Need help finding publisher

Hey bookworms
I'm looking for a publish for my book about the development of modern reconnaissance systems. Any suggestions or experience with this?
Thanks for your help.
Jim

I've got a number of rejection letters. Does that count as experience?

Seriously, I have a number of articles published in refereed journals, one book chapter, and some editorially accepted articles. I also have a number of rejection letters for one off-the-wall book I wrote (A fun but serious attempt: Female Mud Wrestling, Tips and Techniques for the Beginner).

Here are a few things I learned along the way. It's mostly common sense stuff but maybe something slipped your attention.

1. Look at publishers of similar works. Find their website and download an application or send an email.

2. Make sure your cover letter briefly describes the book and what qualifies you to write about it.

3. Have your work complete. Not essentially complete or end within site. Have it done. Have someone edit it for grammar and spelling. Consider hiring a graduate student studying English at a local university. Have it edited separately for content.

4. Have a single chapter ready to send for a sample/evaluation. PDF will probably be asked for but have Word, RTF and hardcopy also. In some cases, figures should be printed separately or saved as a separate file. You can have your sample chapter laid out if you like, but odds are they will want to do the layout if they accept your work.

5. Be very, very patient.

6. If all else fails and you feel like investing a few thousand dollars, you can go the vanity publisher route. They can get you an ISBN and some will get you listed on various databases so book sellers can find you when doing a subject search. You can also market it yourself on Amazon and other places.


Good luck.

Tanks Perry
My sister in law suggested self publishing online with a fee to download.
My buddy said the gov will never let me write it.
Jim

Jim, I went the route of "self-publisher", and there were good and bad things about it. I used AuthorHouse based out of Bloomington IN. The initial costs are pretty minimal, and I chose to do my own marketing. I wrote a guidebook, and it has been well recieved. I knew it was niche oriented, and that was the whole idea. Anyway, if you have any specific questions, drop me a line. I'll help however I can.

Thanks you guys, but a friend of mine told me that I will never get permission from the government to write my memoirs.
Jim

Oh, you could probably write them, Jim. You just couldn't let anyone read what you wrote.

The concept of the "vanity publishing house" is going the way of the dodo bird. Anyone who takes the time can self-publish a book these days! And frankly it is often free. That is if you are willing to do the layout, the cover, etc. The only thing a person needs to pay for is the ISBN #. Certain self-publishing companies sell the ISBN # for around $35 or so - and it belongs to you, not them. We bought a set of 10 ISBN #'s a couple years ago for $100-200. I don't remember how much now. They are yours for life.

Self-publishing has turned into POD (Print On Demand). Considering that over 50% of book sales in the US are on Amazon, this is a HUGE market! Not having a book on Amazon and even worse is not having the "Look Inside" function on a book - is a death knell for any book.

Can a person make a self done book work? Yes! You have to be your own publicist, you have to do the work. But in the end, the book is yours and you get all the money. With our first book we have sold more copies every year as it is out. That is not what traditional book publishers want. You get 6 months to a year to make it, then they don't care much.

We found a distributor on our own who we cut a deal with as well. In our business we run about 1/2 our books we print ourselves (we use a printing company in the mid-west that does short runs of 1 to 3 thousand) and the other half we have deals with Amazon where they print the book using their POD and they stock it. Amazon does runs when they need to.

Short runs on printing is a modern boon. It has lowered the cost of books very low. No vanity prices there. We don't pay any more than a regular publishing house as we act as our own. Again though, a person has to be the one to do the calling, getting quotes and handling proofs. The whole POD thing is very attractive as one has to do nothing after writing the book - they just wait for quarterly checks from Amazon or their POD deal (some use Lulu.com who then contracts with Amazon).

But to sum it up...when we first brought our book out...back in the day? We spent $35 and that was it. For that $35 we got an ISBN # and were put on Amazon. With the profits we made we bank rolled it into our present business.

That certainly is an option and I'm glad it worked out for you. My concern with it is that many people don't possess adequate layout/formatting skills, proper grammar, nor know the difference between you're/your, accept/except, to/too, etc. It also seems many people have never discovered spellchekc (smile). Proofing one's own work is seldom as effective as having a professional second set of eyes.

I'm not directing my comments at your book as I've never read it. But too many self-published books I have read have fallen short on quality. I seldom purchase them anymore for that reason.

You can also hire a good technical editor and do not necessarily need to go through a publisher to have that "second set of eyes". Or even use a college English major.

Using a major publisher, even if you could get them to look at your book, does not guarentee quality either. I was really disappointed in the printing and paper quality of the latest edition of "Sierra Peaks and Passes" published by the Seattle Mountaineers. And quality with respect to wording is not necessarily quality with respect to what you are trying to convey. For example, the Falcon series of guidebooks are very formula driven - OK if that is the formula you want for your work, but I personally do not like the format.

You can also hire a layout person and a technical editor independent of a publisher, if you can afford it. Otherwise, at a minimum you need a friend who knows the material but is not an expert to read the book to see that it is easily understood. I find that what I know too well, I unintentionally skip important information. There are also people out there who will "ghost write" your book.

Self publishing is economical in up-front investment, but you have to do the majority of the promoting. It depends on your goals. Lots of people simply want the creative outlet and accomplishment of writing a book. It is great that you can put your ideas in a public forum without others telling you how to do it - but that does not mean that others will also like your format! And if you self-edit there will be mistakes. Only you can decide if potential errors would detract enough to keep people from buying your "ideas". For me personally, if the information is solid and what I want, I will tolerate a bit of butchering of the King's English.

Perry, and Jim, if you have a few friends who are good at spelling and grammar, you should be able to persuade them to read through your manuscript. I have a daughter-in-law who writes and self-publishes mystery stories. Before she publishes, she has half-a dozen people (including me) read through them. Once in a while something will get by all of us, but very, very seldom.

Wandering_Daisy, how is your guidebook coming? I'm hoping to have a copy in hand for a couple of off-trail traverses in the Winds next summer! I'm also mentioning it to any acquaintances interested in going to the Winds. Please let us all know when it's ready to order!

The book is at the printers now. I have requested one more draft just to be sure all is OK since I have made extensive edits. I do not anticipate more than a week to edit and then I send it back. Then I have to work out details with the printer concerning how we will distribute. I should have some copies to sell by the end of Feb. The holidays and such have really slowed down my progress!

I have been doing "Granny duty" in Durango Colorado while my daughter studied for and took her oral medical board certification exam. Both she and her husband took jobs here - he is an orthopedic surgeon. It is amazing how many people here ski into trees and need to be put back together! The weather has been wonderful and it is really beautiful here. In spite of over a week of warm weather there is still plenty of snow on the ground. I am looking forward to come back in the summer to do some backpacking.

Thanks for the update!

Colorado is beautiful!

Please let us know when and how the book is ready for purchase. I hope our owner and mods won't object to the "shameless commercial announcement" from one of our long-time members!