How to Market a Textbook to Publishers

Marketing information helps publishers make decisions on new books.

When publishers review a textbook proposal, they look for books that will sell to a clearly defined audience. Your task as an author is to demonstrate why your proposed textbook will meet the needs of that audience in a better way than existing books. Publishers must understand the benefits that your textbook will offer readers so they can prepare their marketing communications. The more marketing help you can give to a publisher, the more likely your book is to be accepted for publication.

Instructions

1. Identify the audience for your textbook. Describe the educational courses that your textbook is suitable for and list the type of educational institute that would purchase the book. Indicate whether your textbook would be essential to the course or would provide an additional resource. If the textbook is aimed at a professional or business audience, provide typical job descriptions of your target audience. Describe any professional development institutes or training bodies that could use the textbook. Information on the readership helps publishers calculate potential sales volume.

2. Describe how your textbook will benefit the reader. List four things that the audience will be able to do after reading your book. Show how your educational textbook can help students achieve higher grades or access greater depth of information on an academic subject. Indicate why your professional textbook will help people improve their career prospects by obtaining qualifications or improving their knowledge of a business discipline. Describe how your business textbook can also provide guidelines on how to carry out a business task more efficiently. Describing the key benefits helps a publisher decide how essential the textbook will be to the audience.

3. Explain why your textbook will meet readers’ needs more effectively than competitive books. Compare your proposed book with three main competitors, highlighting the key advantages of your book. Focus on benefits such as greater depth of treatment, up-to-date content or greater relevance to course requirements. If you believe your book has no direct competitors, state why it breaks new ground and indicate why the unique characteristics are important to the audience. Publishers use the competitive analysis to decide whether there is room in the market for another textbook and to identify the potential for replacing competitors’ books.

4. Describe your credentials for writing the book. Indicate if you have a high profile in education or business that would add credibility and authority to the textbook. List any professional qualifications and experience that are relevant to the subject of your textbook. Outline any existing published work -- either books, papers or articles -- that showcase your writing ability. List any upcoming speaking engagements or other activities that you could use to promote the book. Provide the publisher names of people who would review or endorse the book. Personal information helps publishers assess whether to use your personal profile as a basis for marketing the book.

References

• Emerald Group Publishing; How to Write a Book Proposal; Margaret Adolphus
• Routledge: Information for Authors