Author advice

GTX

GTX

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Hi folks,

I have been planning to author a book (or two...) for some time. This will be part of a long term project so won't generate anything anytime soon. Given we have quite a few successful authors and even a few publishers amongst our members, I would welcome any advice you might offer. The books I have in mind will be both pure reference (i.e. a hopeful definitive history of a particular type that has not yet been written - this one needs a lot of research and will take a number of years I know) plus some fictional.

I look forward to any advice that can be provided be it in this thread or even through direct contact.

Kind regards,

Greg
 
BTW, I decided to post this as a thread as I suspect there might be a few other budding authors amongst our members who would welcome similar advice from those who have gone before...;)
 
Well, I've only written one book, but my main advice is to consider how you can obtain original source material on the plane(?) in question. The best starting point is asking existing authors or researchers for clues.

Broadly speaking you have:

Company archives (if they still exist - with mergers etc these often get destroyed)
Air Force archives
National archives for Government materials
Museum collections
University collections (often donations of papers from deceased engineers)
Professional organizations (AIAA, SAE, iMechE, etc - conference papers and articles in professional journals)
Private collectors (you need to know the right person for the topic)


Then there's secondary sources -
Previously published books
Published magazines (particularly contemporary ones)

If you can't find any original sources, the best you can do is read all the previously written books and magazine articles and distill from them, inheriting any mistakes the authors may have made. The authors of the best of this type of book at least read very widely and highlight the contradictions between their sources.

Once you have a handle on the research, you can try to get a book deal, but if you are a part time author, bear in mind that publishers will generally want you to commit to a finish date before signing a deal. So its probably worth progressing the research beforehand if you can, though having a book deal can help you gain access sometimes.

It will probably require trips to visit archives in person, or you can engage the services of professional researchers if you have the money. You may find someone else is working on the same topic - it happened to me with Barry Hygate.

In terms of the actual writing - reading books is a good way to get a feel for writing styles you admire. Write an article on a small aspect of the plane as a test. If you haven't done much writing before, it pays to get an established author or a seasoned editor to go through the test piece and give feedback.
 
Thanks Paul - aligns very much with where I was heading for the non-fiction one. Definitely wanting to access as much primary source info as possible and am expecting to also need to do a lot of travel to accompany this.
 
If you want I can create a hidden section of this forum so you can discuss the projects in private with selected individuals, but bear in mind I will have access regardless.
 
Maybe but for now I am happy with it in an open forum. As explained above, I think a few people will benefit from the advice so I want others to also have access to the general advice

I may take you up on the offer in the future though re the specific topic of the book in mind. Thanks mate.
 
overscan (PaulMM) said:
Well, I've only written one book, but my main advice is to consider how you can obtain original source material on the plane(?) in question.
Click to expand...
I agree 100% with that. You do need to locate a previously untapped source of material, or at least a source that has yet to be exploited fully.
Good luck with whatever you set out to do!
 
I say go for it! Both of my books grew out of questions that piqued my interest and the desire to find out more.

Source material is key, obviously we don't know what nationality the aircraft is to point you to specific sources, but Paul's list of potential sources covers the likely basis.
Plus you'll need to think about images for the book, finding good photos can be just as much - if not more - hassle than finding source material!

I would also agree with doing a couple of articles to work up your writing technique, everyone has a personal style. Plus articles mean exposure and income to defray some of the research costs for the book.

As to time, both of my books took about 3 years from start to finish, starting at the initial research before I even pitched a book idea. My only advice would be to see it through, its too easy to put stuff on the backburner ("oh I'll find a publisher one day" and then a decade elapses!) so once you get a sizable chunk of the research done, search out a publisher - which may or may not be easy depending on the aircraft in question - and then negotiate a sensible timeline to produce the book.
 
GTX said:
Hi folks,

I have been planning to author a book (or two...) for some time. This will be part of a long term project so won't generate anything anytime soon. Given we have quite a few successful authors and even a few publishers amongst our members, I would welcome any advice you might offer. The books I have in mind will be both pure reference (i.e. a hopeful definitive history of a particular type that has not yet been written - this one needs a lot of research and will take a number of years I know) plus some fictional.

I look forward to any advice that can be provided be it in this thread or even through direct contact.

