Getting a Book Published

Many readers have asked me 'how do you go about getting a book published'. There is a simple answer - prepare a Book Publishing Proposal. Publishers do not want to see manuscripts. They do want to see your ideas for the book and what market might it appeal to. Plus a chapter or three - at the most.
Below is an example of a Book Publishing Proposal. This one did not actually get off the ground so any publishers out there that are interested - feel free to contact me!
If any of you budding authors want any help with your proposal, just contact me and I'll be pleased to assist.

A Proposal for:

Headfirst into Management
How to become a Manager in 30 Days

by Robyn Horsfall & Ron Giles

             
Robyn Horsfall                                              Ron Giles
Address

Ph:
Fax:
robyn@coachingforsucces.co.nz                gillies@xtra.co.nz
Website: www.coachingforsuccess.co.nz  www.trout-fishing-new-zealand.com

Table of Contents

Introduction
Overview 3
Promotion 5
About the Authors 6
Outline of Contents 7
Sample Chapter 9


Enclosed separately in the folder:
The authors’ brochures
The authors’ articles
Supporting documents
Publicity material

Introduction

Overview:

There are 1,956,000 New Zealanders currently in paid employment. Probably fifty per cent of this workforce will one day want to be a manager at some level; be it CEO of Fonterra or Supervisor of the night shift. Our research has found that surprisingly few people have ever studied ‘Management’ at a tertiary level or even taken a management course. Making the commitment to learn how to be a manager seems to be a big step. Most people would prefer to learn something about managing without going to the extent of enrolling at university or starting an expensive course. Headfirst into Management provides an easy way for an average employee to answer that intriguing question –
do I have what it takes to be a Manager?

We live in a world of ever increasing change where people are expected to do more, quicker and more efficiently with fewer resources. Managing is the process of doing this through others. But those promoted to a manager’s role are often not given the training nor shown the skills required to manage effectively. The book offers a unique, interactive way for a budding manager to gain the skills they need to succeed in their chosen management position.
A series of tests will assist them to assess their current skills and they can work at their own pace to gain the skills and competencies required. The book will accelerate their learning and make the transition into management easier. If the reader completes the study detailed in each section, then by the end of the book they will be equipped to take on the demands of a management position in New Zealand – and all this in only 30 days.

Headfirst into Management
How to become a Manager in 30 days

Headfirst into Management will be the first book of its type to use an interactive approach to train the reader in the basics of management. Checklists, tests, quizzes and exercises will all be able to be downloaded from the Internet to expand on and to supplement the information in the book. Additional work, follow up and extra assignments will be suggested to help the reader quickly gain a reasonable level of management expertise.

The book will consist of an Introduction of 10 pages and three sections of 50 pages, with a Summary, Bibliography, Glossary and Index adding a further 20 pages to make a book totalling 180 pages. It will have an attractive visual appearance through the use of sidebars, text boxes, graphs and charts. Anecdotes and real examples will be included from the authors’ actual experiences when conducting training courses. This will give the chance to include humour to help maintain the reader’s interest. The style will be similar to the Catch That Trout books where technical information was presented in an easy to read way.

Headfirst into Management will appeal to anyone who has started to think about moving up a rung on the workplace ladder. It will target the burgeoning 20 – 40 year old age group who may be recently qualified; just entering the workforce; considering a career change or just wanting to improve themselves to make their job more interesting.

The book will interest the major book chains thanks to its general appeal. The market will be widespread and not limited by demographic or geographic considerations. There will be the potential for sales to educational organisations, high schools, colleges and tertiary institutions looking for a general management textbook. The book will prove more attractive to both readers and organisations than the alternative of a long and expensive management course.

Possible Series:

Headfirst into Management is intended to be the first in a series of Headfirst books. Further works could include:

Headfirst into Retirement – a book preparing the baby boomers for retirement including sections on: financial planning, family trusts, leisure pursuits, travel, housing options, health considerations, fitness, psychological aspects, grandparenthood and aged care.

Headfirst into Coaching – a book covering all aspects of coaching including staff training, personal life coaching, mentoring, and sports coaching.

Headfirst into the Internet – a guide to all aspects of the Internet including connection/servers, computers, email, surfing, virus protection, dealing with spam, web site development, web site ratings, e-business, e-marketing, e-trading, Internet scams.

