Write for Books for Sail

Would you like to be a successful writer for the boating media? It takes time to build a solid reputation so to write for Books for Sail could be a very good place to start!

Specialised knowledge is a valuable commodity and can be of immense benefit to others. So, if you have expertise in any particular field – not necessarily of the hard-nosed technical variety – we would like to hear from you.

This site is still evolving and always will be, since ongoing development is the name of the game. What's accessible to date is just a fraction of what will emerge. At present you will find a collection of free-to-view articles, all of them informative. In many cases an article will have covered its topic adequately – meaning there is little more to say on the subject – but others will eventually lead onwards to more comprehensive e-books that can be downloaded at keen prices, of which a substantial proportion will go to the e-book’s author.

For example the Sell that Boat article will soon contain a link to Ready About Second-hand Boats – a book of over 30,000 words edited, illustrated and laid out in full colour to a highly professional standard.

So, Books for Sail is looking for authors who can write knowledgeably on subjects that would be useful to sailors and powerboaters. The sort of topics we’re looking for are:

• Practical seamanship.
  
  
• Boatcraft advice and tips – maintenance etc.
  
  
• Practical tips.
  
  
• Boat improvement hints.
  
  
• Domestic and administrative subjects – recipes, handling finances, cleaning the upholstery to name a few likely candidates.
  
  
• Cruising information. Perhaps a profile of a clearly defined cruising area – say the  Outer Hebrides or South Brittany or even a single island such as Menorca.
  
  
• Cautionary tales – when things go wrong and what might be learned from them.
  
  

The phrase ‘write knowledgeably’ needs explanation and will depend upon the nature of the subject. For instance, a doctor is clearly well placed to write a First Aid handbook but may not have the background to be the author of a piece on stripping an outboard motor. A motor mechanic’s expertise would place him in exactly the opposite position. This doesn’t mean we are looking for formal qualifications – just a thorough and genuine insight into whatever subject you choose.

The object is to publish articles and e-books that are as accurate and technically correct as they can possibly be. At the end of the day the responsibility for errors rests with the author, but Books for Sail will do what it can to double-check important facts, if in doubt consulting other experts.

It’s our intention that standalone articles will always be free-to-view. This means there will be no revenue for the author. But there wil be for e-books which we hope you'll move on to. And here  the good news is that e-books can be assembled in stages. For example an article on Anguilla (in the Caribbean) could be extended, island by island, to make up an e-book on the whole Leeward Island chain. The entire book could be written by a single author but it could equally well involve different authors, each writing about separate islands, who would split the income from the e-book proportionately. Books for Sail is very much a collaborative project.

It is also not necessarily the case that an article will be shorter than an e-book, though this will be the most likely outcome. The distinction will lie in the content, not the word count.

At this point we should give some idea of what Books for Sail’s input and responsibilities are to you, the author.

• Books for Sail will be responsible for all editing, illustrating and layout. Any editorial advice while the work is being written will be freely given. It’s our intention and in our joint interest to help and guide authors as much as we can.
  
  
• Authors will have the opportunity to inspect and comment on the final layout before it goes on-line, however Books for Sail retains the final right for all editorial decisions.
  
  
• There is always the possibility that a submitted work may not be of a publishable standard and will be rejected. However, by working together we believe most editorial problems can be overcome. Once again it’s the content that counts, not literary quality. Clarity and accuracy are the keys.
  
  
• It’s hoped that the author will supply supporting photos, where appropriate, but Books for Sail may also contribute pictures from its own library at no cost to the author.
  
  
• The copyright for the text will always be in the author’s name and this will be acknowledged within the work. International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) recording the author’s interest will be issued for every e-book.
  
  
• The illustrations will usually be done ‘in house’, and copyright for any artwork will remain with the illustrator. No contribution towards illustrative or other production costs will be sought from the author. Books for Sail is most emphatically not a ‘vanity publishing’ house where authors pay to see themselves in print.
  
  
• A written contract will be signed by both parties specifying the financial arrangements and conditions. An important undertaking from authors will be that their work is original and has not been plagiarised from other sources. Plagiarism is a form of theft for which the responsibility lies with the author and – it has to be said – Books for Sail will take a very dim view of such unethical practice.
  
  
• Overt self-promotion – 'advertorials' – will not be published but that doesn't mean someone with a commercial interest in a subject shouldn't write about that subject in general non-promotional terms. Articles conforming to Books for Sail's standards of even-handedness and impartiality will be encouraged to include links back to the author's place of business.
  
  
• Articles can carry links back to authors' websites. Because of the spamming threats, email addresses won't be published but anyone interested in contacting an author can do so via Books for Sail.
  
  
• Regular authors will be invited to post their biographies and contact details on our Meet the Authors page where they could well attract the attention of other publishers. We want you to succeed in your writing!
   
  

And the next step?

Please contact us with your ideas and preferably a short sample of your writing style. A number of e-books titles have already been commissioned from established professionals so it’s helpful to know whether or not a subject is already being covered before you launch yourself on your own creative enterprise.

But don’t think that because an e-book on – let’s say – Cruising the Canaries is already underway (it isn’t, by the way, so there’s a start for someone!) that you can’t write about the same area from a different angle – Anchorages of the Canary Isles, for example, or even Tavernas of the Canaries. The subject is so large the potential is virtually limitless.

Books for Sail will reply with further information, including a few pages in pdf format from Finding and Buying that Boat so you can see the sort of production standards we have set.

What the future could hold ....

Dick McClary's writing career began with a couple of short articles. Since then he has been a contributor to a number of different boating magazines and has become an acknowledged commentator in his field. His second book is scheduled for publication later this year.

To read a sample of his work go to Fishing for Food, a first rate article that Books for Sail is proud to publish for you to read.