PMOT Author 3- Peter Taylor


The PMOT author series continues and this time we have Peter Taylor.

Turns out, all you have to do is get the first one published and the rest follows. Peter has another coming out in 2012- watch this space. 

It’s a big milestone to be an author- why did you decide to be one?

Having my first book The Lazy Project Manager published by Infinite Ideas changed my professional life. I had long wanted to write but never seemed to get the right idea but then I started speaking at various conferences and after a while I had ambitions to widen my audience and to get on to the international speaking circuit. It was only once I had a book to support and promote me that I began to be noticed.

A book lends gravitas and authority to its author (assuming it's a good book and all the evidence suggests that ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ is indeed a good book!) It can set agendas. It receives reviews in trade media that raise the author's profile.
The book has helped me internationally, too. ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ has been a bestseller on the Amazon Kindle store in the USA and I've had a huge number of enquiries for speaking gigs and consultancy as a result (I have presented in New Zealand, Brazil, USA, Germany, Poland, France, Romania, Sweden, Hungary, Netherlands and many more).

Honestly a book written by you to sell (or give) to clients is the best piece of marketing collateral you can own.

What are your published works and where can we find them?
  • The Lazy Project Manager (Infinite Ideas)
  • The Lazy Winner (Infinite Ideas)
  • Leading Successful PMOs (Gower)
  • The Art of Laziness (Infinite Ideas)- eBook only

And in 2012 there will be Project Branding (Gower) and a new ‘Lazy’ book as well.
All books are available on Amazon and through my own website 

How long did it take you to write your last published book?

Well there is the writing then there is the editing cycle and all of my books have taken a varied time but, as an example, my current book ‘Project Branding’ has taken about 9 months to put together – mainly as this is case study based and this requires time to secure case studies, support and encourage contributors, and in editing the case studies before weaving them in to a coherent book. As a comparison ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ was written much faster with the writing and editing process concluding in less than 3 months.

What was your schedule like while working full time and writing it?

Again the two books were very different. For ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ I took time off work and wrote solidly for about 9 days to write the first draft. For ‘Project Branding’ is has been a low level effort in writing for a much longer period and this will be concluded with a few days ‘tidying up’ over the holiday season to complete this one.

How different is authoring a book from blogging?

Well I have to say that when I do write I often look again at my blogs and often there are some ideas or material that can be re-used, in an expanded form of course. But really for a book I like to ‘architect’ the major themes and chapters and then look at the way this flows and connects in a logical and concise way. Once I have that then I write and, often, things change as you progress through the writing period but generally the high level structure is fairly stable. Blogs can, in comparison, be short, sharp and specific and the next blog can be (in the words of Monty Python) ‘something completely different.

Three things every #PMOT author should know?

Well three pieces of advice I would say to any aspiring author is:
·         Don’t wait until you have written the book to try and find a publisher. Do your research on suitable publishers and check out their requirements for submissions, and start applying.

·         Use your network to get advice and make connections.

·         Blog – and blog some more. It is great practice and a wonderful source of ideas.

Is it difficult finding a publisher?

It can be. I have spoken to many people about this since I released my first book and a lot have not been as lucky as I was. Actually for this very reason I have collaborated with the publishers of ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ and ‘The Lazy Winner’ and I now have a website that offers some advice (text, videos and a free eBook on ‘Getting Published) to help would-be authors around the world.

No guarantees of a deal but my publishers have offered to at least have a chat with anyone who has a reasonable idea for a book.

And, of course, there are increasing ways to self-publish these days.

Name a book/incident/person that inspired you to become an author.

There are many books that I have enjoyed, and still enjoy, that I could say were inspirations to me but if I have to pick one author it would be Brian Tracy and if I have to pick one of his books it would have to be ‘Eat that Frog’.

I like Brian’s books because they are short, easy to read and to the point, and I like ‘Eat that Frog’ because it deals with a problem that we all face.


Peter is a dynamic and commercially astute professional who has achieved notable success in Project Management. He is also an accomplished communicator and is a professional speaker as well as the author of ‘The Lazy Project Manager’ (Infinite Ideas) and ‘Leading Successful PMOs’ (Gower) and ‘The Lazy Winner’ (Infinite Ideas).
More information can be found at www.thelazyprojectmanager.com  and www.thelazywinner.com and www.leadingsuccessfulpmos.com – and through his free podcasts in iTunes.

(Pic Courtesy: Google Images)

1 comments:

Peter Taylor said...

Check out www.pmpublished.com for more information on getting your book published - thanks - The Lazy PM(Peter Taylor)