Although co-authorship has many advantages, there are also meaningful risks that no one likes to contemplate at the outset of…
How to advocate for your textbook before, during, and after a national sales meeting
Reid Hester, a 15-year veteran in textbook sales and marketing, and Robert Christopherson, a best-selling geography textbook author, share their advice for making the most of your participation in national sales meetings:
• Provide specific, actionable information. “If it can be used to sell your book, it’s worth its weight in gold,” said Hester. For example, build sales-ready bullet points about your book’s features. Or track the updates and changes you make to a new edition as you make them. “Your editor and the sales reps will want to know,” said Christopherson.
12 Secrets of a prolific textbook author
If you want to become a more successful and productive author, said Marilyn “Winkie” Fordney, the author of insurance billing…
How to negotiate the textbook royalty clause
All standard publishing contracts are enormously lopsided in favor of the publisher. In textbook contracts there is no such thing as standard royalty provisions. Having said that, a review of more than 100 TAA author contracts in my files does reveal some common “ranges.”
“Standard” ranges. The concept of “standard” royalties is less common in textbooks than trade books — so much so that it is almost counterproductive to state ranges. I am concerned that young authors may put too much stock in a so-called standard range, while more seasoned authors may find it contrary to their experience. Accordingly, view the following as indicators only, and don’t be afraid to push for royalties appropriate to your stature, leverage and revenue generation for your publisher — even outside the ranges discussed here.
Five tips for successful textbook revisions
Lisa Ede, a professor of English at Oregon State University, and author of Work in Progress: A Guide to Academic Writing and Revising, shares the following five tips for successfully revising your textbook:
Targeted marketing key to successful self-publishing
Self-published authors need to be more marketing savvy and more willing to dedicate time to the task of marketing, said Jeremy Robinson, author of POD People: Beating the Print-on-Demand Stigma.
“Marketing is really the only way a self-published author can get those first books sold and kick off the word-of-mouth machine,” he said.