from the target address

Here’s the Python I used:

import geopy.distance

def is_within_delivery_radius(delivery_coords, recipient_coords, max_distance=0.05):
  """
  delivery_coords: (lat, lon) from USPS scan
  recipient_coords: (lat, lon) from address
  max_distance: 0.05 miles (~264 ft)
  """
  distance = geopy.distance.distance(delivery_coords, recipient_coords).miles
  return distance <= max_distance

# Example: USPS scan shows 37.7749, -122.4194; recipient at 37.7748, -122.4190
if not is_within_delivery_radius((37.7749, -122.4194), (37.7748, -122.4190)):
  print("Delivery likely misdelivered. Initiate claim.")

Simple. Effective. A reader built this in 20 minutes and caught a misdelivered package the next week.

Chapter 3: Automating Claims with Python and OCR

The most popular chapter. I show how to automate the USPS Missing Mail form using Python + Selenium:

from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
driver.get("https://www.usps.com/missingmail/")

tracking_input = driver.find_element(By.ID, "tracking-number")
tracking_input.send_keys("9405511899560000000000")

driver.find_element(By.ID, "file-upload").send_keys("/path/to/mailbox.jpg")
driver.find_element(By.XPATH, '//button[text()="Submit"]').click()

Then I added OCR with Tesseract to analyze delivery photos. One reader found a photo showing their package left at a neighbor’s door — and recovered it in hours.

Pitching Top Publishers: What O’Reilly Actually Wants

I’ve published with O’Reilly before. I know they don’t want theory. They want practical, code-rich, audience-ready books. Here’s how I pitched them.

1. Match the Publisher to the Topic

<
• O’Reilly: Focus on automation, APIs, and real-world integration. They love code examples.

<

• Manning: They want depth. Case studies like my coin recovery story work well.
• Apress: Great for niche topics with strong workflows (e.g., claims automation).

2. The Book Proposal That Got Me a Deal

I didn’t write a generic proposal. I made it specific:

• Market Analysis: “12,000+ monthly searches for ‘USPS delivery not received’” (SEMrush).
• Competition: No existing book covers USPS claims with code. Most are policy guides.
• Audience: E-commerce engineers, logistics ops, compliance teams.
• Sample Chapter: A polished draft of the GPS validation script (above).
• Me: My background in logistics tech and prior O’Reilly books.

3. Timeline and Deliverables

I proposed a 12-month plan with:

• Monthly chapter drafts
• Code on GitHub
• Video companion (for O’Reilly’s learning platform)

Two weeks later: contract signed. 5% advance. 15% royalties. A fair deal for a niche topic.

Building an Audience Before the Book Launched

I didn’t wait for the book to sell it. I built a 10,000-strong following first. Here’s how.

1. Technical Blog Posts

I wrote a 3-part Medium series:

• “How I Tracked My USPS Delivery with GPS (And You Can Too)”
• “Automating USPS Claims with Python: A Step-by-Step Guide”
• “Why USPS ‘Delivered’ Doesn’t Mean You Received It”

Each post included code. Developers shared them. SEO picked them up. Traffic built over time.

2. GitHub Repo

I open-sourced a USPS Claims CLI tool with:

• GPS validation
• Missing mail form automation
• FOIA request templates

1.2K stars. Used by e-commerce fraud teams. Proof that the problem matters.

3. LinkedIn Thought Leadership

I shared the real story: “How I Recovered $900 in Coins Using a GPS Scan — And How You Can Too.” Not hype. Just a case study. It positioned me as a practical expert in delivery verification.

Navigating the Writing Process: How I Actually Wrote the Book

Writing a book is hard. I needed systems to survive.

1. Weekly 10-Hour Writing Blocks

Every Tuesday and Thursday, 9 AM to 4 PM. No emails. No meetings. Just writing. I kept a timer. I hit my word count.

2. Code-First Writing

I didn’t write prose first. I wrote code. Example: build the GPS validator → test it → then explain it. Code grounded the writing.

3. Peer Reviews

I shared early chapters with logistics engineers and USPS consultants. One reviewer spotted a flaw in my FOIA process — a legal risk I hadn’t seen. Saved me trouble later.

Conclusion: From Crisis to Clarity

My USPS delivery crisis wasn’t just a loss. It was a technical opportunity. By turning it into a book, I:

• Became a recognized voice in logistics tech
• Built a new income stream (sales, consulting)
• Created open-source tools used by thousands
• Helped developers solve real problems

You probably have a story like mine. A bug you fixed. A process you automated. A problem you solved. That’s your book idea. You don’t need a grand vision. Just start: document the issue, build a fix, pitch it, and write. The world doesn’t need more complaints. It needs code that works, stories that teach, and authors who share.

Related Resources

You might also find these related articles helpful:

• How I Turned My USPS Delivery Expertise into a $50,000 Online Course (And How You Can Too) - I still remember the sinking feeling when my $900 coin collection never arrived. After weeks of USPS back-and-forth, I d...
• How Solving USPS ‘Delivered But Not Received’ Disputes Can Earn You $200+/Hour as a Tech Consultant - Want to charge premium rates as a tech consultant? Skip the crowded markets. The real money is in solving one specific, ...
• How USPS Delivery Failures Led Me to Build Hardened Threat Detection Systems for Logistics Security - The best defense? It’s a good offense — especially when you’re building tools that actually work. I learned ...