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As an author of several books with an "established publisher" I guess my main advice is that you know 1000x more about your domain than your publisher and you h
by drcode 10y ago
As an author of several books with an "established publisher" I guess my main advice is that you know 1000x more about your domain than your publisher and you have a better idea than them what the book should be like so that it will sell a year and a half from now.
The best way to write a financially-successful book is not to negotiate the best royalty rates possible, but instead to make sure you write a book people are actually going to want to buy once the book comes to market... make sure you get a reasonable contract, but after that use any remaining leverage you have to make sure you get to write the right book for your market.
- JohnStrange 10y agoThat sounds like very good advice. Let me add to this that it is extremely important for a programming related book to double and triple check for technical accuracy, and in particular check again and again that code snippets actually compile if they are intended to be complete. Don't rely on any reviewers from the publisher to find mistakes.
- dsr_ 10y agoA reputable publisher -- O'Reilly, certainly -- will ask you to find appropriate technical reviewers. The reviewers will get paid a very modest amount. Remember to include them in the acknowledgments. (Source: me, technical reviewer on 2 O'Reilly books.)