If you've ever wondered how a blog differs from a wiki, or what the heck are Google Docs anyway, here's a quick-scan view of the differences: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=ddnzwcn8_15g3jrbpdfThanks, Google!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Difference between blogs, wikis, and Google Docs
If you've ever wondered how a blog differs from a wiki, or what the heck are Google Docs anyway, here's a quick-scan view of the differences: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=ddnzwcn8_15g3jrbpdfThanks, Google!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Random Writing Tips for Organizing and Keepin’-a-goin’
- Never stop writing for the day at the end of a section or even a sentence. Always end midway through a sentence, so you know basically what you were thinking about when you left. Chances are you'll change it anyway, but it will give you a solid starting place.
- Use footnotes or Word's note feature to make yourself little notes about where a particular piece of information came from or something you'll need to check later in the writing. Do it here and now, so you don't forget later.
- Always save a separate copy of your footnoted file before you send it to the editor, which probably won't have footnotes. Give it a unique and clearly identifiable filename for easy reference later.
- Do some writing everyday. It doesn't have to be actual writing, it can be just research or line editing already written work, but do something on the project everyday. The longer you're away from a piece, the harder it is to get back into it.
- Back up your work at least every week, if not everyday, to a separate drive. And I don't mean a thumb drive either, I mean a real, honest-to-goodness external backup drive. They're cheap enough, get one and use it.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
What a Sales Conference Means to Your Book
So I'm sitting here at our annual sales conference, this year at the Ace Club outside Philadelphia, and I'm listening to one of my wonderful colleagues presenting a soon-to-be published nursing book to our sales reps.
It occurred to me that most authors and potential authors probably don't have a clue about the importance of this conference to the sale of their book, so I thought I'd explain.
Sales conferences involve editors describing, showing, promoting, and cheerleading just-published or soon-to-be published books to all the sales reps. The reps will then go out and sell the book, talking to faculty about the benefits of the books in hopes they'll adopt t for their classes.
This presentation is our last best chance to educate the reps about the book and, more important, get them excited about selling it. That excitement fuels the reps when they head out to campuses in the fall, and it's critical to the success of books out of the gate.
Short of parades and confetti, we'll do whatever we can to push books to the forefront of each rep's mind. When they really understand a book and have solid strategies for selling it, they feel more confident that when they talk with an instructor they'll be able to answer any question and resolve any concerns.
Underneath all those presentations lies a hugely important goal, to enhance the relationship among the reps, editors, and electronic development folks, and nobody does that better than F.A. Davis.
I've worked for a number of publishing companies and have attended and presented at a couple dozen sales conferences, and I can say without equivocation that this company does it right.
[caption id="attachment_500" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Some of our editors and sales reps at a recent sales conference"]
[/caption]
These meetings build, enhance, and cement relationships between the people who make books and the people who sell the books. The closer that relationship, the more effective both groups become at their jobs.
I've never worked with a sales force that knows their products better than our people. They pay attention to everything you say, focus on the main points you're trying to make, and then coalesce that information into clear strategies for managing their sales calls.
That ability gives them power to sell more books, and that's good news for every author.
It occurred to me that most authors and potential authors probably don't have a clue about the importance of this conference to the sale of their book, so I thought I'd explain.
Excitement starts here
Sales conferences involve editors describing, showing, promoting, and cheerleading just-published or soon-to-be published books to all the sales reps. The reps will then go out and sell the book, talking to faculty about the benefits of the books in hopes they'll adopt t for their classes.
This presentation is our last best chance to educate the reps about the book and, more important, get them excited about selling it. That excitement fuels the reps when they head out to campuses in the fall, and it's critical to the success of books out of the gate.
Short of parades and confetti, we'll do whatever we can to push books to the forefront of each rep's mind. When they really understand a book and have solid strategies for selling it, they feel more confident that when they talk with an instructor they'll be able to answer any question and resolve any concerns.
Camaraderie builds confidence
Underneath all those presentations lies a hugely important goal, to enhance the relationship among the reps, editors, and electronic development folks, and nobody does that better than F.A. Davis.
I've worked for a number of publishing companies and have attended and presented at a couple dozen sales conferences, and I can say without equivocation that this company does it right.
[caption id="attachment_500" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Some of our editors and sales reps at a recent sales conference"]
[/caption]These meetings build, enhance, and cement relationships between the people who make books and the people who sell the books. The closer that relationship, the more effective both groups become at their jobs.
I've never worked with a sales force that knows their products better than our people. They pay attention to everything you say, focus on the main points you're trying to make, and then coalesce that information into clear strategies for managing their sales calls.
That ability gives them power to sell more books, and that's good news for every author.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Before You Author, Ask the Right Questions
Every healthcare textbook publisher asks a single question of major importance before publishing a book: Is this the right author writing the right book at the right time for the right market?
