IBM PRESS

PUBLISHING proposal GUIDELINES

Thank you for considering IBM Press for your writing project. The first step to writing a book is composing and submitting a publishing proposal. Just as any building cannot be constructed without a blueprint, so a book cannot be written without a proposal.

The proposal serves several purposes. It allows you to define the content and key elements to be covered as you write, providing a framework around which a book is developed. This exercise will give you a better picture of what, why, and for whom you are writing.

The proposal also allows IBM Press and our publishing partner Pearson to make an evaluation of your ideas, providing you with feedback on the direction of your book. Additionally, we will be able to make sure we are in agreement on the scope of the project, offer improvements to the content, and help differentiate your project in a competitive marketplace.

As you are working on your proposal, please keep in mind the audience for this document. First and foremost, the proposal will be read and reviewed by IBM peers and individuals with subject matter expertise. Therefore, the proposal must be technically accurate, while explaining the rationale for your editorial decisions. In particular the table of contents should illustrate the depth and complexity of your discussion.

Additionally, acquisition, marketing, and sales professionals within Pearson will review the proposal. As a result, the tone of the discussion needs to be conversational. Unless necessary, within the proposal, you should avoid complex descriptions and explanations that drill down into a particular facet of a technology. You should simplify explanations when possible and focus on the book’s highlights. Using analogies and examples will also aid the publisher, while providing them with context. This is an important mission as it will affect the way in which your book is perceived. Ultimately, the proposal will be used to generate cover copy, sales sheets, marketing pieces, and web copy. As you are writing your proposal, please keep these uses in mind.

Please note: It is very important that you fill out the proposal form completely. All of the requested information is critical to making an informed decision about publishing your book.

If you have any questions at all about completing this proposal, please feel free to email Steve Stansel, Editorial Program Manager for IBM Press at: and he will be happy to assist you. Additional information about IBM Press can be found at:

http://w3-03.ibm.com/marketing/branding/extend/press.html

Here is what you will need to include in your publishing proposal:

Guidelines for Completing the Publishing Proposal Template

Proposed Title:

Subtitle: (If applicable to clarify the title)

Author(s): (Listed in order they will be listed on the book)

1. Topic Summary

The topic summary should introduce readers to what you are planning to cover. The topic summary can be general, providing readers with a snapshot of the topic and its importance. If this is a technical/product-related book, describe for a non-technical person why this topic is of considerable commercial market interest and what problems the technology or product helps to solve. Within the topic summary, include information and statistics that support your case for a book. For example, why do people need the technology? Why do they need a book on the subject? Why do they specifically need your book as opposed to other books or resources? Please end the topic summary with a sentence that explains why your book will fulfill the outlined market need.

2. Brief Description

In several paragraphs, but not more than one page, describe the work, its rationale, and its approach. Begin with a paragraph summary of the book. This should be pithy and engaging, and it should be written as if you were trying to describe your book's benefits to someone not expert in your subject matter (just like a prospective purchaser/reader of your book will be.) Include a more specific discussion of the "pedagogical" elements you envision for your book. Will the book include examples, cases, learning objectives, questions, problems, glossaries, a bibliography, references, or appendices?

Clearly outline the approach to the topic. Is it a reference or a tutorial? Is it an overview or really hands-on? How does the combination of topic, approach, author, timing, weaknesses of competition, etc. all come together to make this book worth publishing?

If your book is a revision of an existing book, what is new in this edition?

3. One Line Sell Line:

Before you submit your proposal, if you really want to road-test how honed your message is for your book, try putting the idea through the "10-second sell" test. In one sentence, please summarize the book. Our sales teams often have to pitch new books to booksellers in a very limited time, and copy space in retail catalogues and in-store systems is very limited indeed. Both require a snappy elevator pitch.

To come up with this line, the following three exercises will help immensely:

·  Try capturing your book's pitch to the reader in 50 words or less.

·  List the five most compelling messages that your book will contain; bullet-points will do.

·  Finally, imagine that you are about to make a presentation about your ideas to a large audience. What one question would you ask them to engage their minds and make them realize that this was something relevant to and compelling for them and their businesses?

Try all this on a separate page. This is not an attempt to dumb-down thought-leadership; we really believe that this is a great discipline to apply to any book idea. Even the most sophisticated ideas will benefit from being communicated with simplicity and clarity, and even the best writers will create a better book if they begin with the reader's pitch clearly in mind

4. Sales Features

Summarize in 5-8 short, one-sentence bullets what you consider to be the outstanding, distinctive or unique features of the work. What value does this book provide? What tasks does it help readers to perform? What makes the book so different from others in its subject matter area? (Include for example: organization, examples, case studies, software included, experience of author, etc.) What is going to grab someone's attention and encourage them to examine the book more closely?

These selling features need to be salient statements about the book’s highlights and coverage. Bullets may be used in marketing pieces, cover copy, and sales presentations. They should be short but descriptive, providing readers with an encapsulated statement about the book’s purpose.

