writing books about caring for different species of animals?

[animalboy91]

ok, so i started my facination with animals with reptiles a few years ago and i actually bred them as a business for a good while, but i had to stop due to college and other things. i went from owning 100+ pets to the 4 i have now.

i currently have a mating pair of golden geckos, a leopard gecko, and a rat.

anyway, i was told awhile ago that because i like teaching people and giving them advice, i should write a book on reptile care to help others who dont understand the proper care of animals.
i started a book and im almost done the rough copy of it (like the original version). i decided on golden geckos, because leopard gecko books are so common and its hard to find info on the vietnamese golden gecko.

does anyone know how i would go about making it into a published book? i mean, i know it needs to be revised and revised and revised again and again before that but im just trying to look into it.

does it cost money to get a book published? or is it like getting a record deal where your profits can pay the dues if it sells good enough?

also, i asked this on my old forum (arachnoboards.com) and got "why would i tell you when i could make money off it moron", but what other kinds of animals do animal keepers want to see written about? like what books arnt out there that people here think should be out for people to buy? what topics arnt really covered?

and what is missing from books on the care of animals? (what i mean is what do pet owners want to see in books that the author normally leaves out?)

im only asking the questions because if i do go about trying to publish books on animal care id like to get the opinion from other pet owners as to what they want to see, not what the author thinks they want to see.

thanks,
-Kenn (animalboy91)

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

You start with a good software program to check your spelling and grammar. Then you look for someone with editing experience (think local newspaper editor or the like) and have them give your book a going over. Next you visit your local library and book stores (especially the chain stores like Walden) and see who is publishing books about pet care. Make yourself a list of potential publishers. Then you call them and try to find out which editor on their staff handles your kind of books and if they have any submission guidelines. Once you know who to submit it to and what form to use (hard copy, electronic [and what software to use], or both), then you start submitting. You do not have to submit to one place at a time. You can blitz them all as long as you say in your cover letter that is what you are doing.

Just make sure BEFORE you send it out that it is the very best manuscript that you can produce. These folks spend all day every day reading, so typos and the like really jump out at them. Your manuscript and cover letter are all they have to judge you on, so make sure it is perfect!

Good luck with this.


Rusty

 

[patandchickens]

Working on the *writing* part of it is real important

Books you see in bookstores mostly got there by authors having agents to shop the manuscript around to publishers, and find a publisher that wants to pay. (Actually most nonfiction books are bought by publishers on the strength of proposals not finished manuscripts). The author gets a small but nontrivial payment.

Realistically however what you will more likely want to look into is "self-publishing". This used to be a money pit and sort of half a scam; but with costs come down SO much in the computer age, there are a number of perfectly legitimate self-publishing outfits out there. You do have to pay them, sometimes upfront for a large run of books, sometimes just a small amount and they take a cut of printed-to-order sales. Practically nobody makes money on self-published books but some more or less break even, especially if you are very vigorous in marketing your book and advertise it online etc.

So, it would be good to think of it as an interesting educational project, not a moneymaker (again, obviously some people DO make a living writing books, but only by coming at it from a very different angle than you are interested in), but it is certainly doable at least at some level and as long as you have some up-front money to put into it.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[animalboy91]

thanks, im not really into the money side of it, im just looking to put my knowledge out there so others can use what ive learned to help take care of there animals.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Your simplest and cheapest bet, then, is to set up a webpage or site. These days that need not involve much or any money, and makes the info readily available to all. And a lot of people (me included) turn first to Google for general information on keeping <whatevers>.

Even so, though, if you want people to take the material seriously it is a good idea to use good writing/spelling/capitalizing/punctuation skills so that it is presented in a proper booklike way not like a casual entry on someone's facebook page <g>

Good luck, have fun,

Pat