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GETTING STARTED
CREATING A TEXTBOOK
Posted June 11, 2002
| SUMMARYAlmost from the time David Rees began teaching he wanted to write a textbook. Not sure how to proceed and not sure whether he was up to the task, he had always held back. But after signing a contract to write an intermediate accounting textbook, he was surprised at how easy preparing the proposal and selling the idea to a publisher had been. Here, for aspiring textbook authors, he shares his thoughts on the opportunities for authoring a textbook and the process to do it, particularly in accounting.
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By David A. Rees
Southern Utah University
The opportunities for getting a publisher to accept a new and innovative idea for a textbook are excellent. For example, Irwin appointed a new president in December 1999 and one of his expressed priorities was to sign new authors. Prentice-Hall wants to expand its textbook offerings in all accounting topics, and South-Western, whose focus is niche marketing, also wants to expand its textbook offerings. It may be that the opportunities for new authors to publish a textbook have not been this good since the 1970s. |
However, knowing that the opportunities are excellent for having a textbook published is probably not sufficient reason to begin such a large project, and it definitely will not sustain you in persevering in the project. (My co-author has compared writing a textbook to climbing Mount Everest.) So, prospective authors need other reasons that will encourage them to begin and to persevere in such an undertaking. For me, there were several reasons why I eventually began writing a textbook and which have also encouraged me to continue, and perhaps some of these reasons apply to you.
Besides realizing a long-held goal, I decided to write a textbook for the financial reward. Although I have published a few journal articles, I have received little reward, psychic or financial, from doing so. However, writing a textbook can be financially rewarding. For instance, approximately 250,000 intermediate accounting textbooks are sold each year with each book selling for approximately $100. Author royalties on the first edition typically begin at 15 percent of the selling price and through negotiation they may be higher after certain sales targets are met. So, authors capturing a 10 percent share of the intermediate accounting market earn approximately $375,000 in the first year of the first edition. Royalties in the second and third years decline to about 60 percent of the previous years amount, or $225,000 and $135,000, respectively, because of buy-backs. That is a total of $735,000 for the first edition. Further, royalties on subsequent editions can higher than 15 percent because of the reduced risk and cost to the publisher. Yes, writing a textbook can be financially rewarding.
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REES
Rees teaches accounting at Southern Utah University.
This article appeared originally in the Mountain Plains Journal of Business and Economics 1 (2000)
© 2000-2002, David A Rees. All rights reserved. |
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Two other reasons I decided to write a textbook -- and the ones that have been the best motivators -- were the desire to support my department's goal of achieving accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, and having a willing textbook co-author. I did not want to be one of those professors who was thought of as not pulling his "fair share," including being involved in scholarly activities. Then, when I found a willing co-author who shared some of my ideas of what an intermediate textbook should do and with whom I could work and relate, everything came together and I began writing.
THE IDEA
Publishers are looking for innovative ideas, not for the same idea reworked or repackaged in a different form. In intermediate accounting, for example, aspiring textbook authors should not try to out-Kieso Kieso. Publishers have tired of that approach after repeated failures to capture market share from leading textbooks. As part of formulating your idea, it is critical to know why professors do not switch from the current popular textbooks, or what would encourage them to switch to another textbook. Some excellent sources of this information include: College professors who teach the course and who are using a textbook against which you intend to compete.Publisher representatives who talk with many college professors and who likely have a clear idea of why their textbook offerings are not being adopted. Publishers. Listen to these sources and be prepared to modify what you think is the perfect idea if you want to be successful in having it published. It is more important to find a "publishable idea" than to persist in an unpublishable,"perfect idea."
In the intermediate accounting market, publishers and textbook representatives currently believe that the reason college professors do not switch from the Kieso intermediate accounting text is because competing textbooks are too long, and so any professor who adopts a competing textbook would have to invest a substantial amount of time to read and become acquainted with it. Then, when the new textbook's approach is no different than that of the Kieso text, the professors opt to stay with Kieso. In Intermediate Accounting, it is believed that it is crucial for any new textbook to be considerably shorter than the current 1,400 pages that Kieso and its clones have.
SELLING THE IDEA
After learning why professors do not adopt another textbook, developing ideas for overcoming their resistance, and creating an innovative way of teaching the material, it is time to sell the idea to a publisher. The selling of the idea begins with the written proposal. Most publishers have guidelines concerning the information they want in a proposal, and all requested information should be provided. Typical information requested includes: the primary courses in which the textbook will be used; whether the textbook can be used in a graduate course or in a course other than the target market; the number of sales in the target market; who the major authors and textbooks are; and what their market-share is. Also, to repeat, you should know why each competing textbook is vulnerable and be able to demonstrate how your textbook will successfully compete against them. Be assured that the editors will have much, if not all, of this information already. Each time that I and my co-author have met with an editor from a publishing company, we have been impressed with what they knew about what the other publishers are doing in the intermediate accounting area: which new authors have just been added, what the approach in their textbook is, how good they think their ideas are, etc. In lieu of the publishers having this information, it seems the principle reason for the author to provide much of it again is for them to become acquainted with the market and the competition. Also, doing the research necessary to gather the required information tangibly illustrates the author's commitment to the concept.
