• Home
• Selected: Content
• About Us
• Help
• My GlydeStudy

Navigation

How To Write And Market Your Work

Module by: Mr. Luutu Suleiman

Summary: For new and potential authors, it is always perceived that the most outstanding hindrance to publishing their works is lack of capital, funds in particular; however, it is not fully true that money is all you need to have your work successfully published.

For new and potential authors, it is always perceived that the most outstanding hindrance to publishing their works is lack of capital, funds in particular; however, it is not fully true that money  is all you need to have your work successfully published. 

Writers and potential writers are highly threatened by the cumbersome and expensive process of publishing with in the prevailing unfriendly conditions.

While the barrier for publishing new authors is attributed to by lack of enough funds/capital, I believe that there are much more issues which should be addressed in order to successfully publish.

Copyright infringement versus Copyright law

It is typical in Uganda that when an author takes his/her work to most traditional publishers, they may regard the work as substandard and discard it after having retained a copy of it or they may keep the work with out communicating to the author leaving him/her in suspense forever. If the author is lucky his/her work may be granted a publishing opportunity, however the sales may be under represented while calculating the author‛s royalties. For self publishing authors, some booksellers leave the copies supplied by authors on shelves, produce/print their own copies, sell them out and tell the author that the books do not sale. In some instances the publisher or bookseller may unlawfully produce the authors’ works and sell them exactly in the same print or in a plagiarized form.

Low capital potential versus high publishing cost

Most authors are low income earners, therefore may not support their works throughout the publishing process, which may involve work transcribing, typography, editing, proofreading, printing and marketing, especially while self publishing.

Publishing opportunity versus proposal rejection

There are very few publishing opportunities with traditional publishers, especially for new authors. These traditional publishers tend to ensure market before they embark on certain projects, for example a typical publisher terminated a project after having failed to win a bid to supply books to the Ministry of Education, the leading buyer of books in Uganda. These books if produced, they could as well be marketed to the public. There are some vanity presses, self publishers and literacy agents in Uganda; however, they have no clear procedure. The new authors who try to self publish, they mostly just do it with printers or booksellers.

Market versus reading culture

Ugandans generally have a relatively low attitude towards reading, and the publishing industry highly depends on educational books as they are funded by international bodies and the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Education and Sports. If these categories have less interest in a book, then the public, institutions, students, teachers, etc have very little effect on the market of this book.

Many people have written, however they have not been able to have their works published. They would very much like to see their works published, however they are mostly affected by the above factors. If in any case such barriers to the publishing process are minimized, more and more writers would emerge.

THIS IS WHAT EXACTLY THIS PUBLICATION IS CONTRIBUTING TO

This publication is intended to guide the new and potential writers, all through from writing good works, packaging them, seeking for publishing opportunities and getting involved in the marketing of their works.

1.0    The Idea and Planning of your writing

When you get an idea of writing, it is important to start the plan of your proposed work before you actually start the writing. You should briefly know what issue you want to address and to what extent, think of how much argument you can make, consultations and further research.  In short, ensure that you know all it takes for you to be successful and strive to achieve them. Finally, never forget that writing is a gradual process and you need a high degree of patience and commitment.

1.1      Selecting a topic to write about

Think of the major area to write about, highlighting the major components that are involved. For example, if you are to write about human growth, you may highlight the major topics as;

• The concept of impregnation; The sperm, ovum and their fusion.
•  Development in the mother’s womb; Growth stages, Effects, Dangers, etc. of the fetus.
• Child birth/conceiving.
• Child development; Learning pattern, Environmental effects, Dangers, etc.
• Adolescence; Body changes, Behavioral changes,  Dangers, etc.
•  Adult and beyond; Body changes, Behavioral changes,  Dangers, etc.
•  Old age; Body changes, Behavioral changes,  Dangers, etc.
• Death

This shows the over view of areas to be handled, although changes/alterations, additions, subtractions, supplements, etc., may be done.

1.2      Defining your title

Formulate a title for your proposed work. Your title should be well described/ representing all your work. It should be attractive, leaving whoever reads it with a desire to read all your work. It needs to be short, and therefore may not necessarily be comprehensive. Even a single word can make a title. Consider titles such as; Growth, Human growth, The structure of human growth, The start and end of human life, From a cell to humus – the case of humans, etc

1.3      Determining the scope and  depth in relation to the target group

Determine the boundaries and limits of your work, not forgetting the needs of your target readership. The scope refers to the horizontal coverage, from one topic/subtopic to the other, considering all the required topics/subtopics.       Writing one topic, different writers may have different scope, where one may have six topics and the other eight or nine topics.

The depth refers to the extent of detailing the work done. One may break a topic into nine sub topics, while the other may break the same topic into five subtopics.

1.4      Developing the Table Of Contents (TOC)

From your determined scope and depth, develop a TOC, considering all the topics and subtopics of your proposed work. This TOC needs not to be the    final; neither does it need to be so accurate. It’s only a guide, which helps you to keep truck and avoid omission and mixing up of ideas as you write.            Remember to work with in your selected scope and depth as much as possible.

