I am currently proofreading a book for an author and he is pondering the thought of having a couple people read his work to gain opinions prior to sending his work to a publisher. One of his concerns is how to protect his work from being shared or copied prior to copyright or Digital Rights Management. Should he send a letter of confidentiality or what do you recomend?

I have written a book and I want to self-publish, but I am not sure how to choose a self-publishing company. Which self-publishing company is best and what's the difference between them anyway?

I really want to get into writing online, Dave. Can you offer up some tips and tricks for me to break into this area and get some visibility? Thanks!

I self-published a book in 1983. I would now like to make it an e-book. I do not remember my isbn number. How do I go about getting that information?

I want to get into blogging, but I hear from my friends that it's really hard because after a few weeks you start to suffer from writer's block. I generally like to know what I'm getting into before I dive in, so do I need to be worried? How do you avoid writer's block as an author or blogger?

I've been searching for some help on this a for about four, five years. I'm 16 years old and I've been writing novels since I was about eleven. Everyone thinks that i could be the next J.K. Rowling. I even have a pen name L.G. Kelly. I Just don't know how to get published. So how do i get publsihed and fast without getting ripped off? Or having to get an agent?

I'm writing an instructional book (almost done) and I would like it to be "for dummies". My question is about using the "for dummies" thing in my book title (and also this geek on every "for dummies book...) Can I just do it or do I need to ask permission from someone or pay someone? I understand that you went through this process and I would like to hear what you have to say about it. I really appreciate your response.

I would like your opinion regarding a book contract: I currently have a contract with "Publisher X" to publish a book on search applications. I have been very happy with the editors at Publisher X, but have run into a problem with no compete.

Specifically, I wrote a book about Text Mining with "Publisher Y" and even though there is minimal overlap between the two books, the no compete is an issue. Publisher Y uses a broad interpretation of "similar subject matter" to claim that the proposed book overlaps and therefore cannot be published with Publisher X. My question is whether I should try to get the contract with Publisher X terminated and go back to Publisher Y. I doubt Y will give anything in writing to let me publish the new book and don't want to spend too much time in legal battles...

My friend and I are writing a fictional book, it is directed towards teenagers. We are in the very beginning of writing the book. We have just finished laying down the plot and we did tons of research for different characters. We're hoping to get it published but are very confused on actually how to get it published. We were hoping for it to be published by Scholastic but we don't even know how to offer the idea to them. I would very much appreciate if you would tell us how to get a suitable publisher and how to actually confront them with our book.

I am looking to write a book for the first time. i need a publisher, but need some direction as to how to select one. first, how do i protect my writings until they are published? do i pay a retainer or does the publisher issue me an advancement? should i retain an attorney before i go to a publisher? my book is a collection of personal anecdotes on life. thank you for your help.

It's one of the most common questions that I hear as a writer, and just about every group of writers endlessly debates the topic: what's the purpose of an agent? Different agents have different views of what they do, and certainly authors vary in their ability to work with an agent or agency, but fundamentally, it can be a tricky business to pin down exactly how an agent should be helping a writer succeed.

This debate came up again on a popular writer's mailing list and with the permission of all parties involved, I am reproducing the original question and the thoughtful and informative answers. The discussion took place on a list sponsored by an agency, but I believe that these are candid answers and comments, not influenced by the sponsor in any way. I have also deliberately not associated individual authors with their comments to protect their views.

Okay, I just saw that the new Harry Potter book's title has been announced, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, but I'm a bit baffled: what's a "hallow"?

I'm only 9 years old but me and my friends, we wrote a book so we wanted to know if a publisher could look at it and maybe type it up!

How do I find out how many editions a book has? I am looking for a book and it seems all the editions have the same ISBN. It’s out of print. The book is Perspective Drawing: A Directed Study (ISBN: 0136603572, by Jane H. James

I actually bought a 1980 version last night for $9.50 and I found them from that price up to $500. The 1981 edition is over $1,000. So I’m curious how many there are. Thanks. I poked around on the net but couldn’t find anything definitive?

