Getting to first base: How to pitch your textbook idea to publishers

You have a great idea. You know your book is needed. As you pick your way through the prospectus (or guidelines for authors), here are some thoughts about what editors are really looking for, the core messages to keep bringing home:

You know this market. Editors tell me that their number one question as they read a proposal is: ” Do we need this book”? To convince them, be familiar with every comparable text. Then, if possible, do your own informal survey to concretely make your case: “My colleagues at X, Y, Z university have been yearning for a book with this orientation.” “The existing texts do not fully capture the new trends (be specific) in my field.” ” Based on my intimate knowledge of our students my book will be ideal because it does A, B and C.” Inflated self-serving phrases such as this book is “utterly unique” or ” for all undergraduates” are total turn offs— signs of an author who doesn’t know the market, or, worse yet, is planning a text that is too weird ( won’t sell).

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How to get started in textbook publishing

Most books come out of experience. Authors find a need in the field. They discover the existing texts have weaknesses, miss important topics, or simply do not excite their students. It may very well be there is no book on the particular topic they are teaching, or that the author is on the developing edge of an emerging area in a discipline.

Betty Azar, author of Understanding and Using English Grammar, said: “Experience tells me that first an author should see a need in the field. If the book you want to write fills a need you have in your own teaching, you can be fairly sure it will do the same for other teachers. Some of the best books have come from teachers like myself who develop their own materials for their classes because there was nothing available in the marketplace to meet their teaching needs, and then turned these materials into texts.”

Here are some ways to get started in textbook publishing:

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How to choose a textbook publisher

When selecting a publisher for your manuscript, don’t leap before you look. Most authors are so happy to find a publisher interested in their proposal that they accept the first offer that comes along and sign the standard publisher’s contract. After all, if it’s standard, then contracts from all publishers must be alike. Not so. All contracts are negotiable. Not only do you need to do your homework before accepting any publisher’s offer, you need to do your homework before you ever submit a proposal to a publisher.

Before choosing a publisher:

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How to find a textbook publisher

If you have an idea for a new textbook a great way to start looking for a publisher is by attending your discipline’s annual meeting — which typically hosts book vendors — where you may be able to make some good contacts with publishing companies, said Dr. Laura Taalman, a mathematics professor at James Madison University.

“It is worth stopping by the exhibit booths of the publishers you are interested in; the editor you seek might be right there,” she said. “Sales reps can sometimes give you an idea if your book fits in with their company’s list. They also will often have contact information for the appropriate editors.”

When Taalman was looking for a publisher for her textbook, Integrated Calculus: Calculus With Precalculus and Algebra, (which was published in 2004 by Houghton Mifflin) she shopped the idea around to sales reps at her university and at yearly math meetings. “The sales reps communicated with the math editors and someone turned out to be interested,” she said.

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Q&A: What to consider when recycling content from writing project to writing project

Q: “A general question: You are writing a book — in one chapter, you wish to include information that you have used in another book with another publisher. What is the rule of thumb — if there is one — about how much information can be used and/or the level of changes necessary?”

A: Jay Devore, Professor Emeritus, Department of Statistics, Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo:

“I’ve been thinking about this issue because a colleague and I are thinking about collaborating on a business statistics book (introductory statistics for a business audience). I have written statistics books for engineers and also for a general audience — 4 in total, all published by Thomson. But Thomson (actually their subsidiary Southwestern) already has a full stable of business stat books, so may not be interested in publishing another one.

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