A Comprehensive Guide to Becoming a Textbook Author

When people learn that I used to write textbooks when I was a still a student in medical school, they, almost without fail, have two questions:

• How do you start writing and especially publishing textbooks?
• How much can you earn?

Let's answer both of these!  

 

Getting published

Finding a publisher for a textbook is a lot like finding a publisher for novels or most other books: You need a concept that shows that the world needs your book and an extract to show that you can actually write it.

I strongly suggest that you find a publisher before you write the whole thing unless you're absolutely determined to publish the book anyway and are open to options like self-publishing, e.g. via Kindle Direct Publishing.

If that's the case, just make sure to remember two things:

Understand the pros and cons of each type of publishing

While the share of the price per book that you as the author receive is higher for self-publishing, finding an established publisher comes with benefits regarding illustrations, formatting and market entry.

Research the publisher

Many people write books as passion projects and whenever feelings are involved so that people don't act rational, other people try to capitalize on these feelings, e.g. by creating predatory pseudo-publishers. So when you encounter a publishing company that you don't know much about, you should do some research on them before you get in touch.

When writing the concept for a textbook, you should remember your experiences from the time when you were a student trying to master the concepts you intend to cover. If you make the decision to start writing while you're still a student, this is even better since you've probably done your research to find the best resources there are and haven't found anything that really caters to your needs.

While finding a publisher is a numbers game to a certain degree, it should go without saying to do some research to identify the publishers that might have an actual interest in publishing a manuscript in this field and not blindly spam applications.

From my own experience: Don't exclude a publisher because they already have published a book in that field. Sometimes the editors might see your book as a chance to attract additional readers instead of another competitor and decide to publish it anyway. You just have to be able to explain how your book is different from the one they already have.

Once you have identified your targets, you can start writing down your concept. But remember: Editors, especially for large publishers, don't have much time so they'll appreciate it if you provide them with the information they need to make a decision without wasting their time.

When writing your concept, try to imagine that you're pitching a company to investors and make sure to cover the following aspects:

Topic/Audience

What is your book going to cover and who will be reading it?

Competitors

What resources are already available for your target audience? What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? The more time you invest here, the easier it'll be to create your unique selling proposition in the next step!

Unique selling proposition (USP)

What sets your book apart from its competitors? A USP becomes especially convincing if you're able to link it to your resume: Are you still a student? Then you can probably offer some insights into the needs of you and your peers and meet them perfectly! Are you a seasoned professional and know more about the subject you'll write about than almost anyone else? Then maybe you're able to explain things in a much more nuanced way, from a different perspective or even include some of your own research.

Structure

How many words? What chapters? Any recurring elements like boxes, tables etc.? Of course, these are rough estimates but they enable the editors to calculate prices, costs and to make the predictions that are crucial to deciding whether they will give your book a shot.

Marketing

Can you contribute anything to getting the word out about your book? If not, this won't kill your application – it‘s just a chance to add another aspect that might convince the editors.

When you've written your concept, you should write your extract. This order ensures that you're able to write the abstract as a proof that you can deliver on your concept, especially the USP. The extract doesn't need to be long (the editors still don't have much time) and it can be from any part of the book. It just needs to be long enough to give the reader a good idea of what to expect from the book as a whole.  

 

Getting paid

If a publisher is interested, they will use your concept to develop their own calculation with pricing, the number of books they hope to sell etc. In this calculation, they also calculate how much they are willing to pay you…but they obviously won't tell you that number and instead enter the contract negotiation with something lower.

Since most first time authors are not experienced with these kinds of negotiations, the publisher is likely to get the better deal unless the authors come prepared.

While it is possible that a publisher pays the author a fixed sum once and is free to use the manuscript as he likes afterwards, the more common way is for authors to receive royalties, i.e. a percentage of every book that is sold.

In order to successfully negotiate your contract, there are a few questions that you should be able to answer:

Royalties

Are the royalties paid on the retail price (i.e. the price for which a reader will be able to purchase the book) or the net price (i.e. the price for which the stores will be able to publish the book)? How high are those prices?

What about the royalties for eBooks? What about books that are sold at a discount? What about future editions?

Advances

Is there an advance? If so, when is the advance paid? Do you have to pay it back if your book doesn't perform well? Note: Being required to repay money in case the book does‘t earn out its advance is unusual and probably not a good sign.

Understanding the contract

Do you understand every passage of the contract? If not, you should get help. This is not the place to save money as that could get very expensive down the road.

When you are sure that you understand what is actually being offered, you can start negotiating. Obviously your power in the negotiation process is greater when you are willing to walk away, i.e. when you are talking with different publishers, are willing to self-publish or are not too determined on writing a textbook at this point in time and have other things you can work on if you don't get an offer that satisfies you. In addition, a decent track record of previous publications and other accolades will help as well.

However, in order to avoid going too hard when negotiating, it is helpful to be aware of what is normal in terms of royalties. Since most online articles are very vague on this topic, as there is no rule of thumb that can be applied to any field, publisher and type of book, you have to get a little creative: A good approach is to get in touch with authors of existing publications in that field and simply ask them. Most will be pretty open about the percentage of royalties they receive and they might also tell you how many books they have sold in the last few years which will give you a good estimate of how much your book, if successful, can actually make you. Don't be surprised if the number regarding the royalty percentage is lower than what you have read online. Most online articles discuss royalties for novels where the publisher keeps less money because they don't require as much illustrating and formatting. For first-time textbook authors, 10% royalties on the net price are the norm in many regions.  

 

Things to consider along the way

If writing your textbook is a passion project or a goal that you would want to accomplish even if it did not make you any money, you can skip this paragraph…just don’t reveal this information to the publisher when you’re negotiating the contract. For all the others, here are some things to consider:

Updating

If you publish in a field with a lot of momentum (deep learning, clinical medicine etc.), you will have to invest additional time in the next years, otherwise your book will become outdated. This is not the case (at least not as much) if you publish basic science textbooks for high-school students.

Specialization

Books for very specialized people are sold at a higher price since there are very few people interested in buying them. Those books are not a lucrative option but they can help you build your reputation in a field.

Time management

If you think you can write everything in four months, you should plan for six months because life will get in the way. There won't be a problem with most publishers if you miss your deadline by 1–2 weeks, but it's a slippery slope.

Related texts

If you are able to write several related books in the same field for different audiences and with the same publisher, e.g. basic biology for high school students, medical students and biochemistry students, you can reuse texts, save time and thereby improve your hourly salary.

Patience

Most textbooks take time to establish themselves on the market. Since many students ask more experienced students for advice on which books to buy, textbooks rarely become a success immediately after publication. For instance, a book that I have published in 2017 is still continuing to sell more copies every year until today.  

 

Closing remarks

Though textbooks won't make you insanely rich, they can provide a steady income. Even if your book doesn’t become a massive commercial success, the feeling of getting positive feedback from just a few readers is great and going through the whole publishing process is a valuable experience as well. In addition, being a textbook author looks great on your resume and builds your reputation in a field, even more so when you start writing at an early age.

If you have an idea for a textbook in mind, I can only encourage you to give it a try.

If you found this article helpful, let me know! If you disagree with some of the things I said, let me know as well!