Isn't it more like the publisher chooses you? Good luck.

this my sugesstion, their small open minded and special eyes in your line of books try them for
http://www.centurypubl.com/

i was just talking to a friend about writing a book....interesting...

my understanding is that in the arch/'scape world (for the most part), the author sends a proposal to a publisher, who then accepts or rejects it. the alternative is the vanity press world (where you can pay $75k or more to produce a monograph), where salesmen aggressively market to firms.

barry - short answer is, no, you don't need a full manuscript. i've included an actual sheet from a publishing house that they used to determine a go/no go decision from the editorial staff. it's a largerish house, so someone like 010 may not be this 'formal', but my guess is addressing some of the concerns herein would be essential (i've excised quite a bit of the descriptive info to protect the actual proposal - all the questions that had to be answered are still included):

XXXX Publishers Book Brief
season: Spring XXXX
series title: XXXX
proposed book title: (insert working title here)
(include any key subject words, etc. that may not be in the formal title)
proposed sub-title:
proposed author: XXX
authors home town:
book category: Architecture / Interior Design; Critical Theory, Etc.

Specifications
suggested price: $45.00
format: hardcover
trim: 9x11
pages: 192

Subject
Concept
Why a book on this concept?
(make the case for why this subject is important enough to merit a book, vs. some other media/outlet/form.)

What about this book is unique?
(explain why this book would sell in a sea of books)
Description of Book Content
Illustrate some examples of the types of material.
(insert descriptions and preliminary page mockup here)

How will this material be presented?
See XXXX for reference. Each book will start with an introductory essay that will set the tone and the context of the materials selected within the subject area.

What special elements will be included? What are the most important elements of the presentation?
(insert elements here)

Audience/Market
Who is the customer?
Architects and designers

Where will this book be sold?
Regular markets? Y
Foreign markets? Y
Special markets? Probably not.

Why will this book sell?
(make the case here)
Will this book sell through XXXXX’s existing sales channels?
Yes.

Cover Brief
Who is the customer? Where is the book going to be sold? What are the marketing-related features/elements of the cover?
Architects, designers. Full-bleed, stunning image – minimal, modern type treatment.

Evidence of Need
Provide facts which support that this book would be valued and needed by the consumer.
(insert description here)

Comparative/Competitive info (the editor will fill this in - it's to figure out how many might sell compared to other books in their run)
XXXX sold 4800LTD (includes Page One imprint)
XXXX sold 4720 LTD (includes Page One imprint)


Three Key Selling Points
1. (make)
2. (your case)
3. (here)

Author Information
(insert here)

This has been up forever, but I find it a good resource - Ellen Lupton's "How to Write a Book Proposal Guide" http://www.designwritingresearch.org/index.php?id=292

There, you'll also find some sample proposals.

I had a friend release a book through Wiley, and they were expected to do most of the marketing themselves, but I don't know if that's always the case. And the costs to send books gratis to mags in order to garner reviews can add up...

I've definitely noticed a boom in the self-publishing market, but moreso art than architecture. Anyway, I would recommend to check out Motto - it's shop in Berlin and Zuerich that focuses on small-run & self-published works. I attended the fair "Miss Read" fair/gathering/talks for self-publishers and it was great - lots of architects in the crowd too :) There were over 60 "indie presses" there from 18 countries, so that might be a list to check out if you're interested in going that route. Learned about some fantastic graphic designers... the posters are still adorning my flat.

good luck!

Barry,

In terms of which of the many presses out there to consider, every published academic author I've talked to about this gives essentially the same advice:

Start with the presses that publish books like the one you're proposing --content, format, quality, etcetera. Though many presses publish projects dealing with urban/environmental/design topics generally, most focus in sub-specialties, more narrowly drawn.

Applying this method to your particular project may help narrow the list quickly. Happy writing!

the best is to be friends with famous architects & professors who knows all those ppl in the arch publishing business... its very hard to just send them manuscript and get their attention...

especially now, the arch theories market is shrinking, many publishing house turns to pictures books, there is probably around 10 publishing house who do arch non-pic books.

aspect is absolutely correct. i was just talking about this with one of my professors yesterday. she was told be tony vidler that you should absolutely NOT just send something cold to a publisher. you need to have a colleague at least touch base with their contact at a publisher to let them know to look for your book proposal, or even have them actually be the ones to send it.

also, be aware that academic presses (like MIT Press or Routledge) carry a lot more weight than professional presses (like ACTAR or 010) in terms of getting tenure...

Phil, that is great advice, the whole academic press versus ___ press. I'm working on getting an in at MIT press and one of my colleagues at UMN is about to sign a deal with Princeton Architectural Press.

I'm chatting with my department chair on friday about this topic and some possible conference abstract submissions.

As someone from the world of publishing, this is my suggestion:

Who are the best editors?

Generally, like someone said previously, academic publishers are a good place to start. Many journals are also published through publishing houses that may publish your book. And professional presses are not usually out of the question.

Ideally, what you want to do is create a basic cover, introduction, table of contents and write the first two or three chapters or sections.

From there, you would submit this 'preview' to peers, journal editors and other literary types for a review. Building a solid review allows potential publishers to see your work is valued.

Who does the best book design?

This is like asking "Who does the best architecture?"

Ideally, in the academic world, not only is strong content important but so is organization.

Even more so is pictures. Your book will likely be something you want to publish for other professors or professionals to read. However, a book can easily be something a professor uses in their classes.

Even academic humanities books have pictures or illustrations of some variety.

Who delivers quality printing for a decent cover price (i.e. $40 for coated paper and some color, versus $75 for pulp stoc k with crappy B&W)? (okay, some of this is supply & demand)

This is so far down the line it is not even worth being about it. Your publisher and their graphic artists are the ones who will be taking it to prepress anyways.

Who does the best marketing?

You, of course!

Really, the only thing you can do is submit copies of your book to publications, journals and other professors to generate a buzz.

You're looking at a possible domestic target demographic of maybe 200,000 to 400,000 people. Maximum.

The Chronicle of Higher Education would be a really good place to start.

Who offers the best royalties (if such a thing exists)?

It depends.

Back to the question, do you want this book to be for professional fodder or class fodder?

If you make a book that works both as an academic, professional and educational (as in used in classes) tool, you're more likely to get royalties since it will more than likely be picked up by major distributors (B&N).

Otherwise, you'll more than likely just be paid a lump sum amount for the book with a royalty for additional copies sold after the first edition.

I also am trying to figure out when is the best point to initiate contact with a publisher - do I wait until there is a rought manuscript, or can an outline/synopsis get as good a deal?

After you get a sufficient preview done and you get feed back from your peers. You've got to sell the product and you've got to let them [publishers] know that you're being quite active in developing a book.

Then there is the option of self publishing. this may require the greatest time investment, but could offer the greatest returns (or not).

It's not impossible.

A) You need a lot of time to develop all of the literary and visual (graphical) content.

B) It'll cost you a minimum of $500-1000 dollars to hire a competent graphic designer to lay out the book.

This part isn't actually that bad. If it is straight text, it takes maybe 5-6 hours max. When images get involved though... that's another story!

C) It'll be another $500 or so to get the whole thing copy edited.

D) And printing isn't that expensive* if you print a large enough run.

*500+ books will drop the cost of printing from like $40-50 dollars a book down to like $5.

E) You can still make quite an attractive book with very basic fonts (like a nice serif) and in black and white on thicker newsprint.

F) Getting all of your image credits, licensing, permissions and et cetera is probably the most complicated thing after writing it. That said, if purely for academic purpose and selling at or just above cost... well you can skirt copyright pretty close.