Ensure as much as possible that your TOC follows continuously in a sequence that allows the learning or reading be developing from simpler to harder areas and detailing as much as possible.

On the right, is an extract of a chapter from the book - Rich Knowledge About Water.

The chapter on existence and nature looks at the composition, states, properties, tests and hard water as a type of water in existence.

The final TOC is always made at the end of writing and editing of the work. Therefore the developed TOC   before writing is only a guide or draft.

2.0    Content writing and development 

When you are convinced that your Table of Contents outlines all what you       intend to write about, you can then start your writing. Always remember that the TOC can be continuously altered until the writing and editing are complete.

2.1      Start writing under particular headings/chapters/topics

At this stage do not care so much about grammar, spellings or presentation. Only put emphasis on facts and concepts developed. Gather all your ideas and put them down following particular headings as presented in the TOC.  While writing, you may not necessarily need to write starting from the first to the last topic as outlined in the TOC. You may start from the easier topics to you, as long as you maintain the flow of your work and allow a bridge between the  previous and next topics. The change from one topic to the other must be well planed such that the consecutive or related topics are easily connected.

2.2      Make research to supplement your written work

See how other writers of the same topic as yours covered their work. Note all the points or concepts you have missed out. Are they of concern to you? Make sure that your coverage beats theirs or is the best. Make sure that you do not copy their work or presentation, think of your own and ensure that it is better than all of those you have referred to.

2.3      Plan the presentation and organization of your work 

Start organizing your work to much a certain criteria, considering pedagogical elements such as Examples, Explanations, Illustrations, Box inserts, Figures, Tables, Graphs, Pictures, Photos, Problems, Answers, Glossary, Index, etc. at this stage you need to write out a unique topic/page presentation such that even if one finds an extract of you work., he/she can easily recognize it as your work.

Number all the chapters, topics, subtopics in a logical and sequential manner. Make an approach that is uniform throughout the topics, e.g. If examples are to be in italic, please maintain it through all your work. By this stage you could be having a hand written script with a lot of corrections in form of crossings, word inserts, line illustrations, etc.. You can then write a fairy organized copy as a second draft accommodating all the corrections made on the original copy.

It is always very important to make your work as good as possible. Remember that at this stage you have not yet started the editing of your work. Avoid all the possible blunders and mistakes as much as possible so that at the time of editing no attention is focused onto them, as this may disgust the editor and  interfere with his/her technical role.

2.4      Transcribing of your work

At this stage, you convert your work to a computer file. Normally use the MS word program for all your text, in a double spaced format. Always present all your figures, diagrams, pictures, etc. separately in another file.

At this stage also, you need to produce a dummy copy of your work. Print out your work on A4 size sheets, single face printed leaving out blank spaces in which illustrations are to be inserted. After you have produced this hard copy, make pencil sketches for your illustrations on the dummy copy sheets.

Finally, prepare a soft copy on a CD that exactly matches your dummy print out. You can make atleast three (3) copies of both the dummy and CD.

3.0    Editing your work

Editing is a multi-dimension process. It may be done by you yourself, another person or a group of people.

The major areas of attention may include;

• Relevance of the work
• Facts/factual check and accuracy
• Instructional language, grammar and spelling check
• Presentation and organization of your work

A separate editor may handle each of these branches, or you may do it your self. However, it is recommended that you use a specialist editor to check on your facts.

3.1      Relevance of the work

Relevance of the work in relation to the target readership, scope and depth is checked to ensure that all that is core for the reader is well covered.

A subject specialist may be involved to check whether your work is relevant to the target readers. Checks the suitability of the work to target readers, is it of higher level or lower level, does it serve the indented purpose?

3.2      Facts/factual check and accuracy

All the work is checked for the facts and accuracy. All the attributes of the author must be valid and true, and should not mislead or damage the readers. If you are not sure of any fact in your work, please do more research or consult with others or specialists.

3.3      Instructional language, grammar and spelling check

Ensure that your work emphasizes the usage of simple and clear words for short and straightforward sentences, eliminating vocabularies as much as possible, although not missing out the key subject matter words and concepts, which must be presented in correct spellings. Check for all mistakes and errors. The language for a guide, textbook or how-to book greatly differs from that of a novel. For a novel and other such fiction works, the language may tend to be more complex with many vocabularies and giving impression as much as possible.

3.4      Organization of your work and its presentation

Ensure logical order, that is moving from simple to complex/known to unknown, and make sure your work is coherent with in and between topics, that is, have flowing interlinks and continuity for your work through out. Make sure that all the work sub areas are sequential and that either any topic/subtopic with in the  work introduces that which follows it or if they are not related, then the previous must be easier than the one that follows it.

Typesetting, formatting, page layout, illustration and artwork are taken care of at this stage, especially if you are to self publish. If you are to get a publisher, you may not bother so much about the design of your book and this stage is sufficient.

