Having published my first book back in 1984, I'm often
asked what advice I would give to new authors. Here are a few
thoughts I would like to pass on. (I should point out that none
of these comments should be interpreted as relating to a
specific publisher. They are insights that I've accumulated
both from my own experiences and those of my fellow authors
spanning many publishers. To be more specific, my relationships
with both Benjamin/Cummings and Addison-Wesley have been amiable
and productive. I would recommend either to potential authors.)
- When negotiating a contract with a publisher, don't be short-sighted.
If your book is successful, you could be talking about a significant
amount of money. Therefore, I would suggest that you make sure your
contract deals with the possibility of your death. Will your beneficiaries
receive royalties? Who are your beneficiaries? How do you change your
beneficiaries? (By the way, make sure you have a will!)
- I think most contracts offered by publishers provide a lower
royalty rate for foreign sales. We're in a global economy now, so I'm
not convinced there is any merit in this idea any more. If I were you,
I would debate this issue thoroughly.
- It's unlikely that your publisher's marketing staff will be
experts in your field so at times they may come up with some
rather wierd statements in their marketing literature. I doubt that
a publisher would give you total veto power over marketing materials,
but you might try for as much as you can get. Keep in mind that
everyone is working toward the same goal. In most cases, marketing
will welcome your assistance. Be constructive--not bull-headed.
- When looking for a publishing company, marketing and sales
departments should
be a major concern of yours. You want a company that can present
your text in the most advantageous manner to a wide market
segment.
- You and your publisher will have different views of your text.
To you it will be your pride and joy. To your publisher it will be
a product. This is merely a fact of life. I suggest you shop for
a company that prides itself in producing quality texts. Look at
their listings and talk to their authors.
- At times your contract
may be bought and sold without input from you. I've been lucky in
this regard, but friends of mine have signed contracts with one
company and then been sold to another. I don't know how you might
control this, but it's worth thinking about.
- Many of the "standard" contracts that I have seen contain a clause
prohibiting you from writing a competing text with another
publisher. The idea is to protect the publisher's investment in
your text. But the publisher is not prohibited from publishing
another book that competes with yours (and many publishers actually
publish competing texts). I suggest you reject
any restrictions on your future projects.
- Checkout the Text and
Academic Authors Association.
- There's a lot involved when developing a text (Cover design,
page layout design, style of art work, use of color, development
of supplemental materials, etc.). Some publishers welcome the
author's involvement in these tasks, others see the author as a
menace. Talk to other authors who have worked with the publisher
that you are considering to see if that publisher's philosophy is
compatible with yours. (Were the author's decisions honored or
repeatedly subjected to approval?) You may want to use your
contract to clarify your role in the production process. (It can
be frustrating to mark corrections on page proofs only to find that
you are overruled by the publisher's editorial staff.)