HomeAuthor InterviewsInterview with João Ferreira

Interview with João Ferreira


João Ferreira is the author of Hands-On Microsoft Lists, we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.

Q: What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?

Joao: Microsoft 365 and modern workplace

Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?

Joao: This is the second book I write with Packt, the idea for it came when we strated to discuss the second edition of the Hands-On Microsoft Teams and started to talk about the new things coming out in the Microsoft 365. Despite being my second book with Packt was the first time I wrote it with someone else.

Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?

Joao: My day to day job requires me to investigate Microsoft 365 components all the time so I would say that I spend at least 4 hours a day investigating and working with the technologies explained in this book.

Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?

Joao: The main challenge we faced was the fact that the product was brand new and some of the features despite being already announced were not yet available. This forced us to review some of the chapters multiple times to make sure the book includes everything available for Microsoft Lists at the time of the book release.

Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?

Joao: Microsoft Lists has the potential to be one of the most used components in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem as it is easy to use as is available in multiple locations and platforms.

Q: Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?

Joao: Microsoft Lists is a brand new product in the market and this books aims to teach the readers to learn Microsoft Lists using real world and practical scenarios that cover all the features of the platform throughout the book.

Q. What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away from the book with?

Joao: The main takeaway is how easily the information can be organised, accessed and shared using Microsoft Lists, making the collaborative work a breeze.

Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?

Joao: Always complement the reading with practical training, ideal read the book and test all the scenarios in a real environment.

Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?

Joao: Yes, I have several blogs about Microsoft 365 all under the HANDS ON tek brand, I have a dedicated blogs to Microsoft Lists – https://lists.handsontek.net, SharePoint – https://sharepoint.handsontek.net, Microsoft Teams – https://teams.handsontek.net

Q. Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?

Joao: The Microsoft Tech Community blogs are a great place to learn more about Microsoft Technologies. https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/custom/page/page-id/Blogs

Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?

Joao: Absolutely, the process was super smooth and professionally organised.

Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?

Joao: Through podcasts and blogs from blogs about Microsoft 365

Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?

Joao: This is one of the most difficult things to do, it requires a lot of discipline to conciliate the day-to-day job and tasks with the writing process. I tried to write a few pages every day before or after work and used weekends to test scenarios that usually take more time to implement and document.

Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?

Joao: Set a goal for a diary number of pages as keep it, between 2-4 pages a day is a good starting point.

You can find Joao‘s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here

Hands-On Microsoft Lists is Available on Amazon.com