3.5      Give a reader/reviewer to critique your work

Give your work to any reader who should read it with a critical eye. The reader does not necessarily need to be a professional, and you may have more than one reviewer. The reviewer takes note of your editing, presentation, scope and depth. At this stage your book is at typescript stage and it should look exactly as you want it to finally look like if published.

3.6      Cater for the critic’s view and make necessary changes if any

Take care of the critic’s ideas, all the possible and necessary improvement or developments of your work. You may carry on the additions, subtractions,      alterations, insertions, etc. At this stage ensure that your work communicates what you want to communicate, exactly how you want it. You always reserve the right take on or reject the critic’s views.

3.7      Furnish your Book cover and Information

Start on to design your cover personally or in consultation with experienced designers, write your Preface, Acknowledgements, Introduction and back           information.

At this stage you can still refine your title. Remember to make a cover design that is attractive and depicts what is in your book, and of course not forgetting your name as the author on the cover.  

4.0    The publishing process

This starts with getting a traditional publisher and getting into agreement or do it yourself (self publishing).

It is recommended that you get a publisher, however, getting one is as hard as squeezing juice from a rock, especially for the new and unpublished authors.

Many publishers receive thousands and thousands of book proposals a year and they publish close to only ten new titles per year.

This shows how stiff the trend is, however, nothing should worry you, so  please follow your dream.

Just follow up the stages that follow to make you clear of what you need to acquire your self a publisher.

4.1      Write your book proposal

When your book/work is ready for publishing, you just don’t take it to the   publisher. You may self publish and if not, you then resort to a publisher. It is also advisable to start looking for a publisher right away when your project is just starting. This would help to fore guide you and will minimize the chances of wasting time on some subject areas which may not earn themselves a publisher. Before you attain copy right to your work, it is not advisable to give it anyhow. The book proposal represents the total ideas of your work and does not require giving out your book before agreement.

The major components of book publishing proposal include;

• The prospectus.
• The table of contents (TOC).
• The sample chapters, and
• The Author’s vitae.

4.1.1    The prospectus

The prospectus gives the proposed book’s overview, including its nature, market and competitive advantages. It consists of a number of components.

(a) Brief book description

Under this, you need to describe what your work is in a form of synopsis (summary of your workbook in one or more sentences, a paragraph or about three paragraphs). Show the subject, book nature, problem it addresses and how it addresses it, etc. what is the volume of your work?

Rationale; Explain the reason for your work, giving its core values.
Approach; How does your work handle the subject matter? Is it a reader

problem oriented? Fun giving, guide, text etc.? Is it in series or used by/with  other sources?

Target audience; Show the group(s), that is/are supposed to use your book and level if necessary.

(b)  Outstanding features

Show the entire features that make your work different from others and those that make it an excellent or a good book. Look at the style, content and its depth, scope and package etc.

(c) Presentation and organization

Show how your work looks like on paper, is it attractive, comprehensive, clear, etc?

Approach; Show how your ideas are produced and developed. What methods do you use to disseminate the information in your book?
Instructional language: Show the type of language you have used. Are there  vocabularies, illustrations, pictures or other visual aids, etc?
Page layout and design: Does it have box inserts, what is the size of your page/sheet? You can further give your work fronts and colours used for your work.

(d)  Competition 

Show other books of the same kind as yours and make a comparison with yours. While doing so look at a number of factors such as pedagogical elements (Explanations, Worked out examples, Exercises, Revision exercises, Model test papers and Answers), presentation, organization, content etc. Please show the advantages of your work over the others and show your book’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

(e) Audience/market focus

Please identify group(s) that shall be your book, giving your projection of your numbers of your book copies that may be demanded on annual basis for about three years.

(f) Promotion/sales

Show how you may boost the sales of your book. You can describe a short plan of this showing the methods, cost implications and effects.

(g) Status of work

Show how much of your work is complete by the time you present your proposal. What state is it? Handwritten, typed, edited, typeset., etc.

4.1.2    Table of contents (TOC)

Present in your proposal a detailed TOC for your work. Show all your headings, subheadings and all those major parts of the subheadings. Make sure that your TOC is well detailed.

Sample Table Of Contents (Detailed)

4.1.3    Sample Chapters

You can present a proposal with one to three chapters/topics of your work. Please ensure that the samples you present reflects your ideas and may not necessarily need to be sequential. These samples need to show your writing style, so make sure they are good enough to do this. If you wish to give in your full manuscript, it is also okay, however, it is not recommended.

If the publisher take over your work, you can then sign a contract, also called a publishing agreement with him.

Footer

More about this content: Metadata | Version History

• How to reuse and attribute this content
• How to cite and attribute this content

This work is licensed by Mr. Luutu Suleiman under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 2.0), and is an Open Educational Resource.

Last edited by Mr. Luutu Suleiman on September 5, 2009 18:10