Pitching a piece of writing requires thinking strategically about possibilities for seeing your work published, given your personal and professional…
Be a proactive textbook author: 9 strategies for success
Physical geography author Robert Christopherson, who has the bestselling physical geography book in the United States and Canada, said being…
Textbook promotion: How to earn local, national media attention
“Houghton Mifflin Harcourt putting a halt on buying any new manuscripts”
“Publishing companies will no longer expense (extravagant) lunches with literary agents”
“Plunging sales and stocks reported from booksellers”
With headlines like these, the publishing community is wondering how the book industry will survive in a rocky economy, especially those in publicity. Anyone in public relations, media and even writers know promotion is needed to sell books but convincing upper brass can sometimes be an uphill battle. The good news is anyone can promote his or her work. A fancy Manhattan PR firm doesn’t have to be hired for big dollars.
Publishing journal articles: Seasoned pros give tips
Jay Black, co-editor of the Journal of Mass Media Ethics, and Charles Holland, professor emeritus of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University, share the following tips for getting published:
Black: “Get familiar with the journal – don’t submit blindly. Skim through several issues and find the journal’s pattern, topics, style, etc. If your article is too long or not in the required style, it shows that its not really focused. Don’t give up. Eighty percent of resubmitted articles are accepted.”
6 Textbook proposal writing tips
Six textbook authors share their textbook proposal writing tips:
“Make sure there is a demand for your book that currently is not being met by exisiting texts.”
David J. Ellenbogen, author of Elementary Algebra: Concepts and Applications
“Beware of putting anything in writing too early, since some editors will take your preliminary ideas to be definite proposals. When you do write the proposal, assume it will be your last chance to convince an editor to take an interest in the project. Also keep in mind that no matter how convinced you are that your book will be the best in the field, you have to make that clear to the editor, and you also have to explain to the editor how that is going to be clear to potential adopters.”
10 Tips for preparing your next textbook edition
Steven Barkan, a professor of sociology at the University of Maine, and the author of five textbooks and one tradebook, shares the following ten tips for preparing your next edition:
1. The worst is over, but much yet is to be done. The first edition of a textbook takes much more time than any later editions, so the worst is over as you begin to prepare the next edition. However, the next edition can take much more time that one might expect. Research, data, and references must all be updated. Regardless of how long you expect the preparation of the next edition to take, it will probably take longer. The good news is that it will still take much less time than the first edition.