Every potential author should ask the same kinds of questions:
Let's take them one at a time.
You're the right person if you feel passionately about the topic; you have solid, quantifiable experience in the topic and consider yourself an expert; your credentials indicate that you have a reasonable background to write expertly about the topic; and, for a textbook, you have substantive experience teaching the topic to learners.
Take this example. Betty is a CMA (AAMA) with a BS degree in, say, biology. She is also an RN and has been MA Program Director at a community college for 6 years. She wants to write a book about clinical skills for MAs. Does she have what it takes (superficially, at least) to author that kind of book? I'd say yes, absolutely, she seems to have a good skill set for that.
What if Betty wanted to write a book instead about teaching skills for new allied health faculty? Does she have what it takes? I'd say no. She might be a great teacher but her educational credentials don't support her being an expert on the topic. For a book like that, she should probably have an Master's in Education and have a substantially broader experience than solely in medical assisting.
By "does the book make sense," I mean is the topic is broad enough and pertinent enough to sell a significant number of copies? Some topics are just too small for a book but would make a great journal article. They're so niche-oriented that it wouldn't make sense for most publishers to invest in a book that won't sell enough copies to turn a profit.
If your book would fit a course you know is offered by all or most programs, then you've got yourself a solid idea. If it would fit some programs but not others, or if the book covers a section of content within one or more courses, you'll have a more difficult time "selling" it to a publisher, but go for it anyway.
For courses that already exist, such as med term, A&P, pathology, and the like, timing isn't critical. There are already books out there and the course already exists.
But for topics that seem "cutting edge," topics that are on the cusp of becoming standard but aren't there yet, you're in a tough spot. Some publishers certainly will risk taking on your book, but because education in general—and healthcare education in particular—move so slowly, most publishers will have second thoughts about publishing it. Which leads well into the last question…
Does the book meet a clear market need?
If the topic is too new and untested, then deciding whether your book on it would meet a clear market need becomes much more difficult. The safest book for a publisher, the one with least risk, is one built to compete with at least one other similar product. In that case, it's a let's-do-ours-better kind of approach, which is a nice approach to have. Build a better mousetrap, eh?
Every potential author should ask the same kinds of questions:
- Am I the right person to write this book?
- Does my book really make sense?
- How is my timing?
- Does the book meet a clear market need?
Let's take them one at a time.
Are you the right person?
You're the right person if you feel passionately about the topic; you have solid, quantifiable experience in the topic and consider yourself an expert; your credentials indicate that you have a reasonable background to write expertly about the topic; and, for a textbook, you have substantive experience teaching the topic to learners.
Take this example. Betty is a CMA (AAMA) with a BS degree in, say, biology. She is also an RN and has been MA Program Director at a community college for 6 years. She wants to write a book about clinical skills for MAs. Does she have what it takes (superficially, at least) to author that kind of book? I'd say yes, absolutely, she seems to have a good skill set for that.
What if Betty wanted to write a book instead about teaching skills for new allied health faculty? Does she have what it takes? I'd say no. She might be a great teacher but her educational credentials don't support her being an expert on the topic. For a book like that, she should probably have an Master's in Education and have a substantially broader experience than solely in medical assisting.
Does the book make sense?
By "does the book make sense," I mean is the topic is broad enough and pertinent enough to sell a significant number of copies? Some topics are just too small for a book but would make a great journal article. They're so niche-oriented that it wouldn't make sense for most publishers to invest in a book that won't sell enough copies to turn a profit.
If your book would fit a course you know is offered by all or most programs, then you've got yourself a solid idea. If it would fit some programs but not others, or if the book covers a section of content within one or more courses, you'll have a more difficult time "selling" it to a publisher, but go for it anyway.
How is my timing?
For courses that already exist, such as med term, A&P, pathology, and the like, timing isn't critical. There are already books out there and the course already exists.
But for topics that seem "cutting edge," topics that are on the cusp of becoming standard but aren't there yet, you're in a tough spot. Some publishers certainly will risk taking on your book, but because education in general—and healthcare education in particular—move so slowly, most publishers will have second thoughts about publishing it. Which leads well into the last question…
Does the book meet a clear market need?
If the topic is too new and untested, then deciding whether your book on it would meet a clear market need becomes much more difficult. The safest book for a publisher, the one with least risk, is one built to compete with at least one other similar product. In that case, it's a let's-do-ours-better kind of approach, which is a nice approach to have. Build a better mousetrap, eh?
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Behind the Scenes: Preparations for Proposing a New Book
When a potential author prepares a proposal for a new textbook, my work begins. Here's an admittedly incomplete list of the main tasks acquisitions folks like me need to complete before we can bring a formal book proposal to a decision making body.
Whew, no wonder I'm always behind!