Hi, I am wondering how to actually get the work copywrited before you send it in to a publisher. The book is not yet finished, does that matter?

Do you have any idea how to set a document in Microsoft Word to have exactly 25 lines per page? That's what the agents and publishers I'm approaching want as a standard format, (1" margins and 25 lines) but every attempt I've made to do that has fallen short one way or another -- the occasional 24 or 26 lines. Any ideas? I've queried a lot of my other writer friends, but their solutions don't quite work. They may not be Mac folks. Help! If you don't have an answer I'm going to be doing a lot of line counting and eyeballing of pages.

I just published my first book and am now interested in joining Amazon's Connect program and creating an author site at Amazon.com. Not sure what value it'll have, but I figure it'd be cool to have a personal site on Amazon and it's sure to impress my friends. But... how do I do it?

I'm trying to set a retail price for a 600 page computer book. Is there a formula or guideline for determining a fair retail price that generates the best profit?

I know that there are plenty of programs I can buy that include a copy of the Holy Bible in digital form, but I'm wondering whether I can legally download a copy of the Bible without having to buy anything or resort to one of those heinous peer to peer filesharing sites?

In light of all of the disastrous attention recently directed at James Frey and his memoir, I have some questions about legality and autobiographies. Can we mention companies for whom we have worked by name? Do all names of persons have to be changed? DoI have to hint so as not to be sued? Do I have to fictionalize?

I have an incredible story to tell. It's true. I'm a 67 year old female that is burden with a burning desire to write my love story. I have no idea why. I've never written anything before. This urge is driving me crazy. It's a remarkable story that covers 50 years of my life. Mostly in and around southern California. I would like to begin, but where? How do I proceed? Step one is???

Along with my new book LinkedIn for Recruiting I’m putting up an online site that will hold content and links. The content will be MP3’s (interviews) and the links will be to companies that are cross marketing with me and offering various discounts, products, etc. The problem I’m facing is how to control access to our protected site containing the MP3’s and links. I believe you’re doing this by using a word on a page in the book, but the partners I’m working with are looking for a more sophisticated method. I thought about serializing the book but the publisher tells me his printer can’t do that.

Anyhow, do you have any idea of how I can grant access to those buying the book and only those buying the book?

How do I find out how many editions a book has? I am looking for a book and it seems all the editions have the same ISBN. It’s out of print. The book is Perspective Drawing: A Directed Study (ISBN: 0136603572, by Jane H. James

I actually bought a 1980 version last night for $9.50 and I found them from that price up to $500. The 1981 edition is over $1,000. So I’m curious how many there are. Thanks. I poked around on the net but couldn’t find anything definitive?

Hi, I am wondering how to actually get the work copywrited before you send it in to a publisher. The book is not yet finished, does that matter?

Do you have any idea how to set a document in Microsoft Word to have exactly 25 lines per page? That's what the agents and publishers I'm approaching want as a standard format, (1" margins and 25 lines) but every attempt I've made to do that has fallen short one way or another -- the occasional 24 or 26 lines. Any ideas? I've queried a lot of my other writer friends, but their solutions don't quite work. They may not be Mac folks. Help! If you don't have an answer I'm going to be doing a lot of line counting and eyeballing of pages.

I just published my first book and am now interested in joining Amazon's Connect program and creating an author site at Amazon.com. Not sure what value it'll have, but I figure it'd be cool to have a personal site on Amazon and it's sure to impress my friends. But... how do I do it?

I'm trying to set a retail price for a 600 page computer book. Is there a formula or guideline for determining a fair retail price that generates the best profit?

I know that there are plenty of programs I can buy that include a copy of the Holy Bible in digital form, but I'm wondering whether I can legally download a copy of the Bible without having to buy anything or resort to one of those heinous peer to peer filesharing sites?

In light of all of the disastrous attention recently directed at James Frey and his memoir, I have some questions about legality and autobiographies. Can we mention companies for whom we have worked by name? Do all names of persons have to be changed? DoI have to hint so as not to be sued? Do I have to fictionalize?

