So You Want to Write a Book?

Advice on authoring a textbook, popular nonfiction, or even a novel

Dear, check this link:

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32654/title/So-You-Want-to-Write-a-Book-/

Hi Yasin

The first thing you need to do is to consider what your motivation is for writing an academic book. Do you simply want to write it, or do you want to have it published? Do you have any experience of academic writing? Do you have a good list of peer reviewed publications, whether in international conferences or in good quality journals? Do you have recognised experience in the area you want to publish in, i.e. do you have any high level academic qualifications? Is your experience at a high level? Do you have something interesting to say? Have you carried out related research into these areas? Do you have an extensive network of highly regarded authors in this field? Do you want the book to be successful, or is it enough to have it written and published. Do you have a lot of money to spend, or do you need someone else to pay the costs?

The answers you come up with for these questions will give you a better idea of where you go from there. Looking at these questions, if you simply want to write it - just go ahead. There is nothing to stop you doing just that. However, if you want it published, that is entirely another matter. In this case, all the subsequent questions above will have a bearing on the possibility of your getting it published. But before you get into that, you need to have rather more focus on what you want to write about. Technology covers a vast subject area, andthere are all sorts of different challenges you neeed to consider. If you wanted to write about and cover this subject well, you could write a full encyclopedia and you still would only be scratching the surface. It is better that you get specific, about a specific problem area that you can home in on. Your writing needs to be very specific, about a very specific subject that you have been able to research in some level of depth so that you have a really deep understanding of that specific subject. You also need to know a sufficient number of other experts who can write chapters to complement what you know about the area.

Assuming you do not have loads of money at your disposal, then you have to persuade a publishing house to publish the book for you. If you have no known expertise, and no track record in the area, that is as far as you will get. If you do have that track record and expertise, even then, you will most probably have to write what the publisher wants you to write about, since they will be picking up the tab, and they will only publish what they think will be successful. In addition, every chapter will have to be peer reviewed to ensure sufficently high academic standards can be met. On the other hand, even if you do have plenty of money, you will still have to satisfy the standards of academic rigour, otherwise, the work will not be considered academic.

Providing you can come up with satisfactory answers to the above questions, then you will really be able to think about moving forward. In that event, I have added a useful link that might help you to progress further.

Happy writing

Bob

enc

http://www.cambridge.org/gb/academic/subjects/arts-theatre-culture/creative-writing/writing-successful-academic-books?format=PB

Based on my experience where I authored and co-authored of 21 book.

You should follow the following steps.-

Write the proposal for the book intended.

Design the suitable cover 

send the proposal for the suitable publisher

After you get the approval write the book contents

catch and cover each chapter with the suitable documented material

Integrate the book according the time table limited.

If the English is not the mother of tongue ask for the help for the language troubles.

Ask the publisher for the proper advertising.

Good Luck.

Prof. S, EL-Rabaie

Write the book first. Then you may proceed to search for a possible publisher of your book.

Actually, when one does some research work in any field whatsoever, one would always go forward to get it published in some research journal. The article concerned is in fact written in a general format, and thereafter sent to some journal for possible publication. If the paper is accepted for publication in any journal, it has to be written following the format used by the journal.

Similarly, when one writes a book, it is sent for possible publication to some publisher. If accepted, their format would have to be followed. That is why I gave my comment in that way. 

Good luck, Yasin.   

Hello,

If you're writing a book based on research you've already gathered, you're halfway home.  With regard to how you should proceed, there are a number of different approaches.  Here's one example:

Search online for book proposal templates.  There are a few variations, and you'll need to explore and see which feels right for you.  Some publishers and agents offer nice templates, so it's a good idea to search their websites, too.

Next, use the book proposal template as a rough outline.  Filling it in will answer important questions even before you begin writing the text: an overview of your topic; how long you think it will take to write the book; your target audience; competitive titles; and a chapter outline.

As you research the information necessary for the proposal, you'll get a much better feel for how you'll write the opening pages.

As you begin creating those introductory pages, you'll gain clues about where you want to go next.   For instance, it's important to remember that the introduction must be eventually tied to the way you'll end the book.

Personally, I like to write the opening and the closing of a book right away, because then all I have to do is use my research to fill in that big gap in between.

Enjoy the journey!

Rebecca

thank you all for kind notes and helping

Yasin thank you for asking this question. Some of us think some questions are not serious to ask on this kind of platform. 

I have always wanted to ask this question too

I am motivated by the responses you have got . I  have benefited immensely from the answers i got here.

Thank you all for your kind response.

In my opinion, the most important aspect of writing a book is finding a publisher.  When attending professional meetings relating to your area of specialization, talk with publisher representatives.  These individuals often can identify popular topics and "gap" areas; both of which are arenas for potential new books.  If your topic is of interest to only a very select audience, publishers probably will not be interested.  Publishers are in the business of making money and they seek new books that will sell well to as wide an audience as possible.  Publishing is expensive.  I calculated the cost of writing the 3rd edition of our book, Hand and Upper Extremity Splinting Principles & Methods, at 1.5 million dollars.  This included salaried time of four expert authors over 4 years (we were not paid for our time); salaried time of two high level Mosby/Elsevier editors over 4 years; and cost of initial Elsevier set-up.  From this example, you can see that publishers have a vested interest in making a profit from their initial investments. 

