ASTD Press Author's Page
ASTD Press Mission:
The mission of ASTD Press is to be the premier source for insightful and practical information in the area of workplace learning. Key topic areas include training fundamentals, instructional system development, needs assessment, evaluation and return-on-investment, performance, and career development. ASTD Press also publishes books on general business topics including leadership, management development, and a range of other business skills topics of interest to our membership and workplace learning audience.
New Authors:
ASTD Press welcomes book proposals from authors with new and innovative ideas that fit our publishing program goals and objectives. The guidelines provided here will help us give your proposal a fair and objective review. Key to the selection process is a willingness by the author to partner with ASTD Press in the marketing and promotion of a book. This partnership ensures your book gets the attention it deserves and is a success for both ASTD Press and the author.
Upcoming Book News
Motivational speaker Jim Smith Jr. has signed with ASTD Press to publish From Average to Awesome: Lessons for Living An Extraordinary Life. Jim is the author of the 2007 ASTD Press title, Crash and Learn: 600 + Road-Tested Tips to Keep Audiences Fired Up and Engaged!
Christee Gabour Atwood, author of two previous ASTD Press titles, has signed on to write another ASTD Trainer’s WorkShop series book. The new book, Manager Skills Training, follows Presentation Skills Training (released in November 2007) and Succession Planning (released October 2007).
New ASTD Press author Jack Appleman’s first book 10 Steps to Successful Business Writing will release in January 2008.
Long time ASTD Press author Lisa Haneberg’s new book Developing Great Managers: 20 Power-Hour Conversation That Build Skills Fast will release in February 2008. Lisa’s other ASTD Press books include: Coaching Basics, Organization Development Basics, and 10 Steps to be a Successful Manager.
New ASTD Press author Alexandra Levit’s book, Hire Smart, Hire Right: Simple Strategies to Find and Keep Outstanding Employees will release in April 2008.
Lisa Downs has signed to write another Trainer’s WorkShop series title for ASTD Press. Lisa’s new book, Time Management Training will release in August 2008. Her other ASTD Press titles include the forthcoming: Listening Skills Training (releasing February 2008) and Negotiation Skills Training (2009).
Tips on How to Successfully Market Your ASTD Press Title
By Lou Russell, Author of Project Management for Trainers, Leadership Training WorkShop, and Training Triage.
How soon do you start telling your clients and other contacts about your book?
As the date approaches for my draft to be delivered, I start putting the book on my final slide in any presentation or talk on my schedule. This is especially true if my presentation is on a similar topic. When I have an available date, I put a special notice in all my speeches and in my monthly newsletters I send out to clients and industry contacts. I also send proposals to speak on the topic of the book at upcoming conferences. You should note that geting on the schedule at major conference normally requires a 6 to 12 month lead time. I also promote the book through a local business column I author.
How do you use your web site to market your title?
We work very hard on our web site and we use a number of simple techniques to get the word out on our books. Our company has a book store and this allows us to do pre-orders (as long as we are confident about the delivery date). We also start offering workshops on the book through our course offerings. Sometimes, we have a cartoon made that draws attention to the topic of the book and send this out to our mailing list. We also buy domain names if possible to take advantage of search engines highlighting key words or concepts we want to emphasize. For example: www.flexiblestructure.com, www.lectureasalastresort.com,www.trainingtriage.com and www.asktolead.com.
How do you use your book in your practice?
- As a resource for our workshops
- As a way to build brand
- As a way to jumpstart our perceived expertise in the marketplace.
Contact ASTD Press:
Mark Morrow
Manager, Acquisitions and Author Relations
ASTD Press
1640 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22313
703.683.9205
email: mmorrow@ASTD.org
Rights and Licensing
ASTD Press actively manages the usage of ASTD Press content and seeks to make it as easy as possible for others to legitimately use material published by our press. Only ASTD Press can give permission for use of ASTD Press copyrighted material. Please send all such requests to Kelly Norris at knorris@astd.org. Often times a fee is associated with the usage of content from your book and as the author you are entitled to a percentage of the any fees collected.
Can I find ASTD Press books in my local bookstore?
Yes, ASTD Press is represented in familiar book stores such as Barnes & Noble and Border Books by the National Book Network (NBN). NBN is a 20-year-old dynamic, service-oriented sales, marketing, and distribution company servicing North American and overseas publishers of commercial fiction and nonfiction books and audio titles. NBN customers include every venue for book sales, including traditional, nontraditional, and online accounts in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Europe. National Book Network is a subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., one of North America's largest academic publishers. NBN and RLPG are headquartered in Lanham, Maryland, a northeast suburb of Washington, D.C.
What gets your attention when reviewing proposals?
Here are some top ways to get the attention of an acquistions editor:
- a catchy title that reveals the author knows my market
- a complete proposal that answers the questions in my book submission guidelines
- a well written proposal that reinforces the notion that the potential author can write and express ideas clearly
- a flawless proposal – no typos (although a single typo or two will not negate a great overall proposal with a hot idea)
- most important – direct evidence that the author will aggressively market the book to an established client base or is a popular and accomplished presenter
What kind of authors are you seeking?
Mainly I’m looking for authors with unique perspectives and a willingness to work with us to make the book a success.
More and more I’m looking for authors who can write extremely well to reduce development time and get the book to market faster. I have several authors who were writers first and then became trainers. Often, these are some of my the best authors – they come to us with a well developed writing “voice” and deliver flawless manuscripts.
Still great ideas and the right content are a wining combination for me as long as the author is committed to the project
What will get the attention of most potential publishers?
Get on the speaking circuit and develop a reputation for great ideas and great presentations. If you do this long enough and do it well I guarantee someone will start asking you to write a book.
What overall advice would you give to first time author?
Don’t get discouraged. If you really want to get published and have something unique and possibly profitable to say, you’ll find a publisher. More importantly, make yourself an in demand speaker. A huge percentage of book contracts are offered to authors after the acquisitions editor hear the author speak.. Why? Because the editor has a good indicator that the author will partner with the publisher to promote and sell a book once it is published.
What is the most common reason for turning down a proposal?
The book does not fit into our list workplace learning titles or our emerging general business list.The book is on a topic already covered by existing books and is not unique or groundbreaking
Current Authors
ASTD Press strives to provide its authors with the tools and resources needed for success. Provided below are links to
useful documents on getting access to promotional copies, your rights as an ASTD Press author and otheruseful information.
Useful Links
Publisher's Weekly
Amazon.com/training
Books for Authors
1001 Ways to Market Your Books
What You Should Know About Copyright (under construction)
Complementary Copies
ASTD Press authors typically receive up to 20 copies of their book when it is published. However, we are glad to offer a limited amount of additional copies for other promotional or marketing activities.
Discounts to Authors Sales
Authors typically receive a 30% discount off the member price of their book if purchased after the initial press run. This means that if the member price of a title is $25.95, the author price will be $18.16. Significant savings are available for authors if books are ordered pre-press meaning that the author commits to the purchase of at least 25 copies before the book goes to press. This option allows for the purchase of books at publisher cost.
