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Submitting Book Proposal To ASTD Press

ASTD Press welcomes proposals from prospective authors with new and innovative ideas that fit into our current publishing program. The following guidelines will ensure that your proposal will be given a fair and objective review. Key to the publisher and author relationship is a willingness to partner with ASTD Press to ensure your book reaches its intended audience and that the investment made by you and ASTD Press pays off. Please read carefully the following instructions and pointers before submitting your proposal to us.

Before submitting a proposal, please do the following:

1. Go to the ASTD Press web site and examine the types of book we publish and market.

Does you book proposal reflect the subject matter and approach of these titles. ASTD Press publishes books of interest to our core market of workplace learning professionals including trainers and those who manage and direct training programs. We also focus on general business topics and skills development topics important to our core audience such as project management, leadership, strategic planning, career development, organization development, and consulting. We publish books occasionally in the area of teams, e-learning, performance improvement, and books intended for our higher level audience of chief learning officers.

2. Put together Your Proposal

Please Include the Following:

A. Market Survey – Tell us why your book different from other books available on the subject and why ASTD Press should publish it. Your survey of the market should let us know that you are familiar with the competition and why your book will do well in this market. If possible, provide some realistic sales figures based on your examination of the market.

 B. Marketing Plan – ASTD Press is happy to provide basic marketing support for your book through all its sales channels including book stores nationwide. However, the most critical element of your proposal is how you plan to market the book. Since marketing begins as much as six months prior to the release of a title, we will need a list of all your upcoming speaking engagements or potential client engagements with sales potential.  Here is a general list of questions you’ll need to answer in this section.

  • How many times do you speak and/or train in the intended market? Please estimate the number of potential contacts from these events. Provide a list of all speaking or training events for the coming year.
  • Do you teach professional or college-level courses? Is so, please provide information about these courses and possible sales leads to have your book adopted as a classroom textbook.
  • Are you a member of a professional association? Do you have contacts or special relationships with these associations that might benefit sales of your book?
  • Do you have potential useful media contacts in trade or major market newspapers, magazines, or other media? Do you make regular appearances on television or radio or provide content for magazine columns or online publications?
  • Do you publish a client newsletter or e-newsletter? When it is published and how many names are on your mailing list.
  • Do you have a list of likely “high profile” individuals who might endorse your book or be interested in receiving a copy of your completed book?
  • Have you appeared in any local or national media publications? If so, please send a copy of these interviews or articles about you. We would also like to see examples of articles authored by you that have appeared in local or national media.

In addition to answering these questions, please provide a plan that will demonstrate how you plan to use your marketing expertise to sell your book.

C. Resume – Please enclose a detailed resume that will show us why you are the right author to write and market this book to the appropriate audience.

D. Summary of Your Book – Include a 1-page summary that will “sell” us on the idea of your book.

E. Outline / Table of Contents of Your Book – This is an important piece of the proposal process. Your table of contents should be detailed and specific and show us exactly what will be in each chapter and how you plan to fully realize the promise of your outline.

F. Sample Chapter – provide us with what you think is your strongest writing example.

Note: If it s important that ASTD Press returns your proposal or manuscript, please provide a self-addressed stamped

We will contact you within 30 days of receiving your proposal if we believe it has potential for ASTD Press. If ASTD Press is interested you will be asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire that is part of a process that may lead to a contract for your book.

ASTD Press is happy to work with all authors wishing to publish in our market. Remember that one of the most important aspects of publishing in today’s competitive environment is taking advantage of the natural synergies that exist between the author and the publisher. By working together to market and sell your book everyone wins.

Please send your proposal to:

Mark Morrow
Manager, Acquisitions and Author Relations
ASTD Press
1640 King Street
Alexandria, VA 22313
703.683.9205
mmorrow@ASTD.org