Has anyone here ever been part of a textbook writing project? I have been asked to lend my writing and editing ability to the development of a proposal and potentially to the writing of the book.
Just wondered what I needed to know, or if anyone had advice.
Posted by Raymond Arnold (Member # 11712) on :
Huh. What subject matter? (I have no relevant knowledge, but I'm curious about the process).
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Medicine. The co-authors are doctors and other medical personnel.
I have no expertise in the subject matter but will mainly work on formatting the proposal and pulling all the writing together - they will supply the expertise.
I've begun by researching the major publishers and getting their proposal guidelines, and then will work with the authors on the creation of the actual proposal. Again, I just wondered if anyone had gone through the process before and had advice. Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
I've been a research assistant to a professor writing books intended for use in graduate classes. Not exactly textbooks, in the sense of a broad overview or "spine" for a course, though.
One thing beyond getting the proposal guidelines is to look at the publisher's catalog and figure out how the book you're proposing complements their other offerings.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Belle, be prepared for frustration and not a whole lot of financial reward. (I hear.)
Good luck!
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Financial reward is not the goal. The people involved sincerely want to improve education in their field and fill a need they perceive for a more targeted textbook. They want to leave a legacy and improve education and build their resumes for the future.
No one is expecting to get rich on the project, least of all me. I'm just a writing lackey.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Sounds like the right attitude to me. Posted by CT (Member # 8342) on :
I did content, and it went fine. Took years to go to print, though.
Have fun, Belle! Sounds like a good project to be involved with.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
You might get some funny stories out of it. One of my professors used to work for a medical research company when she was in grad school. Her job was to take their reports and make them readable, since apparently every doctor and researcher at the facility was utterly incapable of writing a coherent paragraph. I can't remember most of them now, but she had some really funny stories about the things they wrote, especially some of the more colorful and out there euphemisms they used for bodily functions.
Posted by ambyr (Member # 7616) on :
I used to work as an assistant editor at a (small) textbook publisher. We did pretty much strictly humanities, though, so I'm not sure whether any of my experience has any bearing on a science textbook.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)