Do not attempt to write the entire book before contacting a publisher. Every publisher wants to become involved in developing the idea. A publisher is not impressed with a finished product that is presented with a request for them to publish it. However, a few chapters of the proposed text should be included in the proposal in slightly better than rough-draft form for the publisher to see the essence of what is being proposed.
Unlike submitting a journal article where it is considered unethical to submit a manuscript to more than one journal at a time, submitting a textbook proposal to several publishers simultaneously is ethical, and it is definitely to the author's advantage to do so. To illustrate, my co-author and I initially sent our proposal to two publishers and in a relatively short period of time we received a positive response from one of them with a request to meet and discuss further the elements of our proposal. We did so, and following that meeting we sent them several chapters with end-of-chapter material. Then, we waited. During that time an editor for South-Western, whose job was to search out new manuscripts, happened to contact my co-author and when the subject of us writing a textbook was mentioned she showed some interest, but when mention was made that another publisher was currently considering it, her interest increased -- substantially. In a truly market-driven competitive spirit, that editor in slightly more than eight weeks had our material reviewed by internal and external reviewers and was back to us with an invitation to fly to Cincinnati to meet with "their people." Both my co-author and I think that, in part, the reason why negotiations moved so quickly with South-Western was their desire to beat out the other publisher.
A final suggestion on selling the idea to a publisher is to have another successful textbook author review the material and recommend it to a publisher rather than sending it "cold" to the publisher. At a recent meeting with two editors from South-Western I asked what percentage of the proposals they received were eventually published. They responded that almost none of the proposals that were submitted "cold" were eventually published, but that about one-third of the proposals that were recommended by another author or that were ferreted-out like our manuscript had been were eventually published.
THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS
Once a publisher decides to support and publish your textbook, you will be offered a boiler-plate contract. This is just the beginning-point for negotiation, and understanding what the publisher can do and what they expect the authors to do is important information to negotiating an acceptable contract. Also, it is important to understand the 800-pound gorilla analogy. Before leaving for Cincinnati, I stopped at the office of a colleague who had worked in the publishing business for a number of years to obtain any advice he could give. He told me that publishers eventually have the power of an 800-pound gorilla to obtain their way in a disagreement where an amicable compromise cannot be reached. I think the humility those comments engendered improved negotiations somewhat; but do not be a 90-pound weakling either.
The author's primary duties are as follows:
Write the book.Involve the editors and listen to their ideas.Do the page layout, including pictures, graphs, tables.Prepare the appendix, although the publisher will do this for a fee.
The publisher's primary duties include:Obtain reviews of completed material and summarize the reviewersą comments in a usable form.Provide and update a web-site that supports the book, but the publisher will want the author's input.Advertise the book. The advertising plan should be presented to the authors -- in writing -- before any contract is signed.Prepare CDs and other technological tools, but again the author's input is sought.Print the book.
Items that are negotiable between the authors and the publisher consist of:Number of colors in the book, the standard on a first edition is two colors, but this is negotiable.The writing of the ancillaries, such as the study guide, instructor manual, and text bank. The principle advantage of the authors writing them is the overall coordination among the material that is achieved, but the disadvantage is the additional time that is required. If the author chooses to write these ancillaries, they should be fairly compensated, in addition to royalties on textbook sales, for doing so. A possible advantage of letting other people write the ancillaries is that they may be encouraged to adopt the textbook.Pay advances against royalties.
Some individuals have expressed concern that a publisher might buy an idea and then not publish the book in an attempt to limit competition against a book they are already publishing. No reputable publisher would do that. However, you should know that the copyright on the book is the publisher's, not the author's. If at some time the authors and publisher agree to disassociate, the author probably can buy the copyright from the publisher.
THE WRITING AND THE CALENDAR
Various publishers have expressed the thought that the better teachers make the better textbook authors, and that excellent researchers do not necessarily write good textbooks. In large part, the reason for this is the style of writing that is used. Journal articles are directed to peers -- individuals who already understand the lingo; whereas, textbooks are directed towards students. So, when writing, remember that students are the final audience. Make the book readable. About 20 years ago, I did a study of the readability of the available intermediate accounting textbooks and found the average readability level to be 18, which is equivalent to six years of full-time university study. Recently, I read a newspaper editorial that said the reading-level ability of the typical American adult is 6. No wonder most students do not read the textbook -- simply put, they cannot understand the textbook. In writing, use declarative sentences, active voice, be concise, and use numerous breaks including white space to properly pace the book and allow students the time to comprehend the material.
A first decision in planning the publication date is whether the book will compete head-to-head with the major books in the market or whether it will be published off-cycle. If you want a portion of the market that the leading textbooks currently have, you will have to compete head-to-head. Once a publication date has been decided, know that it will take nine to 12 months after the book is written before the first copy rolls off the presses. Also, know that it is best to test the book for at least a year in the classroom before finalizing the writing. Finally, know that writing the book will take approximately two years. In summary, the publication timetable looks somewhat like this:One year to prepare the proposal and obtain a publisher.Two years, minimum, to write the book.One year and perhaps two to test the book. (Ancillaries can be written during this time.)One year for publication.
Total time from conception of the idea to the first book coming off the press is approximately five years. Of course the length of the book and the number of co-authors influences the amount of time that eventually is required.
Best of luck. And, call if I can answer any questions or be of general assistance: (435) 586-5416. Unfortunately, I do not have any available time to be a co-author as my time is rather committed right now -- writing that intermediate accounting textbook. |
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