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).
(Pic Courtesy: Google Images)