Re: Writing books

[CJBenz <cjbenz -at- AOL -dot- COM>]

On Wed, 04 Jan 95, jhedtke -at- oz -dot- net (Joh Hedtke) wrote:

>I've written 11 books now with 5 publishers: Osborne/McGraw-Hill,
Peachpit
>Press, MIS: Press, Ventana Press, and Rutledge Hill Press.  10 have been
>computer books (and one general book, "Washington Trivia").  I've been
pretty
>happy with all of these publishers.  The books have had varying financial

>success, gotten good reviews, and generally won awards in STC
competitions.  I
>strongly prefer not to use agents, preferring to do things on my own and
not
>pay anyone the 15%.
>I like writing books.  It beats making an honest living, I always say
(joke!).
>I'd like to discuss publishers, marketing, and so on with anyone else on
the
>list.  Who have you dealt with?  Who did you like?  Who didn't you like?
What
>do you think the directions are for doing books?

I myself have written five computer books, collaborated on two more,
technically reviewed one, and contributed to yet another--all for
Ziff-Davis Press. I've only entered one so far in an STC competition, and
I'm waiting to see how I do. (Fingers tightly crossed...)

ZDP is a great publisher to write for, but I'm always exploring
possibilities with other publishers. Any and all leads, of course, would
be appreciated...

Two things I'm struggling with now are:
1) How do you recognize (and get) a good contract based on royalties?
2) How do you fill the inevitable and sometimes unexpected gaps between
books? I perform classroom training and curriculum development when
possible, but I'd appreciate other ideas.
3) How do you convince Microsoft that they should give you a Beta of
Windows 95?

Chris Benz
Author, Technical Writer, Computer Trainer
6229438 -at- mcimail -dot- com
"You learn something new every day--whether you want to or not."