If you are working with co-authors, I strongly suggest that you have a contract stipulating who is responsible for what.  This was suggested to us when we first began working on our 1st edition; and we have had contracts for our authors for each successive book edition.  Contracts allow authors to remain friends.

You will also have a contract with your publisher.  Be absolutely certain that your contract includes electronic versions of your book.  Our basic contract with Mosby/Elsevier did not include electronic books because electronic books were not available in 1981 (year our 1st edition was published).  Our contracts for editions 2 and 3 also did not include electronic versions which was not an issue for the 2nd edition; but it was a big mistake for the 3rd edition which is now available only in the e-book version.  We receive absolutely NO royalties from Mosby/Elsevier for our 3rd edition e-book sales. 

Good luck with your book publishing endeavor.  Keep the above in mind; and have a specialist attorney review your contracts with co-authors and with your publisher for each and every edition of your book!

Elaine

Thanks for your great helps

Hello Yasin,

When you write to a publisher, be sure to check the catalog.  Sometimes the name of an editor of a text like yours will be shown on the cover of a text.  Contact that editor via a university email you can search.

They may be able to help you with more tips about that publisher.

Hope this helps!

Gloria

I think, to write a book, we can start to make a writing frame.

hope this helps..

Istiana

hello,  first thing you do is a state of the art theme you're going to develop , and identify gaps that can be filled with your input , do not forget to read a lot and quote everything that supports your intellectual output , then you can identify potential publishers that will help you with copyediting and publication

While I have not written published books, there are a couple of things that I would like to contribute that may be of use to you:

1.  Know your audience

While many of the community members above have focused on the publisher, perhaps equally important is knowing who you intend to read the book.  That book has to be accessible to them, while still maintaining academic rigor.  For example, you are looking at the technologies involved with challenges in computer science.  Is this for computer scientists?  mathematicians?  computer engineers?  software engineers?  a diverse field?  That will have major bearing on not just what you write and how you write it.  Being too domain specific can limit your readership, but being too broad can similarly not attract the experts who can make major moves in the areas.  Incidentally, if I were writing the book you are proposing for each of those audiences, it would read substantially differently.

2.  Approach things with interdisciplinarity

The world of knowledge is changing rapidly.  While students are majoring in particular fields, we as educators are coming more and more to the realization/practice of connecting seemingly disparate disciplines.  You see trends in computer science that are highly reflective of that:  informatics, HCI, data science, big data, etc. all have roots in many disciplines that have influence on that sort of field.  While each chapter in your book may focus on specific issues, you might consider adding pieces to each chapter that address the interdisciplinarity of the topic you are getting into.  That helps students (if it is intended as a textbook) to challenge thought processes that focus them highly in particular areas.  You may light the spark with a student or you may get an established academic thinking in a fashion that promotes change.

I have written a textbook for courses that I teach (I haven't published it), but those were things that I certainly took into account when I was writing it (incidentally, it was about inferential statistics).

Happy writing.

I liked Pirwani's post and here is a link to one way to generate ideas--the balloon diagram.  Your main balloon contains a title word or phrase that is key to you book, essay--whatever.  Then make associations as they come into your mind.

Attached is image of a balloon diagram.

l also like Judieth's answer that you need to show that your books fills a void.  That is very important to publishers.  It is good to state your theme in a way that seems timely, if possible, in addition.

I hope that you fin this of some use.  I will try to post more as they come to mind.

-Gloria McMillan

Hi Yasin,

Good to know that you are willing to contribute a book. First of all know ur target audience, whom u r writing d book for, design the table of content or index for ur reference. So that u r clear with what chapters covers what content precisely...

First of all know ur target audience, whom u r writing d book for, design the table of content or index for ur reference. So that u r clear with what chapters covers what content precisely...

design the table of content or index for ur reference. So that u r clear with what chapters covers what content precisely...

Read the existing literature and quote them well. 

Write simple english; understood by all. As if u r teaching someone...it should be in that such simple format,  explain it with may be some cases, examples, etc. for better understanding.

All the best. Will be looking forward for your book

Mukta

Hi.

I think anyone can write a book, the first point is to know what kind of book you want to write, when already answered this question then can be approached from different methodologiesbased on whether a textbook, academic, literary, etc.

1. Determine your audience, i.e. make a decision who your readers will be.

2. Decide if your book will be the review of some specific filed of science of general interest, or the presentation of your own scientific contribution.

3. In the later case, before starting the work on a book, provide some other means of your scientific contributions presentation and/or verification (articles in relevant scientific journals, conference papers, chapters in books, etc.)

4. Make a firm sceleton of your future book before start writing it (organization of the text as a whole, titles of chapters and sections in a proper hierachical way, etc.).  

Good luck!