Akshata Sawant is the author of Mulesoft for Salesforce Developers; we got the chance to sit down with her and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What are your specialist tech areas?
Akshata: MuleSoft, DevOps, APIs, API Security,Enterprise Integration, ESB, Cloud Computing and so on
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Akshata: I had never really thought of authoring a book but I have been writing technical blogs and tutorials for a few years. The Packt team came across a few of my blogs and that’s how the entire process of writing a book commenced. I have always been passionate about MuleSoft and Salesforce as technology and I’ve spent the past few years creating technical content about MuleSoft. I believe the universe has conspired me to become an author like it was all meant to be. Writing technical blogs helped me get started with the authoring journey and my interest in MuleSoft fuelled my motivation
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Akshata: “If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe”, I believe these lines by Abraham Lincoln fit in well here. I almost spent around a week researching and making my notes before I begin writing. It’s essential to devote an appropriate amount of time studying and researching in order to deliver a great chapter
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Akshata: Definitely, I did. There were times when I got stuck and experienced writer’s block, but taking some time off work and pursuing my hobbies really helped. I believe this rebooting yourself always works no matter what the situation is!
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Akshata: I’ve been a former MuleSoft Ambassador and currently working as a Developer Advocate at MuleSoft. Over the years, I had an opportunity to work with different integration tools and I strongly believe that with MuleSoft there are numerous opportunities from a career and technology perspective. This is also evident from Gartner’s reports over the last few years.
Q: Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Akshata: This book covers everywhere essential for you to get started with MuleSoft. It prepares you not just to clear Mule-related certificates but also helps you land a job offer. We’ve taken into consideration our target audience’s pre-requisite and designed the book to simply MuleSoft for them. It covers practices question, assignments, tips, and tricks along with the technical stuff and that’s what makes this book stand out from the rest in the market.
Q: What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Akshata: Learning fundamentals of MuleSoft and API Design.
Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?
Akshata: Get your basics clear and never stop learning
Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Akshata: I’m on it. will share the link at the earliest
Q. Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Akshata: MuleSoft Docs are the most reliable and helpful resources https://docs.mulesoft.com/general/
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Akshata: It was indeed an amazing journey and probably the best time working with Packt. Yes, I’d definitely recommend authors to step ahead and experience the pursuits of authoring a book.
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Akshata: Yes, MuleSoft Community, APIDays Community and Women in API Community
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Akshata: MuleSoft Blogs and Medium are my fav tech journals. I usually read technical blogs, articles, and white papers. I also attend webinars and conferences in order to keep myself up-to-date with the latest tech.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Akshata: I had designed a tentative schedule for the past 6-7 months and made sure it is realistic considering the vacations and time off. It helped it have a work-life balance and get over writer’s block. Also, the team at Packt was quite understanding in terms of timelines which helped me a lot.
Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Akshata: Draft an outline for your chapter even before you begin writing the book. It helps you be aligned with the theme.
You can find Akshata‘s book on Amazon by following this link : Please click here