Headfirst into Fitness – a complete review of the dangers of being unfit, the benefits of regular exercise, and the wide range of options for exercise including walking, jogging, running, cycling, rowing, games, gyms, home training, personal training.

Headfirst into Wine – a guide to wine appreciation for the tyro wine lover covering such subjects as: wine varieties, wine growing regions in New Zealand, wine tasting, wine appreciation courses/clubs, wine storage, building up a cellar, complementing food with wine.

Each book would be backed up by a devoted website offering additional information, downloadable material, further resources, and free advice. This unique service follows on from the successful concept pioneered in the Catch That Trout series and further developed with Headfirst into Management - see www.trout-fishing-new-zealand.com and www.coachingforsuccess.co.nz

Competition:
Reviews of competing books indicate no direct competition. Most available books in the management sector are specialist works aimed at small niche markets. They focus on providing an existing manager the opportunity to gain an additional specific skill, be it in the marketing, financial or some other specialised area of business.

Promotion

Both Robyn and Ron are experienced presenters at seminars and conferences.

Robyn is a professional coach and Director of Coaching for Success Limited, an organisation specialising in corporate and business coaching, people development and managing people through change.
Robyn’s presentations and workshops are predominantly aimed at technical professionals and Managers, with audiences who are often linear thinkers - results focused – and who sometimes struggle with the “softer” skills required of Managers in organisations today. She is an accredited industry consultant for the Institution of Professional Engineers of NZ (IPENZ), providing workshops and coaching/mentoring expertise to the engineering profession, and runs in-house development programmes for organisations looking to develop effective Managers. In her role at PricewaterhouseCoopers she was also involved in preparing and presenting transition workshops for the RNZAF and The Correspondence School.

Ron is a very experienced marketer having worked in the marketing field for 35 years. He is regularly contracted as a consultant in the area of Marketing Plans and e-marketing.
Ron also has appeared on television and given radio/newspaper interviews throughout New Zealand during the publicity tours for the Catch That Trout books. He is a powerful presenter having spent 6 months touring USA in 2003 where he gave Powerpoint presentations to a wide range of fishing clubs and environmental organisations across USA. His presentations were often rated the best the club had ever had and such feedback has also been received from people attending his regular New Zealand presentations.
Ron is well known for his use of websites to promote his trout fishing books. To quote ex Publicity Manager, Katrina Power: The success of Ron Giles' three books owes much to his marketing nous and his willingness to extensively promote the books through media interviews and also direct to his target audience.
Ron’s main site www.trout-fishing-new-zealand.com rates at No.1 on both Google and Yahoo search engines. Recently this site was chosen to be included in an USA book that put together the best 1000 fishing web sites in the world.

Both authors have an extensive computer database which would be used to publicise the book through a direct email campaign.
It is proposed that the authors would carry out a book promotion tour visiting the main cities to present a free seminar for interested would-be managers. These seminars could be linked with purchases of the book – readers complete an entry form and register for the free seminar in their area.
It is anticipated that the unique website-supported, interactive nature of this book will attract substantial media attention and give the authors the opportunity of prominent exposure in newspapers, magazines, radio and possibly television.


About the Authors

Robyn Horsfall
Qualifications and Affiliations
• Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Business Management)
• Member of ICANZ (CA College)
• Member of International Coach Federation (ICF)
• Treasurer / Executive Committee Member ICF, Auckland

Robyn is a Director and Owner of Coaching for Success Limited, an organisation specialising in corporate coaching, people development and HR solutions. The company was formed in 2002 in response to a need in the New Zealand market for individualised and business related approaches to improving people development and performance.

Robyn has 7 years experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in human resources consulting, career transition services, management/leadership and group assessment, job evaluation and executive and finance recruitment. Robyn joined PwC in January 1996, capitalising on 7 years experience as a Chartered Accountant, with experience in both New Zealand and the UK.

Robyn is heavily involved in managerial / leadership assessment and development and has worked with such clients as the Royal New Zealand Air Force, United Networks, Griffins Foods, Solid Energy, Air New Zealand, Villa Maria, Fletcher Challenge Forests, Unilever and Montana Wines.

