Getting a Book Published

<p>Has anyone published a book in HS before? If so, how did you do it?</p>

<p>Apparantly, it’s not that hard since E L James got her fantasies published.</p>

<p>No, It’ll be cool to have one published though. I’m guessing you would have to find an editor and find a publisher. I really have no clue.</p>

<p>Publishing a book take a lot of time, money, and effort. First you have to find an agent (which takes a few months to a few years), and then you have to get a publisher which takes a similar amount of time as far as I know. Not to mention actually writing and editing the book takes a lot of time. You want to get it proofread by a professional which takes money.</p>

<p>I’m personally writing my own algebra book which I’ll self publish for free (as in, distribute the pdf file myself). I’m writing it in a non-WYSIWYG language called LaTeX, which is actually extremely powerful, more than Word, once you get the hang of it and see all the packages you could possibly use.</p>

<p>And there is also a website called lulu.com in which you can self-publish as in actually have your book available in print and in e-book format.</p>

<p>In short: You don’t need a big publisher company to get a book out there. Just be sure you know who your audience is and be creative.</p>

<p>Fun fact: I’m basically doing the same thing as the person who runs CTAN, a web site that has a lot of information on LaTeX and its siblings. He also self-published in a similar way a book on linear algebra.</p>

<p>self-publishing is much easier, but it isn’t the best way to publish a book. it’s very hard to market self-published books. most (not all, but 99%) of self-published books are, frankly, failures. you could self-publish, but it’s usually better to go through traditional publishing where editors will help improve your work and take care of the marketing.</p>

<p>@stressedoutt I do, in fact, agree with you to the degree that OP is talking about a fictional work. I am under the impression, however, that “free textbooks” seem to be a lot easier to have their word spread around if they’re good enough. As for “marketing”, I also plan on making videos that follow the material in the book.</p>

<p><em>Waiting for Godot … waiting … waiting …</em></p>

<p>Holy crap he came :D! </p>

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<p>Wow! I was planning on self-publishing through Amazon, but lulu looks even better as it promises to put physical books on shelves :D. Good luck on your Algebra book too :). </p>

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<p>Is your book going on your college app? Or is it just a little side-job in which you make a little $ :D?</p>

<p>I think it’ll be more of an app booster. I don’t really want to make money off of it.</p>

<p>But WHY write an algebra book? Are there not enough out there already?</p>

<p>well nothing he can create right now has a good chance of being of value to others. the point is it’s a good exercise for him. it’s great practice for eventually writing his math papers, math notes, or whatever. and he can say he wrote a math book using LaTeX all by himself on his apps. how cool is that.</p>

<p>also he can push it on his kids when they’re still impressionable and look up to him and are learning algebra :p. (by the time they would be learning anything more advanced than algebra they would be too rebellious for that to work i think).</p>

<p>well couldn’t anyone do it? you could just publish your math notes!</p>

<p>by the way, i loved the EL James insult.</p>

<p>Oh yes, there are enough heavy, costly, dogmatic, state-adopted algebra textbooks out there. Too many, in fact.</p>

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<p>what is an EL James insult?</p>

<p>edit: oh.</p>

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<p>Finally, someone who noticed it! Hahha</p>

<p>E L James is the author of 50 Shades of Grey. If you haven’t heard of this book, you might’ve been living under a rock.</p>

<p>i haven’t heard of it :(.</p>

<p>Why do you even want to publish a book? It’s difficult for adults to actually publish a book so for high schoolers it’s much worse. And if it’s for your app, please reconsider doing this. Admission officers know when an application is ‘too polished’ or seems as though activities have been done just for admissions purposes. Needless to say, these people usually get rejected or perhaps waitlisted at best. You’ve been warned.</p>

<p>To be honest, I feel your time should be spent elsewhere. Focus on simply enjoying your summer for a bit and appreciate the time you have now with little responsibility or at least little compared to when you’re older.</p>

<p>I was supposed to see Ted today. I might see it tomorrow. All I have to do is purchase a ticket. No sneaking in for me. </p>

<p>Yo, Qube! Seriously, if James can do it, you can, too! Although, you might need to somehow string in your audience with something that they’re passionate about, or in James’s cases, deprived of.</p>

<p>I agree with sharker. Nobody ‘wants’ to write a textbook. admissions officers will know</p>