For my inaugural blog post, I thought it might be interesting to
some as to how I went about writing and publishing my book Technical Career Survival Handbook.
Perhaps if you have been thinking of writing you own book, my experience might
be helpful or at least not discouraging. I will say this, it was
unpredictable like many first time experiences are I’m sure.
Several years ago I decided to finish the latter part of my
career working part time as an engineering consultant. I had one client at
first then landed a second one and stopped at that point fearing any more and I
might not be able to satisfy their expectations. Then came some slack time. It
was then that I decided to prepare a list of topics: 100 things you need to
know for a book based on my encounters during my extensive career
in the technical arena. After that, a couple years passed and I was forced to
postpone writing the book because of my work load. Then again, a couple more
years passed until I finally gained traction and forged ahead with writing the book.
Here’s how the events followed after my initial concept.
1.
I prepared a prospectus for the book including the “100
things” and a brief resume of my background including my writing
experience for technical magazines and journals.
2.
I did an internet search and found about six publishers that might
have an interest in providing financial support while I wrote my book. They
responded that they had no interest in providing financial support while I
wrote my book. OK then.
3.
I found a book titled 2014 Writer’s Market at a
book fair so I splurged and bought it for $3.50. Included in the 900 page book
was a directory of publishers, their addresses, email, phone, what they
specialize in and even what they paid in royalties. I became encouraged at the
number of nonfiction publishers and began to think there was hope.
4.
I decided to start writing on and off for a few years filling in
the gaps between “real work”.
5.
I enlisted the help of several friends that I had previously
worked with to review and comment on various sections of my book. They were a
great help.
6.
Then they day came and I was ready to repeat the prospectus
process again based on about 24 publishers I had targeted but this time I
offered them a chance to review sections of the book.
7.
Again the rejections flowed in. Finally, one publisher contacted
me with an interest in my book. And after several correspondences, they offered
me a contract. Meanwhile I determined that they were not a major player in
technical publishing. However, I proceeded to string them along thinking they
might be my only hope.
8.
Then two publishers contacted me that were both major technical
book publishers. They both proceeded to evaluate my book using a similar
approach.
9.
Both publishers requested that I forward a major section of the
book via email. They in turn submitted the sections to various college
professors with specific questions to be answered regarding the information.
Upon receipt of the professors’ response, the publishers forwarded the
responses to me for rebuttal. I complied.
10.
Afterward, I was rejected by one of the publishers but thrilled
when the other requested I sign their contract for publication. That publisher
is Elsevier using the imprint Academic Press. They are a major publisher of
technical books and journals based in England. Some of their books have titles
I can’t even pronounce.
11.
The next step required that I obtain written “permissions” to use
eight photos, images, graphs and charts from companies and individuals. This
was difficult because it’s hard to get people to do something for no fee.
12.
One year after submitting my draft, reviewing 100+ proof emails
from my publisher and approving cover art, they notified me that the
publication release date was slated for November 11, 2016.
Have you had a similar or related experience? Let me know about
it, it would be great to hear from you.
Regards,
Peter