Ron Giles

Ron is an Auckland businessman with 35 years experience in management. Half of that time was spent working for the largest New Zealand export/import company where Ron worked his way up from sales rep to Managing Director of their importing company. He was professionally trained in Market Planning and Strategic Planning and still consults in these fields. He has completed countless courses on management elements such as: selling, negotiation, staff training, communication, advertising, promotion, distribution, presentation, e-marketing, etc.

For the past 15 years, Ron has run a successful marketing business, as well as doing regular consulting work, mainly on marketing, planning and staff training. He administers 10 web sites that are used to promote his various enterprises.

Ron is well known to Reed Publishing for his trout fishing books, three of which have been published over the last 4 years. Ron’s writing style is always entertaining, even when writing about very technical subjects. His books have all been rated highly by reviewers and readers, as can be seen in the appendix. Any of the Reed team will testify that Ron is one of the better writers to deal with – always punctual meeting work deadlines and one who will promptly undertake any task requested by the Editorial or Sales/Publicity departments.

Outline of Contents

Headfirst into Management
How to become a Manager in 30 days

by Robyn Horsfall and Ron Giles

Introduction: Have you got what it takes?
This introductory section consists of a series of quizzes and questionnaires designed to highlight readers’ potential managerial skills and areas for development. It then examines the skills and attributes of successful managers. Readers can compare their test results to the skills of successful managers so they know what skills they need to acquire, develop or improve.
The characteristics and attributes needed to become a successful manager are then broken down into:


Head: thinking – the concepts, methods or theory behind each section
(analysing, planning, assessing, thought processes)


Heart: relationships – the communication and interpersonal aspects introduced
by each skill or competency (emotional aspects, people skills, psychological
issues)

Feet: doing/action – activities or actions required to put the skill into practice
(putting it into action, on the job issues, achieving, succeeding)


The above symbols will be used to introduce each chapter and as a summary of follow up work to be carried out to put into practice the skills and competencies discussed in the preceding chapter.
The topics shown in the following sections are examined from all these three perspectives, as a means of explaining and exploring each skill and giving guidelines on how they can be put into practice.

Section 1: Staff Management

Topics covered in this section will include:
• Hiring – sourcing, interviewing, selection, induction
• Staff development – analysis of training/development needs, provision, review, delegation, training, supervision, coaching/mentoring, providing feedback, monitoring
• Performance management – goal setting, reviews, regularity, rules, communication with staff, team management
• Managing poor performance – legal issues, handling

Section 2: Business Management

Topics to include:
• Financial basics – budgets, sales, forecasts, balance sheets, margins, costings, profit, capital expenditure, project management
• Marketing and Sales – planning, advertising, promotion, sales, distribution, presentations, merchandising, e-marketing, direct marketing, customer service
• Planning – Market Plans, Business Plans, Strategic Plans, reporting
• IT – computers, networks, software, training, servicing

Section 3: Self Management

Topics to include:
• Professionalism – appearance, dress, mannerisms, body language, behaviour, ethics
• Productivity – time management principles, values, goal setting
• Influencing – negotiating, handling difficult people, dealing with complaints, objection-handling
• Career development/ management – values, boundaries, career choices
• Self care – stress management, balance of life, self development, non-work activities, coping with change


Summary

The summary will detail how the reader progresses from here; courses available, further reading, web resources, organisations, associations.

Bibliography

Glossary

Index


Sample Chapter
Time Management

Key Points:


Analyse the value of your time
Identify important rather than urgent tasks
Identify timewasters
Establish peak energy times


Identify values
Don’t do other’s work
Learn how to say ‘No’
Maintain balance in your life
Ascertain your core values
Work in your prime time
Increase your natural energy


Set goals and objectives
Establish priorities
Plan ahead
Stay focused – avoid distractions
Do like tasks together


Time management – a misnomer

We don’t manage time. It ticks on by whether we do anything or not. What we do manage is ourselves and the decisions about how we use our time. This self management is the act of controlling relevant events by maximising time and skills to achieve worthwhile goals.
etc, etc

If you succeed in getting a book published, you will need to promote it. One of the most cost-efficient ways is with a website. If you want to see a good website, go here

If you want to see how important it is look at these NZ Internet statistics