I have an incredible story to tell. It's true. I'm a 67 year old female that is burden with a burning desire to write my love story. I have no idea why. I've never written anything before. This urge is driving me crazy. It's a remarkable story that covers 50 years of my life. Mostly in and around southern California. I would like to begin, but where? How do I proceed? Step one is???

Along with my new book LinkedIn for Recruiting I’m putting up an online site that will hold content and links. The content will be MP3’s (interviews) and the links will be to companies that are cross marketing with me and offering various discounts, products, etc. The problem I’m facing is how to control access to our protected site containing the MP3’s and links. I believe you’re doing this by using a word on a page in the book, but the partners I’m working with are looking for a more sophisticated method. I thought about serializing the book but the publisher tells me his printer can’t do that.

Anyhow, do you have any idea of how I can grant access to those buying the book and only those buying the book?

On average what percentage of books published end up being written off or destroyed as unsold or returned inventory? Ideally, I'd be interested in learning this figure as a percentage of net sales.

I'm writing an e-book and notice that in other e-books people often use screenshots to illustrate various points, e.g. a Google search result. What's the standard practice in terms of permission - do authors generally ask permission to reproduce a screenshot, or just use it the way you might quote a line or a phrase from a website or a book without asking special permission?

I'm the author of book "Nuestro dios, el hombre" (See Amazon) and I can't figure out my sales rank. Do you want to help me?

Here is my problem: is there a free or an inexpensive publishing contract (template) on the Internet that I could download?

I would like to publish a series of books in Ireland, I am a not a writer but a translator. So my situation is slightly different from the usual "writer, who wants to publish his own work".

The authors are asking for the publishing contract, and I have tried going to solicitors (and there aren't many, who deal with intellectual property, and those who do do are only interested in cases where you can sue for illegal copyright use), they were not interested in a small publisher. I also learnt that a lot of publishing houses do not even use solicitors and draw up their own contracts. I decided to find either somebody else's contract or a template of a contract, amend it to suit my situation, then contact a "smaller" solicitor to verify the contract for me.

People I have talked to regarding this all worked in publishing at some stage of their lives, none of them have a contract to even show me (or so they say anyway ;). Help!

My question deals with the inside page of a book. There is a lot of info about publisher and ISBN # and copyright and then there are some numbers at the bottom that usually look this:

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

What do those numbers mean?

I received this lovely email message from a reader this morning: "Just wanted to thank you for "Teach Yourself Unix in a Week." I read the whole thing cover to cover back in '94, when I was sleeping on a cot at work (!). It got me started in the world of Unix and has provided me employment ever since. My buddy Nick and I owe both you and Kamran Hussein a night of beers for kicking off our sys admin careers."

I'm about to publish my first ebook, "How to Hack Your Sony Vaio", and am wondering what kind of copyright notice and copy prevention verbiage I should include? Part of me wants to have a big 'do not copy!' on every page, while another part thinks that a two line note at the beginning of the ebook will be sufficient. What's your opinion, Dave?

Dave, what format do you recommend for distributing a 75-page comprehensive research glossary for a popular and prolific alternative health author? He suggests that it should be an ebook, but that lends itself so easily to piracy. Plus people are going to want it printed out and handy during workshops and individual sessions. However, one of the biggest features are the zillion hyperlinks within the document and the ability to search for keywords. My thinking right now is to do a spiral book (like my poetry) and to include the file on CD for an extra charge. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions on this?

Dave, I'm trying to publish my own book and just found out I need to get an ISBN. What is an ISBN, how do I get one, and how much does it cost?

Dave, I've written a lot of articles for magazines, but never anything as substantial as the half of a book I'm co-authoring with a colleague. I know my question is pretty broad, but I'm hoping for stuff of the "I wish I had known / done this when I first started out" variety. So, Dave, what's your best advice to me?

