Tony Sabat is the author of Autodesk Civil 3D 2024 from Start to Finish we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Tony: I was motivated to write this book later in my career as I was a late bloomer to the potential for technology in the built environment. It wasn’t until I realized the potential and began putting the different pieces of tech together to create smarter workflows, more efficient processes, and overall faster results for myself and the team.
I began sharing my learnings in writing, short-form articles, longer-form ebooks, or conference presentations, you name it. But I realized I had a passion for writing and consolidating my thoughts in easy-to-follow publications and I knew a book would be an epic adventure in pursuing this and it did not disappoint.
Q: What is the name of your book?
Tony: Autodesk Civil 3D 2024 from Start to Finish: A practical guide to civil infrastructure design, modeling, and analysis
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Tony: I have been researching technology for a dozen years, but when it came to book writing I began a few years back learning an industry within an industry for delivering a quality product to the up-and-coming generation.
Q: Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Tony: You can follow me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonysabat/
Q: What key takeaways do you want readers to come away with from the book?
Tony: We really want the readers to come away with day 1 lessons learned from reading this book and be able to immediately apply what they have read and practiced.
This book is not focused on the theory of what the product can do, but on how this product can be applied to a real-world application of technology to make your group more effective as well as your company.
Q: Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Tony: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/civil-3d
Q. Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Tony: The only challenges faced were essentially internal. When you have a deep understanding of a topic, explaining what is so ingrained into your head can often be difficult to reiterate at a pace for someone who is new to the topic or who is just beginning their journey.
Putting myself back in my beginner shoes was the biggest adjustment I had to make to put together this incredible book.
Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Tony: My journey with Packt was incredible. A highly diverse team with many aspects to cover that I was new to when joining the team. I would recommend them and their highly qualified team.
Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Tony: This book comes from decades of real-world, boots-on-the-ground implementation and execution with real deadlines, real teams of designers, and real projects being built upon the work put together. Our book differentiates itself with the tangible experience that went into learning the products ourselves and applying them to teams internally and externally.
Q. What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?
Tony: Facility and building technology
Q. What advice would you give to readers jumping into this technology? Do you have any top tips?
Tony: For those just starting out, we would make sure you have a solid understanding of the physical technology being utilized by real-world civil designers and surveyors before designing a project digitally. Once the physical aspect of the business can be understood, the software will truly become an enabler and expedite all your work for communicating and iterating through your designs as an individual and as a team.
Q. What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?
Tony: The technologies we discussed will only improve and evolve with every new edition. We have captured a snapshot in time where the tools and software are now, but when I began my journey with the technology, they were dramatically less intelligent and dynamic than they are now.
With our edition, we can take the reader so much farther and dive deeper into much more detail due to the evolution the product has already gone through.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Tony: This is a commitment of time and we had to dedicate regular time to focus on these efforts and ensure our focus was on when delivering and developing this work.
Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Tony: LinkedIn, AUGIworld, SPAR 3D
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, mention them below.
Tony: Please find me on LinkedIn -> https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonysabat/
Q: What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Tony: Get used to hearing your own voice and tweak on writing as you will need to understand your unique style and bias for specific formats, wordings, etc., and decide if this fits your audience.
You can find Tony’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
