Greetings angrycow-ga!
While one key to getting a fiction book published is a great
manuscript, in the non-fiction world the main key is the book
proposal. A great proposal will outline exactly what type of book you
intend on writing. Since you specifically mentioned O'Reilly and
Manning, the first few links below are about them.
O'Reilly has a fairly comprehensive set of pages for the hopeful
author. The "Writing for O'Reilly" site contains sections such as
"Proposing a Book," "So You Want to Write a Book?," and a list of
topics they are interested in. I would recommend studying their
proposal guidelines closely so that you know exactly what they are
looking for. They also provide an address that you can submit the
proposal to.
"Writing for O'Reilly":
http://oreilly.com/oreilly/author/intro.html
Here's a section of their proposal guidelines page:
"Good proposals:
* Are well-written.
* Demonstrate that you've researched the market and identified a
meaningful need.
* Are submitted in a timely manner. If you approach us about a
topic and then fail to provide a proposal, we're not interested in
hounding you.
* Include attachments in plain text, HTML, or MS-Word format. (Zip
large attachments. But don't send us huge attachments until they are
requested.)
* Use meaningful names, not simply "bookproposal.doc".
* Use meaningful email subjects, such as "Java Cookbook by Ian
Darwin."
* Aren't over-hyped. Very few book ideas are original. If there are
no books on the topic, it is usually because there is no market for
one.
* Specify a page count and approximate schedule.
* Stay focused on one topic. We like focus."
above from "Proposing a Book":
http://oreilly.com/oreilly/author/writeforus_1101.html
Unfortunately, Manning doesn't provide as much information for people
interested in getting published through them. On their site they
simply state: "We always like to hear from our readers, admirers and
potential authors. If you are considering writing a book and would
like to talk to us about it, we congratulate you on your good taste
and invite you to start a dialog with our Publisher, maba@manning.com
" If you email them they may be able to provide more specific
information on submitting a proposal.
http://www.manning.com/
A good general reference is the following 12-page PDF publication
entitled "How to Write and Sell a Technical Book." Again, it gives
guidelines on what exactly to put into a proposal and how to write a
sample chapter.
"How to Write and Sell a Technical Book":
http://webbooks.net/How2.pdf
(html version of the PDF is at
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:uJpj7SC8kWUC:webbooks.net/How2.pdf
The above page is hosted by the J.K. Eckert & Company, Inc. Their
main author page is at:
"Information for Prospective Authors"
http://webbooks.net/Author.html
Even though you may be focused on O'Reilly and Manning, it doesn't
hurt to view the guidelines of other publishers. Below are a few more
proposal pages:
"book proposal guidelines"
http://www.hp.com/hpbooks/guidelines.html
"Dorset House Publishing - Book Proposal Guidelines"
http://www.dorsethouse.com/news/propo.html
"How to write a book proposal"
http://wv.essortment.com/howtowriteab_rinx.htm
"Preparing a Book Proposal - Cambridge University Press":
http://uk.cambridge.org/information/authors/proposal.htm
If you are interested in finding a smaller publisher that may be
interested in your book, you may want to refer to one of the following
books. They are filled with contact information on various
publishers.
"2003 Writer's Market"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/158297120X
"Literary Market Place 2003":
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1573871486
I hope this information is helpful. If you would like for me to
clarify any part of my answer or further research your question,
please let me know before issuing a rating. Thanks and good luck!
leep-ga
some search strategies used:
publishing technical book proposal |
Clarification of Answer by
leep-ga
on
02 Feb 2003 13:56 PST
Greetings again angrycow!
Technical books are often not handled by an agent, as explained in the
PDF article mentioned above:
"Whereas most best-selling works of fiction are handled by author's
representatives (agents), the niche market of technical publishing is
not affluent enough to support a legion of go-betweens. As a result,
you have two viable alternatives, as discussed below."
They then discuss two paths: dealing directly with a publishing house
(e.g. submitting a proposal), and using a book producer:
"A book producer, sometimes called a "book packager," is an
independent company that produces books for publishers. Typically, the
book producer locates the author, works with him through the review,
editing, and production phases, and then turns the project over to the
publishing house for printing and distribution."
So in many cases, the book producer is the one who comes up with the
idea ("Hey, how about a Java Open Source Decision Support Systems
book?") and then seeks out an author who can complete the task.
In my research I have found that some book producers have turned to
mostly agenting. One example is BookEnds Inc. They are now a
literary agency that accepts submittals. However, although they
handle a variety of book types, I don't think they handle many
technical books:
"How Can I Be Represented by BookEnds?
http://www.bookends-inc.com/submit.html
I was unable to uncover book producers who currently handle technical
books (usually they handle fiction and general non-fiction).
In terms of publishers who are open to open-source material, most of
O'Reilly books deal with open-source stuff (see their commitment to
open-source at http://opensource.oreilly.com/ ). You will find that
other publishing houses are also open to open-source topics.
One important link I wish I had included earlier is a link to book
publishers who deal with Java-related books. The following page also
provides links to some of the publisher's writer guidelines:
"Java Books : Book Publishers":
http://www.javacommerce.com/books/BookPublishers.html
I hope this additional information is helpful. If not, please let me
know. Thanks!
leep-ga
|
