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Re: Publishing a book?



From my ( 3 book) expereinces..

1) Publishers generally ask you for a prospectus. In it, you discuss other
titles similar to yours and why yours will be better (different slant, more
up to date, different pedagogy, etc.). At the same time, they ask for a
sample chapter or two and proposed Table of Contents. They expect you to
know these things because you have looked at the "competition".

2) The publisher takes this info. and distributes it to a group of
reviewers that the the publisher selects. The reviewers then answer
questions about what they currently use, whether they would use your book
if it were available, what they suggest content- and pedagogy-wise, etc.
This is, in effect, something of a market survey since the people who are
reviewing the proposal are potential customers and represent
(theoretically) the market.

3) Based on the feedback from reviewers, publishers may agree to publish
the book, agree to publish the book with alterations suggested by
reviewers, decide not to publish the book.

4) It has been my experience that editors normally have a list of texts
that they would like to find authors for. This list comes from their
perspective on the market - not always because there is high demand mind
you, but maybe because they want a book to compete with one published by
their rivals.

5) Prentice Hall at least (and I imagine other publishers) has extensive
publications on how to propose a text as well as how to write the book once
they accept. I'm sure you can get this info from the web sites of the
larger publishers.

6) As far as approaching a publisher, I have discovered the following (no
guarantee that this is universally true).

Some of the sales reps for the publisher act as scouts for potential
authors. This is how I ended up writing one book. They are usually equipped
with an author proposal form/guideline that they'll fill out with you and
send along to the editor.

It is important to pitch your book to the right department (especially with
larger publishers). You don't want to, for example, propose a textbook you
are writing for a graduate class to the department in charge of publishing
high school textbooks. A look at a publisher's web site can put you on the
right track as to which department you want.

Often catalogs and web sites for publishers have a form to send in if you
are interested in publishing.

If you know someone who has written for a publisher, they can provide you
with a contact.

7) As far as money goes...In the area I have written in (technician
training/vocational ed), the standard royalty is 15%. This, however,
requires some clarification. This is normally the royalty on books sold
through the standard university/college bookstore process. The rate tends
to be lower for (a)foreign sales, (b)direct (mail order and catalog) sales
and possibly other categories as well. Normally, the process is that the
publisher will give you some money up front to write the book. This money
is then deducted from your future royalties meaning you don't get any
royalty money until you "pay off" your advance. After the book is
published, you get royalty statements periodically (mine come twice a year)
and (hopefully) a check. I haven't negotiated an advance in awhile (three
years or so), but I would expect somewhere around $1500-$2500 per author
for someone who has not published before.





At 10:47 AM 12/14/99 -0500, you 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/
-----------------------------------------------------


Chair, Science and Math
Ivy Tech State College
Terre Haute, IN USA