- Work with author to refine proposal, table of contents, sample chapters, and such
- Create survey to gain feedback on project
- Find and assign reviewers to complete the survey
- Compile survey feedback and review with author
- Request production estimate, which lists the various costs of each component of the book. To do that, I need to provide these estimates and other data:
- Title and subtitle
- Trim size
- Number of book pages
- Type of cover and binding
- Number of colors for cover and interior (black-and-white interior is 1-color, black; black and, say, magenta interior is 2-color; what you call full color is 4-color to us, the colors being cyan [blue], magenta, yellow, and black)
- Number of photos and how they will be supplied (film, hard copy, or electronic)
- Number and approximate complexity of illustrations (for instance, 100 illustrations: 60% complex, 20% moderately complex, 20% simple)
- Anticipated manuscript submission date
- Anticipated publication date
- Price and other business model considerations
- Anticipated total fees for developmental editor
- Ancillaries to be offered, such as:
- PowerPoints, including number of slides and images to be inserted
- Test bank including number of test items
- Instructor's guide, including number of pages and images to be inserted
- Interactive software
- Online resources
- Image bank including number of images
- Flash cards, including format (print, electronic on CD-ROM, electronic online), total number, and number of illustrations, if any
- Accompanying workbook (which actually gets its own proposal and financials)
- Estimated cost of building ancillaries
- Complete what we call here a gross profit estimate, or GPE, for which I need to supply the following:
- Expected unit sales over life of title (LOT) for each market (MA, PA, NP, etc)
- Expected unit sales for first year
- Average discount for distributors and retailers
- Number of complimentary copies needed to properly market the book
- Prepare formal proposal document, including:
- Overview of the product and ancillaries
- Why the proposed author is the right person to write the right book at the right time for the right market
- Summary of reviewer feedback
- Royalty rate, amount of author grant, and other author-related financial information
- Full competitive summary, including:
- Title, author, edition number, publisher, copyright year, ISBN, page count, price, and so forth
- Ancillaries available
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Market analysis
- Any other information we believe will help the decision making body, in my case the Editorial Board, determine whether to publish a book
Whew, no wonder I'm always behind!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Planning Your Own Succession
One of my authors, a wonderful person I consider a friend, was recently diagnosed with a cancer for which there is no cure and for which the best available treatment might give him 2 or 3 more years of life. He writes a successful book for us, and we had thought, obviously, that he would be writing new editions well into the future.
The diagnosis and prognosis are awful, horrible, despicable. As a friend, I will provide as much support as I possibly can. Of course I will, just as he would do for me.
But from a professional point of view, the news takes on different meaning. It's sad to even have to think about having a professional point of view about this, but there it is and there it must be.
We talked recently about what a succession plan, a kind of Plan B so that we know what to do in the event of his death. It's a difficult conversation under normal circumstances, never mind when death has become more than an abstract concept, more than letters on a page, when it has become, in all its frightening detail, real.
The discussion about succession brought home the fragility of life, certainly, but also the worth of the partnership that exists between a publisher and an author. Publishers sign authors because they believe in each author's vision, ability, and dedication. We publishers want to maintain a lasting, mutually fulfilling relationship as long as possible, and we don't like it when a good author leaves us, especially under these circumstances.
Leave us they do, however, and for that we all need to prepare.
If you're a textbook author, do you have your own succession plan? Where will your future royalties go? Into a trust, for example, or into probate?
Who would you want to continue writing your textbook? Do you have someone specific in mind? If not, what are the qualities you want us to look for in a successor? What degrees, experience, and abilities should they possess before we consider them?
These are the questions publishers face when an author dies, and they're questions we might want to answer now, before the reality of our own demise becomes all too real.
The diagnosis and prognosis are awful, horrible, despicable. As a friend, I will provide as much support as I possibly can. Of course I will, just as he would do for me.
But from a professional point of view, the news takes on different meaning. It's sad to even have to think about having a professional point of view about this, but there it is and there it must be.
We talked recently about what a succession plan, a kind of Plan B so that we know what to do in the event of his death. It's a difficult conversation under normal circumstances, never mind when death has become more than an abstract concept, more than letters on a page, when it has become, in all its frightening detail, real.
The discussion about succession brought home the fragility of life, certainly, but also the worth of the partnership that exists between a publisher and an author. Publishers sign authors because they believe in each author's vision, ability, and dedication. We publishers want to maintain a lasting, mutually fulfilling relationship as long as possible, and we don't like it when a good author leaves us, especially under these circumstances.
Leave us they do, however, and for that we all need to prepare.
If you're a textbook author, do you have your own succession plan? Where will your future royalties go? Into a trust, for example, or into probate?
Who would you want to continue writing your textbook? Do you have someone specific in mind? If not, what are the qualities you want us to look for in a successor? What degrees, experience, and abilities should they possess before we consider them?
These are the questions publishers face when an author dies, and they're questions we might want to answer now, before the reality of our own demise becomes all too real.
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