2009 Texty, McGuffey Award winners share advice:

Advice from Andreas Stark, author of Seismic Methods and Applications, 1st. ed (Texty winner):

"The advice I can give to new authors is that in order to write a text on any subject, one needs to have a solid understanding of the subject matter as well as the audience for which it will be written. Make sure you try out the materials and listen to the feedback from your students so that you understand where their difficulties are in understanding the subject matter. Build from basic examples to the more advanced knowledge levels and give some examples on how to apply the material. Never assume that certain principles have been taught somewhere else as it quite often has not been taught or has been forgotten.

It should also be noted that developing a text takes many years of preparation as well as many hours of typing, editing and re-editing. The results can be quite satisfying however, as is the case here. Not only because of winning the award, but also because the reception by my students has been very good and they find the text very informative."

Advice from William Stallings, author of Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles, 6th ed. (Texty winner):

"I recommend getting as many academic reviewers as your publisher will support for the manuscript, if it is a new book, or for the current edition if you are writing a new book. Also, I have found it immensely useful to solicit professionals to read and comment on individual chapters. This gives the book real-world validity. I have always been able to find a number of professionals who are willing to review a chapter in return for getting a copy of the book when it is published. You can solicit such reviewers in subject-appropriate forums, such as to be found on USENET, Yahoo groups, Google groups, and elsewhere."

Advice from Judy Rasminsky & Barbara Kaiser, authors of Challenging Behavior in Elementary and Middle School, 1st. ed. (Texty winner):

"My co-author Barbara Kaiser, a veteran educator, has always had a very clear vision of what our books should be. She brings a consistent philosophical approach, grounded in 30 years of experience with children and families, to our subject matter, which is challenging behavior. I, a professional writer, have strong views about the style, tone, organization, and research of the content. Luckily for us, we agree on these basics. From the start, we both wanted our books to be practical, jargon-free, and fun to read so that students would actually read them.

It was this melded perspective we first brought to our publisher. Since then, we have paid close attention to the comments of editors, reviewers, and the students and professors who've used our texts, but we've always examined their advice through the filter of our own point of view. So our advice to authors is this: Stay true to your vision. It is your personal stamp that will make your book special and appealing."

Advice from Jerry D. Wilson, An Introduction to Physical Science, 12th ed. (McGuffey winner):

“… be admonished: of making many books, there is no end…”   Ecclesiastes 12:12

"A bit out of context, but it makes the point. There will always be books written, as long as there are literate persons. The trick is getting a book published. Otherwise, you have a tome on your desk gathering dust. I don’t know much about novels, fiction, and the like. My career has been in academic writing, that is, science textbooks. Here, the subject path is clear. In physical science, there are five major disciplines. In general physics textbooks, all will have sections on mechanics, thermodynamics, waves, electricity and magnetism and so on. These are the accepted or required subjects for students to be 'well rounded.'

Some professors choose to write in the area in which they are teaching a course, believing they can get the subject across better than the adopted class textbook. But even then, you have to consider the competition. When there are several published books in a subject, and each with a substantial percentage of the market, it could be difficult to break in with a new textbook.

So, you have a manuscript. I strongly suggest that you have it locally reviewed and edited so it is as 'clean' as possible. Then, how do you get a publisher’s attention? You could send it to it in to the publisher’s executive editor in your area, but you may not hear back for some time. Another conduit is sales reps. They look for potential new books. The reps report back home and you may get a call or visit from an acquisitions editor. Publishers are always looking for a new book that might shoot the textbook leader out of the saddle.

If you do get a contract, pay particular attention to the schedule and make sure you have time to meet it. (Also, you might have a TAA source look over the contract to see if everything is standard.)  When things get going, you will have reviews, a developmental editor, a copy editor, art work, production editor, first pages and second pages that could come fast and furious. In the old days, we would send in a typed manuscript (no electronic then), and in a week or two the editor would send it back with comments. You would respond… all of this with the U.S. Postal Service. Nice and relaxing. Then came fax, overnight express, and the internet. Manuscripts are now electronic and can easily be corrected and sent by attachments… which they usually wanted yesterday.

You get a contract, have a first edition published, and it is a success. What do you do for an encore to make the next edition 'new and different'?  Many subjects don’t change. In physical science, Newton’s laws haven’t changed for 300 years (physics), acid and base reactions are still the same (chemistry), Kepler’s laws on planetary motion still apply (astronomy), fronts and air masses still give an indication of weather (meteorology), and a rock is a rock (geology).

A couple approaches might be different a format and updating. Design can change page layout… different font, background shading colors, clean margins, etc., that gives the book a new look.  It is your responsibility to keep up with new developments and make new editions up to date. For example, An Introduction to Physical Science, 12/e, was one of the first books to have the demotion of Pluto as a planet and the new classification of dwarf planets. Now there are plutoids, which will be in the next edition or in a reprint if I can get it in. Also, in science, the end-of-chapter questions and problems are changed so that a used book of the previous edition cannot be used in homework assignments.

The bottom line: writing a book is a lot of work, so be prepared. It may take some time. As Somerset Maugham said, 'The trouble with young authors is that they are all in their sixties.'"

Advice from Charles Higgins, An Introduction to Physical Science, 12th ed. (McGuffey winner):

"This is my first experience with authoring a textbook. My advice to anyone is to have a competent, hard-working, fun-loving, veteran as a coauthor. Thank you Jerry Wilson! With great fortune I was partnered with an outstanding publishing team, Houghton-Mifflin (now part of Cengage Learning). From an author’s point of view, an exceptional senior editor makes your life easy, and Rita Lombard was absolutely wonderful."

Advice from C. Donald Ahrens, Meteorology Today, 9th ed. (McGuffey winner):

"Publishing a textbook is much different today than it was when I first started. However, for the new author my advice is still the same: Be involved in all aspects of publishing your book — from the design to the art work, make sure you have input. It’s your book. Don’t be rushed through the process. Make sure the book the publisher is printing is the book you want your name on."

Advice from Karen Morris, author of Hotel, Restaurant and Travel Law: A Preventive Approach, 7th ed. (McGuffey winner):

"My advice to other textbook authors is no secret to them. Stay current in your field. Do not scrimp on journals, new books, conferences, newspapers and websites that impact your field. A textbook that has overlooked important new developments will not survive long. Oh yeah, and ya gotta love your subject matter. But that should be a no-brainer. If you are lukewarm about your material, find another pursuit."

Advice from Jay Devore, author of Probability and Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences , 7th ed. (McGuffey winner):

"It is lonely to write a book by yourself. After my first solo effort, I've worked with coauthors on the other five books I've written, and am currently collaborating on another one. It is fun, albeit occasionally painful, to bounce ideas off one another. Also, realize that writing requires precision and careful forethought going beyond what is needed for successful classroom teaching. I can't tell you how many times I have agonized for hours or even days over a sentence or paragraph, trying to find the best way to convey a concept or method. Be prepared for a long haul, and good luck!"