Re: Publishing a book?

["Carl C. Gaither" <cgaither@N-LINK.COM>]

kyle forinash wrote:
> Hi;
>
> A colleague has approached me about publishing a book but I have no
> clue as to wether this is a good idea or not. Does anyone have
> experience publishing a book and would be willing to give us some
> advice (off-list would be good)? Specifically:
> 1. Is there any way(s) to evaluate the market potential?
> 2. How does one locate the appropriate publisher?
> 3. What is the appropriate way to approach a publisher (what are the
> royalty and copyright issues to be aware of)?
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
> kyle
> -----------------------------------------------------
>    kyle forinash   812-941-2390
>    kforinas@ius.edu
>    Natural Science Division
>    Indiana University Southeast
>    New Albany, IN    47150
>    http://Physics.ius.edu/
> -----------------------------------------------------
Hi--

Publishing a book isn't really that difficult.  The publishers really
know all about it.

There are two way of getting a book published.  You can pay to have it
published and in that regards I have no idea as to what needs to be
done.  I would suggest that you obtain legal advice for this route.

The second route is where you don't pay to have it published.  To use
this method you should first have an idea as to what publisher you want
to send the manuscript (MS) to.  This can be done by going to the
library and looking at books of a similar topic and seeing what
publisher printed those books.  Hence, you have a publisher that at
least is interested in the topic.

Next, go to the internet and look that publisher up.  Virtually everyone
of them have a page directed to writers and it explains in painful
detail how you go about submitting a MS to them.

You should have a cover letter stating what your book is about and where
it will fit in regards to the other books that are out there.  Also, you
will have to usually have a well planned outline of the book along with
a pretty well devbeloped chapter of the book.

Remember, nothing is in stone and virtually everything may change before
the book actually get into print.

All of the legal stuff is already determined by the publisher.  There
are set royalties, publicity, and all that taken care of by the
publisher.

If the book is a physics topic I suggest you might like to use my
publisher, The Institute of Physics Publishing, Bristol England.  They
are a very good and reputable publisher.

Again, if you have a fairly laid out draft of the MS then contact a
publisher and see if they are willing to look at the MS.  If they
aren't, then find another publisher.  It just takes time and patience.

If anyone has any specific question please don't hesitate to write to
me.  I'll tell you this much.  I got my first book published with the
first publisher I sent the MS to.  So it isn't impossible to get a book
published if you have material of interest.  I have since been getting
about a book every 9 months published.  All you nned to do is go for it!
--
Carl C. Gaither & Alma E. Cavazos-Gaither (Authors)
Statistically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations
Physically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Physics and Astronomy
Mathematically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations
Practically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Engineering
Medically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations on Dentistry, Medicine,
and Nursing
Scientifically Speaking: A Dictionary of Quotations
http://www.angelfire.com/tx/StatBook/index.html