Kind regards,

Greg
Click to expand...

I have a few tips, but the first "gateway" which I advise you NOT to pass through is:

1) Is there sufficient original archive material, which you can access or have copied, to actualy write about it ?

I think all other considerations are moot, until you`ve figured that out. Of course, you dont have to find ALL
the material before you write anything, sometimes research happens organically if you meet someone else
at an archive and get chatting to the curator etc, but I think it would be incredibly unwise to embark on
anything, without at least establishing the location of one major haul of archive files to go and look at.

I dont really know if you`re looking for structural, research or writing tips... but anyway.

2) Decide if you want to make some money, and have time free (a lot of it) or if you just want to "get it out there".

If you dont mind making it your entire job, its possible to make money from self published books, IF you
do everything yourself, that includes having it printed, storing and distributing it. If you dont have that amount
of time free, then get a publisher, the deadline they impose will also be very useful to get it done. I`ve been to several
"authors meetups" and they`re 95% full of people who have "Been writing a thing...for... about 10 years".

3) Writing wise, I have no idea how much you`ve done, but I would suggest at least three MAJOR revisions will be needed,
and when you think "yep thats good enough"... it isnt. Dont under estimate the critical need for both structural editing and
proof reading. I`ve read so many books which were basically unreadable garbage, almost entirely because the editor
(if there even was one) didnt go back to the author and say "ok look, there IS a book IN here.... but we need to throw
all the bits on the floor, and organize them from scratch and then throw half of it away.
 
As a working editor, a few thoughts. Just write it. As long as your quotes are accurate and the book follows a logical order, just write it.

For some, editors are bad, as in, "My friends and/or family read it and liked it but I got rejected." You can always self-publish. However, my years of experience shows that 99% of the manuscripts I've seen are not worth publishing. Why? They are poorly written and an editor can help you sort it out.

For some, publishers are bad, as in, "No one wants to buy/publish it." You can always self-publish.

In the case of books covering military subjects, some people do find publishers and their book gets published. I check almost daily, and a new book about subjects involving the Second World War, and modern subjects, appears almost daily.

Money is a consideration but I think getting little-known facts out there, and doing the work 'for the posterity' so that others can know what actually happened is first in priority.

Regarding publisher contracts, always get a copyright attorney to review it.
 
Don't give up the "day-job", even the most successful authors don't usually earn enough royalties to survive one (especially if the publisher isn't paying advances on signature, delivery & acceptance and publication); trust me, I work for three different literary agencies. In addition, try to get a literary agent to negotiate your publication agreement (or at least have the agreement looked over by a professional advisor or your local "Society of Authors"). The kinds of publishers who produce the kinds of books we are interested in in (here) also produce the most outlandish publishing agreements; at the very least, YOU MUST retain © in your work and it MUST be acknowledged in the book. You will also be expected to clear permissions yourself before publication (so do this properly) and you will be expected to pay at least 50% of the title's indexing.

Terry (Caravellarella)
 
I'm fortunate to have editor, and researcher, as my day job. That said, if your goal is to make a career of writing, find out how it's done. All that complicated royalty, advance, and so on needs to be sorted out. Once done, and thoroughly understood, it's done.

Don't assume all publishers, or literary agents, are evil. Get a good copyright attorney. Have him explain any contracts or work agreements to you. Including what the term "clear permissions" means.

I would encourage those starting out to get a copyright attorney first, then, if you want, you can go to literary agents or directly to the publisher. Or publish it yourself.

I've been there on shipping days where 10,000 to 15,000 copies are going out on day one. But no one needs to do that now. With most print on demand looking as good as regular offset printing, it should be a case of ordering whatever you need, shipping it, and retaining a few cases for future orders.
 
GTX, good luck to you.

I wrote 7 books (including 4 with co-authors, the eighth is in the press) + 120 articles and chapters.

It seems to me important to decide early, will you write a separate book (it's not easy task to find publishers in this case) or you plan to propose your book to existing series. If you choose the second variant estimate from the beginning, do your future book suits for the series standards.

And you should understand and write on the paper clearly, what new will be in your book and why people will want to read (or even buy) it. It may be new data, new photo, new statistical results, new methods of respresenting of information or smth else. But "the new" should be.
 
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