Samer Najia is the author of A Tinkerer’s Guide to CNC Basics; we got the chance to sit down and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Samer: A Tinkerer’s Guide to CNC Basics
Q: What are your specialist tech areas?
Samer: IT and Aviation
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Samer: I was contacted by Packt via LinkedIn. I had already co-written a book on mechanical engineering and was considering another that took a deeper dive
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Samer: I have been working in CNC for a long time and took over a year to write the book because I had to develop every project and build every machine I used
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Samer: Lots, mostly time and trying to boil down some of the material to make it easy to understand and duplicate projects and techniques
Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Samer: I see the desktop CNC world graduating to be able to do more and in more axes rather than the traditional XYZ axes most use today
Q: Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Samer: This is meant for the garage tinkerer. Sure, you can go to YouTube, but nothing beats knowing your machine from the ground up and being able to use it to its fullest extent
Q: What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Samer: That anyone can get into fabrication with these machines with a little perseverance. Before long, you will buy less and make more
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Samer: Safety is #1. We are dealing with fast-spinning tool heads and lasers. Go slow and stay on course. You will get there.
Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Samer: No
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites, and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning? What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Samer: Plenty on YouTube to follow that details some things you can do with a 3018 machine.
Q. How would you describe your author’s journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Samer: Sure. Packt is very systematic about how it conducts book writing and publishing
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Samer: No
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Samer: Most of mine deal with aviation. I do read MAKE and Popular Mechanics
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Samer: I try to go through one chapter at a time in one sitting, but I prefer to plan the chapter out, design and run each project for the chapter, take lots of photos along the way, and then fill in the text. I have to do this because some projects fail and you have to revisit the chapter material, and sometimes I run out of raw materials (or they do not arrive at my door in time) and I have to make do with what is available to get my point across.
Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Samer: Simplify your language. Assume your reader knows nothing at the start, and build them up chapter by chapter. Each chapter is a building block, and the first 1 or 2 chapters are your foundation. Make sure those are solid.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, please share.
Samer: No, I avoid social media
You can find Samer’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
