CVPV

…continued

HOW I APPROACHED ADDISON WESLEY

The first thing I did was to buy a copy of a book on SAP as published by Addison Wesley. I did this for two reasons.

First I wanted to look at the writing style of the book and secondly I wanted to look at the style of the page layout. This was my $40 investment on my project (that’s how much the book cost).

I then went to the two chapters I had written and formatted them to look like the same style. I also re-wrote sections to get closer to the writing style without compromising my own style.

Then I visited Addison Wesley’s website and discovered that they accepted book proposals from their site. So I submitted a brief outline of what the book would cover (using the contents list I had previously created), why I thought the book was necessary (I found a gap in the market), and an overview of my experience in computing, and as an author to date (of technical papers).

Amazing….I got a positive response!

The SAME DAY I received an email from Addison Wesley in the US stating that they had forwarded my idea to the UK office. After about two weeks I then received an email from the UK to ask me to fill in a full proposal so that they could consider it.

My full proposal contained the following sections:- 1. The authors vision of the market

This section contained a description of the target readership of the proposed book and the anticipated size of the market

2. The authors vision of the book

Why would someone be interested in this book, which other books in the market would closely compete, why is this book different?

3. The Nuts and Bolts

How long will the manuscript be (in pages and words), roughly how many illustrations, pictures, diagrams, when will the manuscript be completed?

4. Supplementing the book

What special offers would be appropriate for the book, is there any special tie-ins that could be made with other authors/companies?

5. About the author

This is the sell section selling YOU!

I detailed here my qualifications and experience relevant to the book. How I acquired my expertise. This section is not a full CV, rather it focuses on aspects of your career that are directly relevant to the book you are proposing.

6. Additions to the proposal

I included the proposed Table of Contents (a story outline would be relevant here for a fiction book). I also included two sample chapters and a summary of the rest of the book. This gives the publisher a chance to review your writing.

To cut a long story short, one month later I had a contract in my hands together with $4,000 in advance royalties!

I now had to write the rest of the book (or pay back the royalties!). Of course, I wrote the book.

SO WHAT DID I DO THAT WORKED?

Basically I did several things that virtually guaranteed my acceptance.

1. I researched the market in my area of expertise and identified a gap in the market.

2. I found a publisher already producing books for that market.

3. I came up with a contents list (after some research of the subject both on- and offline) and wrote two sample chapters.

4. I purchased a book published by my target publisher to look at the writing style and book layout they use.

5. I modified the chapters to suit the writing style and layout they prefer for the type of book I was writing.

6. I contacted the publisher via their website with my initial proposal and followed that up with a more detailed proposal.

7. The rest, as they say, is history!

Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe I hit the publisher at just the right time! Either way this logical approach helped my case enormously. If you are considering approaching a publisher, I suggest following a similar path. You never know, my experience may just work for you!