So, You Want to Write a Book?

At the Independent Thinking Press we are delighted to have really pushed the boundaries of what an education book should be like.

Since a time when the choices for teachers seemed to be heavy academic volumes or spiral bound photocopiable resources, we asked for more of our writers.

Over the years, this has led to great-looking books like Hywel Roberts’ award-winning Oops!, Dr Andrew Curran’s mind-blowing book The Little Book of Big Stuff about the Brain with all illustrations done by the good doctor himself, Juliet Robertson’s Dirty Teaching, still our favourite title, epic tomes like The Working Class and Square Pegs and, of course, the massive hit When the Adults Change by Paul Dix.

So, what’s the secret to writing a great education book?

For all aspiring writers out there, here are our ten tips for getting past our selection panel:

1. 1. 1. Write the book no-one else could have written. This is the Golden Rule*.
      2. If you want to make a point, write a blog. If you want to make a difference, write a book.
      3. Write for an audience, not for yourself. If your first chapter is a detailed autobiographical account of how you have got to this point, pat yourself on the back then delete it.
      4. Make that audience a single person as you write: someone you know or an imaginary composite.
      5. If you spend more time tweeting about your book than writing it, you’re probably not going to get it done.
      6. Avoid clichés, dear reader.
      7. Check your privilege along with your sources, references, citations, examples and, ultimately, the people you ask to review your book to make sure you are as inclusive and balanced as possible.
      8. When you think you’ve finished, you’ve probably just completed the first draft. Keep going.
      9. When you think you’ve finished, there will be many more critical and pernickety eyes all over it before it goes to the printers. Keep going.
      10. When you think you’ve finished, do a search for exclamation marks and then delete them all. Apart from one!

If you think you have a great book in you and can successfully navigate these ten tips - all the more important given today's challenging market - please get in touch. [ITL]

*To this Golden Rule we also now need to add, 'Make sure it is a book that AI couldn't write'.