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Interview with Author Sunil K. Gupta

Authorline catches up with Sunil K. Gupta, author of Data Management and Reporting Made Easy with SAS Learning Edition 2.0 as he eagerly awaits the book's publication.

• Authorline (AL): What was your motivation for writing your book?
• Sunil K. Gupta (SG): I was interested in showing how SAS users can take advantage of the SAS Learning Edition to manage data and create publication-quality reports and charts without writing any SAS code. I was also interested in learning more about SAS Enterprise Guide.

• (AL): Who are you targeting with your book?
• (SG): This book is for all skill levels of SAS users. Users new to SAS can appreciate how easy it is to follow the step-by-step instructions for accessing the power of SAS while the more savvy SAS users can take advantage of the code generator to further customize their output. The examples in this book are most applicable to business professionals analyzing sales data.

• (AL): What features of the book are you especially pleased with?
• (SG): I am especially pleased with the book's simple approach to creating complex tables through a user friendly point-and-click interface to Learning Edition tasks. Another unique feature of this book shows how to leverage your development time in creating one table to be used for other 'viewpoints' of the same data.

• (AL): How will your book benefit SAS users?
• (SG): SAS users can apply the techniques in the book to real-world problems to answer challenging business-related questions. Whether the request is to query the data set, create summary tables and data lists or produce effective charts, this book shows you the most appropriate task to use for generating great results! In addition, SAS Enterprise Guide users can also apply this book's examples since SAS Enterprise Guide and SAS Learning Edition are basically the same application.

• (AL): What were some of the joys of writing this book?
• (SG): It was both fun and challenging to write this book because it allowed me to share my knowledge and experience. I also wanted to learn more about SAS Enterprise Guide and how it can help automate my daily programming tasks.

• (AL): What did you learn while writing this book that would be important for other authors to know?
• (SG): I think that new authors should learn that when explaining a concept or a SAS program, details are very important to document. For example, I spent extra time making sure that the instructions and the application screen shots matched exactly what was required when arranging variables in columns and rows while constructing a complex summary table.

• (AL): How did you decide to publish with SAS?
• (SG): This was an easy decision to make. SAS provided good practical suggestions to add value to the book. They know how to market the book and have the technical expertise to answer all my questions.

• (AL): Your book will be going to the printer in just a few weeks. How does it feel to be in the home stretch of such a long project?
• (SG): It is a great feeling and relief to see the final product after completing all of the hard work.

• (AL): What advice would you give to potential authors?
• (SG): I think that potential authors should have a passion for their topic. They should study their topic well, know it inside out, ask a lot of questions, and have fun with the SAS application or SAS syntax. Only when you feel comfortable with the topic, will the book's message become easier to write.

• (AL): How were you able to balance your time between your career and writing this book?
• (SG): I was able to work early mornings before anyone wakes up and weekends when I had free time. It was important for me not to disrupt family time or family events.

• (AL): When you aren't writing or consulting, how do you like to spend your free time?
• (SG): I like to spend time with my family. I also enjoy playing tennis, taking walks, and playing with my kids.

Sunil K. Gupta

Sunil K. Gupta, is a principal consultant at Gupta Programming, specializing in programming SAS® for data management, report generation, statistical analysis, and application development. He is the author of Quick Results with the Output Delivery System, as well as numerous SAS papers that he has presented at local, regional, and international SAS users group conferences. A SAS user since 1992, Sunil is an active member of both the Southern California SAS Users' Group (SoCalSUG) and the SAS Consultant Special Interest Group (SCONSIG).