1. So You Want to
Write a Technical
Book....
Dru Lavigne
Community Manager, PC-BSD Project
OLF, September 10, 2011
2. Outline
● What you should be doing before you submit a
book proposal
● Should you self-publish or co-author?
● Will you become rich and famous? is it worth the
work?
● How to submit a book proposal
● What to expect in contract negotiations
● What to expect when it comes time to actually
write the book with a deadline looming over your
head
● How to promote your book
3. Introduction
● based on my experience, YMWV
● technical writer since 1998, primarily on open
source since 2000
● author of 3 technical books
● currently manage documentation for three
projects (2 open source)
4. Introduction
● the rules of the writing game are changing,
making it a great time to be a tech writer
● opportunities abound: zero barriers to
entry, numerous free publicity methods
● how do you get noticed in a sea of info?
● how do you make money, or launch a
career, when so much is available for free?
5. Introduction
● noone gets paid to write docs for “free” software
(not true)
●besides, if you're not a developer, you're a
nobody in open source (still true, but getting
better)
● writing is a skill (use it or lose it)
● writing is an art (it needs to be explored)
6. What you should be doing
● open source is still a Wild West of missing and
incomplete documentation--pick a project and
start writing!
● enough work to last a life time or two!
●you get to pick your hours, language, what to
write about and in what style
● it's all archived and searchable
● honed writing skills are an asset to any employer
7. What you should be doing
Get your work (and your name) out there!
● vital if you're looking for writing contracts
or envision a book in your future
● don't wait til work is “polished”, but always
write your best
● be anal with grammar and spelling, even
with casual works (email, blog posts)
● do your research (or it will bite you back)
8. What you should be doing
Write daily!
This allows you to:
● become an expert while building a body of work
● define your style
● gain an audience
● find out what you like to write about, and
whether you really do like to write
9. What you should be doing
Tools of the trade:
● blogs (personal, work, pet project)
● book reviews (Amazon, publishers)
● articles & how-tos (gratis or paid)
● review board of peer-reviewed journal
● write one chapter of a book
● contribute to online magazine
10. What you should be doing
What publishers want to see:
● the size of your audience
● that your expertise is currently “hot”
● the scope of your work
● a well-thought out proposal
● that you (and your topic) exist in Google
11. Co-author?
● one way to get your foot in the door
● allows you to share the workload (and the
proceeds)
● ideally, you already have a working relationship
with the co-author
● ideally, the co-author has been published before
or is deemed an expert on the topic
12. Self-publish?
● IMHO: use a big publisher for your first
book, do what you want for the rest
● this establishes your reputation and you benefit
from publisher's experience
● if first book is a hit, your bargaining power
increases with that publisher
● learn from the publisher's editing cycle, layout
13. Self publish?
Self-publishing may be better when:
● market is small or topic is too niche to interest
mainstream publishers
● you're the expert in that market and your
audience is aware of your promotion avenues
● you want to cut out middle-man and control
revenue cut, promotion, and production
14. Self publish?
Dead tree or e-book?
● publish on demand systems (e.g. Lulu.com)
allow you to create soft or hard cover bound
books in small batches
● most publish on demand systems allow you to
create a storefront and/or sell through Amazon
as well as provide an ISBN
15. Self publish?
Dead tree or e-book?
● the epub/Kindle market is growing
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-
19/amazon-com-says-kindle-electronic-book-
sales-surpass-printed-format.html
● retail price is lower (usually less than $10) but
proceeds can be higher than a book royalty
(35% or 70%, depending upon country of sale)
16. Self publish?
e-books make it easy to self-publish:
https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help
http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn
?t=support (US only)
17. Is it worth the work?
What you should know beforehand:
● for technical books, 10,000 hard copies is a
“best seller”
● 3 months f/t (50+ hrs/wk) is considered fast
● a very small % of books gets promoted by
mainstream publishers and small publishers
have less resources
● publishing is a gamble--this is reflected in
the contract
18. Is it worth the work?
● don't expect to make a lot of money: you could
probably make more working the hours you put
into the book
● don't expect to become famous
● write as if your book is the tech best-seller of the
year
● even if the book doesn't make money and you
don't become famous, the process can be very
satisfying and result in unexpected gains (e.g.
future employment, speaking engagements)
19. Submitting the proposal
Research before you write the proposal
● every mainstream publisher has specific
instructions on their website: find them and
follow them to the letter
● a proposal isn't something you whip up in an
hour
20. Submitting the proposal
●proposals are detailed: typically the entire table
of contents, the first chapter of the book, a
synopsis, proof that you understand who the
audience is and which books compete with yours
● you basically need to envision the entire book in
your mind
● publishers know that books evolve as they are
written, you should understand this too
21. Contract negotiations
● if this is your first book, the publisher is gambling
on your success
● don't expect to get a sweet contract for the first
book
● royalties are on the net (not the retail price) of
the book
● ask friends who are published if they have a
recommended lawyer to review the contract
22. Contract negotiations
● is the time frame realistic?
● who retains copyright? it should be you
● do you get distribution rights? (aim for these
after a period of time e.g. after first year)
● do you want translation rights? what are the
translation royalties?
● what are the royalties for non-print distribution?
● can you live off of the advance while writing the
book?
23. What to expect
What you should know beforehand:
●default is still Word template with no revision
control--ask to gauge flexibility
● you will learn a lot working with your editor--aim
for daily feedback and push if your editor
becomes AWOL
24. What to expect
Writing is hard work:
●expect to put in a full day, every day: the amount
of time available seems like a lot, it's not
● ideally you are getting regular feedback and
fixing edit requests will be in addition to your
writing
●you will literally have no life if you attempt to
write a book while working f/t--aim to get enough
vacation days, flex time, reduced hours, etc.
25. Promotion
●don't expect the publisher to care as much about
your book as you do
● make sure your book has a Kindle version
● make sure your book is on Google:
http://books.google.com/googlebooks/tour/
26. Promotion
●approach reviewers for a review and try to get a
good one on slashdot; check with the publisher for
policy on review copies
●use social media (blog, tweet, FB, LinkedIn, etc.)
and use book cover as your profile image
●Amazon, Google, Lulu, etc. have guides on
promoting your book
