[Note: This is the first draft of the book. I would require your comments, suggestions and feedback to make the book more useful, interesting, and as error free as possible. Please send your comments, suggestions and feedback to me.]

The book publishing process will vary considerably from publisher to publisher. But the phases given in this section will be present in most cases. Every book starts as an idea. The idea could be that of the author or the publisher. If the book is the author’s idea, the author will approach the publisher. If the book idea occurred to the publisher, the publisher will find a suitable author.

Irrespective of the source of the idea, the author will have to write a book proposal, which will contain the details of how he would like to go about writing the book. It will contain a synopsis, detailed table of contents, expected time for completion, approximate number of chapters, pages, and artwork. In many cases the proposal will also contain sample chapters of the proposed book.

The book proposal is given to the publisher or an acquisitions editor of the publishing house. The proposal is usually reviewed by subject experts who will give their opinion on various areas like whether the book will sell (if yes, how many), what topics need to be included, what topics need to removed, what topics need to be expanded and so on. Usually, the proposal is reviewed by three experts and if two of them give the nod, the book is accepted. The acquisitions editor will also check for other details like quality of writing, the author’s credentials, etc. He/she will determine whether the schedules are in order and the cost of production will be covered by the revenue generated by the projected sales.

Once the proposal is accepted, the publisher will offer the contract to the author. Once the contract is signed, the author starts working on the book. The author and the acquisitions editor would have agreed on time schedules, milestones, and deliverables.

The author will deliver the completed chapters to the editor as per the schedule. These chapters are given to the technical reviewer. The technical reviewer will be a person who is an authority on the subject. The technical reviewer would review the book for correctness and clarity. The author would have to answer the queries posed by the reviewer and make revisions if required.

Once the technical review is over for all the chapters, the author should submit the manuscript to the publisher. The manuscript and the accompanying artwork would have to be submitted in the format specified by the publisher. The publisher will send the manuscript for copyediting. The copyeditor will check for grammatical errors, clarity, uniformity, consistency and other technical flaws. The copyedited manuscript is returned to the author. The author should go through the changes marked and decide to accept them or not. In this case the author usually has the final say.

Once the copyediting changes are approved and necessary revisions are completed, the author sends it back to the publisher who in turn sends it for typesetting. At the same time, the cover designer will start designing the cover. There cover designer will produce one or more designs and would send it to the author, editor and publisher for inputs and approval. The selected cover design is sent to for printing.

In the meanwhile, the typesetter would design the layout for the book and would convert the manuscript (the text and illustrations) into the new layout. The publisher will send the galley proofs (formatted pages of the manuscript) to the author for review. The galley proof process is essentially a last chance to make small changes and look for typographical errors. The author reviews the galley proofs, makes corrections (if any), and prepares the index and preliminary pages (preface, acknowledgements, dedication, etc.) and sends them back to the publisher.

During the final stages, the marketing department will sent out brochures and other information about the book to influential people and potential buyers. They will try to get the book reviewed by experts. The strategy is to create awareness about the book and also to influence the potential buyers. The author also promotes the book through personal websites, blogs, and other networking sites.

The publisher sends the corrected galley proofs and other material for printing. The book and the cover are printed and bound. They are packed and send to the distributors or bookshops. The book reaches the bookshops and the readers who in turn decide the fate of the book.

[Note: This is the first draft of the book. I would require your comments, suggestions and feedback to make the book more useful, interesting, and as error free as possible. Please send your comments, suggestions and feedback to me.]

Brooks is a software engineer and computer scientist, best known for managing the development of OS/360, then later writing candidly about the process in his seminal book “The Mythical Man-Month.” Mythical Man-Month changed the way software was developed and Brooks’s law became one of the most important laws of software project management and Brooks became a cult figure in the software engineering field.

Humphrey is also a software engineer, key thinker in the discipline of software engineering, and is often called the father of software quality. His books Managing the Software Process and A Discipline for Software Engineering are ‘must reads’ for software engineers.

Weinberg is author or co-author of several hundred articles and more than 30 books. In 1971 he published the book The Psychology of Computer Programming, which is considered by many the beginning of the study of software engineering as human behavior.

Davis is a software engineer and has held numerous teaching and consulting positions in various organizations and universities around the world. He has written five books and in 2006 his book 201 Principles of Software Development was voted by ACM members as one of the 20 classic computer science books.

McConnell is an author of many software engineering textbooks including Code Complete, Rapid Development, and Software Estimation. In 1998, McConnell was named as one of the three most influential people in the software industry by Software Development Magazine, along with Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds. Code Complete is considered as a software engineer’s Bible.

What is the secret behind the phenomenal success of these authors? Their books have passed the test of time and remain as bestsellers. They continue to influence the new generation of software engineers as they did the earlier generations. Their lecture tours are fully booked and they speak before jam-packed audiences.

These authors are great speakers and excellent in written and oral communication; they have the ability to explain and illustrate complex topics in simple terms that even a novice can understand; they have comprehensive knowledge of their areas of specialization; they have years of experience in dealing with real-life problems (both technical and management) and solving them; they continue to learn; they contribute immensely to the development of the profession by teaching, mentoring, and writing; and they work real hard.

If a person has all these attributes and if he or she decides to write a book, the chances of that book becoming a success are very high. The reason is that the book such a person write will be interesting, easy-to-read and understand, engaging, and will give practical know-how and wisdom that a professional can right away apply to his/her work.

In this book we will see how to write a book that will be interesting, engaging, readable and of practical value. We will examine the successful authors and their secrets and will find out how some people continue to write bestsellers while majority of the professionals do not even think about writing a book.

[Note: This is the first draft of the book. I would require your comments, suggestions and feedback to make the book more useful, interesting, and as error free as possible. Please send your comments, suggestions and feedback to me.]