Dave, I've been slogging through writing a book for rather a long time now, and with various health issues and some technical glitches (I had my computer broken for a month, for example), I'm concerned that I won't be able to hit my delivery date for the manuscript. Did I mess up with my original schedule in the contract negotiation phase? Is this really a problem, or is the managing editor going to whine, but it's really not a big deal?

On a writer's mailing list, professional full-time computer book authors are sharing their own experiences about how they became full-time authors. My friend and colleague Ray Lischner shared a particularly interesting story...

Over on the International Association of Online Communications weblog, Steve O'Keefe asks an interesting question this week: What are the pros and cons of author blogs? His response; "Yes, if the expense of maintaining the blog can be spread over multiple books or author projects. No, as a single-title project produced by publishers. Just as book companion sites aren't worth maintaining unless they're attached to an author, imprint or brand, single-title book blogs are seldom a good idea."

Dave, this might be a bit of a daft question, but I buy lots of books at Amazon.com and I'm curious how you move from being a reviewer to being a rated reviewer? Can you tell me how that works?

Dave, I've just wrapped up an ebook that I want to sell, and I've been told by a couple of publishers that I should get an ISBN before releasing it. What's an ISBN and how do I get one for my ebook?

Dave, I'm contemplating signing with an agent to represent me on some book projects I'd like to pursue and am wondering if you have any sage advice on what to look for in an agency contract and what kind of terms are fair and reasonable?

Dave, where can I find the PERCENTAGE breakdown on the average of what it costs a Publisher to print and distribute hardcover and softcover books. In other words, I am looking for how their broken down overhead costs out in percentage form, based on the total end bookstand price of the book?

And failing that, at least, approximately what percentage of the hardcover and softcover book does printing, shipping, and distribution amount to?

And last, what percentage range of the end bookstand price does the publisher normally pocket for its own share of the take?

Dave, I'm interested in writing a technical book and have found that there are two basic reactions people have when I tell them this: they either run in horror or laugh a peculiar, Exorcist sort of laugh then just walk away, shaking their head. Be that as it may, I really think I have something to say and have come to ask you what pitfalls may lurk for a new, naive writer?

So Dave -- I'm a startup publisher. I've read what you have here and it's all from the author's perspective. Can you tell me what you think makes a good contract from a publisher's point of view??

Dave, I heard that your book Wicked Cool Shell Scripts won some sort of award or the other? Do tell, what's the story with that?

"In a nutshell, I didn't negotiate my contract and ended with with non-compete clauses of all sorts which now prevent me to author a new revision of my book..."

Having had oodles of experience with contract negotiation and publishing, I'm reviewing the contract that a very large publisher sent a colleague for a book she wants to write, and it amazes me how it has all the same anti-author clauses of just about every other publisher's agreement I've seen (with a few notable exceptions). This is why people who aren't familiar with the business really need to consider an agent, lawyer, or someone else who can represent their interests when reading through a legal document of this nature.

...Cool Web Sites ..

When Dave Taylor's book arrived, I opened it right away.

It took very little time for me to be thoroughly impressed.

I am a computer science major at Queens College of the City University of New York and I have recently purchased you book "Creating Cool HTML 4 Web Pages." I must say that I am truly impressed. You see, I have my own company, J I Diamond International, which deals in fine quality diamonds and jewelry and I have recently posted some of my merchandise on Ebay. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate what your book has to offer, especially due to the fact that I am no fool when it comes to computers. Designing a webpage has always been a dream and all of my friends have told me to use Front Page or other Page builders. Yet starting from scratch is always difficult.

Should You Buy the Book?

Taylor makes no effort to teach shell scripting. This book is not a tutorial, but with the author's explanations a beginner should have little trouble understanding his scripts. In fact, if you have little scripting background, the first four chapters could provide your introduction to Unix.

"Learning Unix for Mac OS X Panther" Released by O'Reilly

This compact book by Dave Taylor and Brian Jepson provides a user-friendly tour of the Mac's UNIX base for the uninitiated. Readers can safely explore Terminal and familiarize themselves with the command line, learning about the hundreds of UNIX programs that come with the Mac.