5. Planned format:

These are your suggestions for price, page count, trim size, etc.

What form factor do you have in mind: trim size? paperback or hardcover? (refer to the related or competitive titles on this subject.) Will there be any video, CD or other online supplements to the book? What content will be on these supplements?

You need to estimate your finished book’s length. Review the outline and estimate the length of each chapter and appendix to accomplish this task. You should add an additional 50 pages to the final page count of the chapters and appendices to account for front matter and the index. Let us also know what portion of the material is now complete?

How many and what type of figures do you plan to include? Specify separately the number of photos, screen captures, and the amount of line art (diagrams, tables, charts, graphs, drawings). Will you be rendering these or will you need professional assistance?

How much would you expect to pay for a book like this?

Is there a particular IBM Press series you are earmarking for this book?

For targeting the in-stock date, identify ideally when you would like this book to reach the market. You will also need to estimate the time it will take you to write the manuscript. It typically takes 6-12 months to write the first draft of a technical manuscript then another few months to go through editing and layout, though schedules vary greatly. Many factors will impact this calculation, however. A conversation with your editor will help to make this a realistic timeframe taking all the factors into account. How big is the book, first of all? Consider whether or not you can leverage any of your pre-existing work. Ask yourself how many pages can you feasibly write per day or per week and how much research will be required for each chapter. We will then need to be able to assess whether your book can be completed in a timely manner to meet that date. Please be realistic based on your work and family commitments, and work load. It is important that you are confident you can commit to these dates as they will be contractual milestone dates with Pearson, setup in this format:

Milestone / Submission date
First Quarter of Manuscript
Second Quarter of Manuscript
Third Quarter of Manuscript
Fourth Quarter of Manuscript

6. Related and Competitive Titles

Within the Related and Competitive Titles sections you need to differentiate your book from books already published on similar subject matter, whether they come from IBM Press or from other publishers. This also helps us size up the potential of the market for which you are proposing a book.

Consider the existing works in this field and discuss specifically their individual strengths and weaknesses. This material is written for reviewers and not for publication, so please be honest and direct. You should describe what advantages your book has over the competition, and how your book will be similar to, as well as different from, its competition, in terms of level, style, topical coverage, and depth. If significant books are now available, you should explain why you chose to write another book in this area.

Note that a “Related” title would cover content that is complementary to your book. A Competitive title would compete for a reader’s attention. The titles could be out of date material (in that case your comment would state that). Or it could be that this type of information only exists currently in white paper or some other format...we need to know where this potential reader might go and what product parameters we are up against introducing a title of our own.

In particular, you should focus on important differences, such as target audience, aim and scope, coverage, timeliness, book features, etc. If possible, you should research competition on Amazon or visit a bookstore. I would also visit your own bookshelf. What do you read and why? When you include a title, please include the title, author, publisher, ISBN, publication date, price, and page count, and a brief description of how your book will differ.

7. Target Audience

Who is the book's intended audience? Be as specific as possible. Ideally, you should differentiate the primary and secondary audiences. Provide example affiliations, disciplines, titles and responsibilities of these audiences. What prior knowledge or skills will the audience need to understand this book? What is their level of experience (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Expert)? What other books should they be familiar with? Identify some of the most important obstacles faced by this target audience when it comes to mastering the proposed topic.

What is the size of the Audience? Depending on your topic, this can be difficult to quantify, but do your best. Cite industry statistics if possible. Or how would you quantify the market in terms of the numbers of readers who will be looking for the information contained in your book over the next 18 months to 2 years?

8. Market Information

Provide a brief overview of the state of the topic or technology market and the direction it is headed. Is the market emerging or mature? Is it stable or rapidly changing? Is there a strong international market for your book? Why (or why not)? When would the optimal time to release a book on the technology be? Are standards efforts underway or completed? Include quantitative information on market size as projected by IBM, industry experts, research groups, etc. in terms of $$ and growth potential.

If this is a product-related proposal, provide a brief overview of the state of the technology market and the direction it is headed. What are the main competitive products? Provide specific installed base numbers or annual sales statistics if available.

9. Complete Book Outline

The outline is the most important piece in your proposal. It will demonstrate exactly what you intend to cover and how the book will be structured (like a table of contents.)

Be as comprehensive as possible, as reviewers will only have this document to read to understand exactly what you intend to cover and the depth of coverage in each chapter. Please include chapter number, name, estimated page count for each chapter and either a couple of sentences describing intended aim and scope of each chapter or a list of main headings within each chapter.

Typically within an outline, you will include four levels of detail (parts, chapters, sections, and sub-sections). Parts are used to group and organize similar chapters. For instance, all of the chapters on link-state protocols may be grouped into a single part. Not every book will have its chapters grouped into Parts; this is an optional component of the outline. Chapters are devoted to discussions surrounding a specific topic area. Hence, you may devote a chapter to a specific protocol. Sections are devoted to the discussion of particular issues with a specific topic area, like a specific issue related to a protocol. These are the top-level headings within any given chapter. Sub-sections further refine section topics.