Teach Primary 18.8

www.teachwire.ne t | 23 I t’s been twenty-five years since I wrote my first teaching book. That title, How to Survive your First Year in Teaching , is currently in its fourth edition, and I’ve been lucky enough to publish more than thirty books for teachers since. When I started writing, there was little in the way of practical education books, but in recent years, there has been an explosion in the number. There is clearly something appealing to teachers about having their ideas in print, but writing can have its pitfalls. Here, then, is my best advice if you are thinking about writing a book yourself. When pinning down the subject for your book, consider what your readers need to read, rather than what you want to write. It’s tempting to use your book to express your views on a topic, but busy teachers want to buy books that work for them. They need practical advice and realistic content about the real-world issues they face in their classrooms. Understand the market: most teaching books are bought by trainees and new teachers. If you write something niche, it may only sell a handful of copies. Writing a book is not something that combines easily with teacher workload, so be realistic about how long it will take to complete. There is a gap between submitting a manuscript, and seeing your book on a shelf in a shop or online. This ‘production process’ can take six months to a year – your book must be edited, typeset, given a cover and a blurb, before it goes into production. Remember that tastes, fashions and the language used in education books will change over time. Write about what you know and about what will be useful to your readers, rather than trying to follow fashions and trends. Prospective education authors often ask me if they need an agent, and the simple answer is ‘no’. Writing non-fiction for a specialist audience is different from writing fiction. You can approach publishers yourself, and you will find proposal forms on their websites. Do not submit your idea and sample material to more than one publisher at a time (it’s basically just rude!). Reputable publishers will probably send your proposal out for review, before deciding whether to contract you to write it. w .teachwire.net | 17 A letter to... Each issueweaskacontributor to penanote theywould love to send Prospective education authors Sue Cowley’s latest book is the sixth edition of her international bestseller, Getting your Class to Behave . suecowley.co.uk VO I C E S Talking of contracts, make sure that you read the contract you are sent carefully and aim to negotiate terms. Join the Society of Authors and use their contract advice service before asking questions of a prospective publisher. While that might seem unnecessary, given that most education books are not big sellers, if your book is a success then negotiating your contract could make a significant difference to what you get paid. Once you have published your book, you will be on tenterhooks waiting for the first reviews to arrive. Although positive reviews are lovely, it is positive word of mouth that is by far the most important. When readers tell me that they bought my behaviour book years ago and they recommend it to their trainees, or that my book changed the way they manage their class, that’s like hitting the jackpot. Any review is better than no review, but receiving negative ones can feel painful. My best advice is to suck it up and never ever to respond to negative critique. Once you send your book out into the world, some readers will not like it, and they have the absolute right to express that view. Above all else, there is nothing quite like having that first, crisp new edition of a book that you wrote yourself in your hands. So, if you fancy writing a book, then go for it! You’ll never know what might happen until you try... Yours, Sue “If your book is a success, negotiating your contract could make a significant difference to what you get paid” Always wanted to write a book? You should give it a go, says bestselling author Sue Cowley , just bear in mind this advice