Writing Successful Textbooks (Writing Handbooks) [Paperback]

"This is the definitive guide" - Geoff Barton

"If aspiring authors follow his advice, the textbooks they produce should have no excuse for not being first class" - Peter Atkins

Drawing on case studies from textbooks from school, college and professional markets this guide to textbook authorship shows prospective authors how to: research ideas for publication; plan and design; write effectively; support textbooks with websites; and find and work with publishers.

"The purpose of this book is simply to help you write a textbook, get it published, and make a success of it. The idea for the book grew out of my experience as a commissioning (or acquisitions)editor for an international publishing house. Most of the books that I commission are textbooks aimed at school, university or professional markets. I work with the whole gamut of authors, from the previously unpublished to the experienced and highly successful. Through working with inexperienced authors, I have seen how difficult it can be to write a good textbook. I like to ensure that they don't have to learn by trial and error. Instead, I try to pass on the lessons that I have learnt from my experienced authors. Frequently I have found myself thinking, 'If only there were a book that I could recommend - a book that would take the mystery out of the process.' Writing Successful Textbooks is that book."

Anthony Haynes (PGCE; MA Cantab) is Chief Executive of Trentham Books. Previously he was Commissioning Editor for Professional Subjects at the Continuum International Publishing Group. Before that he was Co-ordinator of the Communications Faculty at The Priory School in Hitchin. He regularly reviews poetry for "The Tablet".