Interview: Jean-Baptiste Jung, Author of WordPress 2.7 Cookbook

Jean-Baptiste Jung is the author of the recently released WordPress 2.7 Cookbook which carries 100 simple but incredibly useful recipes to take control of your WordPress blog layout, themes, widgets, plug-ins, security, and SEO.

He is a blogger, web developer and web designer from Belgium and maintains three blogs, which can be found here: www.catswhocode.com,
www.wprecipes.com and http://psdvibe.com

Packt: How did you find the overall experience of writing your book for Packt?
Jean-Baptiste: It was a great experience and also a great opportunity.

Packt:During the writing process, did you come across any issues/ difficulties that affected your writing and how did you overcome these?
Jean-Baptiste: Managing my time was the biggest difficulty I had to face. I have a full time job, 3 blogs and a wife, so sometimes things were a bit complicated. But passion is the cure to those kinds of problems. Being an author isn’t a simple job; you’re working for a result.

Packt: Whilst writing your book, did you find that it overshadowed personal life in any way? How did you deal with this?
Jean-Baptiste: Of course, sometimes I had to finish a chapter while I’d have preferred to watch TV or have time with my wife. But Packt was great regarding deadlines. When, on rare occasions, I was unable to provide the requested material, they trusted me by allowing me to submit it at a later date. This is something I appreciated and it helped keep me motivated during the whole writing process.

Packt: Was there anything interesting that happened during the writing of the book?
Jean-Baptiste: Many things! When you’re writing a book, you have to research, test and more. So, you’re learning many new things, and that’s good.

Packt: How did our Acquisition Editors help you - what kind of things did they help you with and how did they support you throughout the writing process?
Jean-Baptiste: My Acquisition Editor, helped me by providing advice. The WordPress Cookbook is my first book, and although I had some experience with blogging, I was a beginner author. Getting advice by someone who has experience is always good. The first chapters of the book were hard to write, but my editor helped me go in the right direction.

Packt: Our authors usually have full-time jobs whilst writing for us. Was this the case for you and how did you approach managing your time?
Jean-Baptiste: Yes, it is. As I said before, it wasn’t always easy, writing a book is more than a job, it is a chance. How many people would love to write a book and have it published, even for free? So, sure, you have to make an effort and you have to work at weekends. But it is a means to an end, definitely.

Packt: What benefits did writing a book bring to your specialist area?
Jean-Baptiste:For now, it is too early to tell. But one thing is for sure, being an author is a great thing to write in your resume, and gives a potential boost to your career.

Packt: Do you have any tips for other authors, or tricks that you learnt whilst writing, that you'd like to share?
Jean-Baptiste:Be organized and set goals. For example, Monday’s goal: write 6 pages, and so on.

Packt: Do you have any advice for other authors who may be interested in writing for Packt, but are still unsure?
Jean-Baptiste: Make sure that you can do it. Make sure that you have the skills, the ability to write and the required time. And if all of those requirements are met, don’t wait a second more.

Packt: What projects, if any, are you working on at the moment?
Jean-Baptiste:Many! Firstly, I’m working with Packt on a second book. I’m not the author, more a secondary author coming to help. My blogs www.catswhocode.com and
www.wprecipes.com are pretty active and require alot of work, but they are both interesting projects. And last but not least, I’m launching my own “Expert WordPress help” service.

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