Write for an audience that you already know. If you have worked as a college professor of mathematics, you might not know the best way to reach an audience of middle schoolers. If you are writing for an audience that is unfamiliar to you, consider hiring a collaborator who is familiar with this demographic. As you decide on a subject, consider which areas are underserved in modern education. Does your book fill a void in the market?
Define your Unique Selling Point. The USP defines what makes your textbook special. What does it offer that no other textbook offers? You will need to explain to publishers and other teachers (who might become your customers) why they should pick your book over others.
Will you include a corresponding web site for the textbook where students can find practice test questions? Could you design fun games to help educate your audience (especially younger students)? Consider adding in these additional elements for the textbook.
Are you passionate about your subject? If you are invested in the material you are writing on, then this will help you through the arduous task of publishing. If you just want to make a quick buck, you won’t find much return on your time and efforts toward the project.
How many chapters will you include? How will you divide specific topics between the chapters? Will the chapters be independent from each other, or will students need to read one before they can move on to the next? Will you arrange the chapters in ascending order of difficulty? By the time the student finishes the textbook, will they be prepared to move onto the next grade level in the subject?
What are the goals of the course in which this textbook would be used? What skills should students leave the course having practiced? What should they know to prepare for the material in the next grade or class level? How will your textbook correspond to standardized tests that students need to take during the school year? Consider finding examples of these tests to help guide your answer to this question.
Instead, write a complete draft of each chapter in the book. Once you have a full draft of each chapter, you will be able to better understand how they all work together and where you need to add more material or cut down on the length. Create a set writing schedule and then stick to it. If you make a regular habit of writing your textbook (say, from 3:00-5:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays), you will be able to consistently get significant work done. Avoid writing erratically in large chunks of time. [3] X Research source If you are working under a publisher’s deadline, do not procrastinate. Give yourself plenty of time to complete the task at hand. Set weekly goals in the months leading up to your deadline.
You might find your word processor program (like Microsoft Word) is not very useful for including visuals alongside text. You should consider putting part of your draft in a layout program like Adobe InDesign, where you can keep images alongside text. [4] X Research source Give yourself some time to play around with InDesign and learn the basic principles of it. This will come in handy if you decide to self-publish the book. For any outside images or graphics that you include, make sure that you have permission to include them in your book. You could be sued for copyright infringement if you don’t.
The editor will be able to help you find the best way to organize and clarify your content. She will also be able to assist in sentence-level improvements in grammar and word choice.
Look up the “Contact” information on the publisher’s web site. They will generally have guidelines for how to submit a book proposal or get in touch with an editor. In order to get approved by a traditional press, you will need to provide the publisher with a book proposal. The book proposal will generally provide the title of the book and a 1-2 paragraph summary of each chapter. Make sure you clearly explain the content of your book and why it will be important for your target audience of students. Make sure the book “fits” the publisher’s list of books. Do they sell other books similar to yours? If they do, this is a positive sign because they won’t have to spend extra money marketing a different item on their publishing list. With traditional presses, you will also have to sell the copyright of your work to the publisher; you will no longer have rights over the material once you sign a contract with them.
Try to keep your textbook at a significantly lower price than textbooks from a traditional publisher if you have self-published. You don’t want your students or their parents to believe you are taking advantage of them.
If there are popular bloggers in your field who have a wide audience, you might also ask them to review your book as a resource for their readers.
