The Educator's Guide to Writing a Book

Practical Advice for Teachers and Leaders

Cathie E. West

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN:
  9781138828940
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317572268
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Education General
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

The Educator's Guide to Writing a Book is for educators who dream of sharing their knowledge and skills with a broader audience. This exciting resource provides step-by-step guidance on how to set publishing goals, create well-written content and resource material, develop an informative yet accessible writing style, prepare professional level manuscripts, and anticipate each stage in the publishing process. Chapters include authentic writing examples, tips from veteran authors and publishing professionals, and supportive resources. The Educator's Guide to Writing a Book is an invaluable guide that helps aspiring and novice authors move publishing goals from dreams to reality.

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1 Why Write?

[W]riters live their lives differently because they write.

Lucy McCormick Calkins with Shelley Harwayne (1991, p. 7)

Thinking about writing a book? Good for you! If you pursue this commendable goal you will not only make a contribution to your field but embark upon a mentally stimulating, highly creative, and professionally rewarding adventure, one The Educator’s Guide to Writing a Book will support—step by step—from title page to index and all points in between. Perhaps, however, you have already penned a manuscript for a book but failed to place it with a publisher. Should that be the case, this book is also for you. The tips, examples, and resources in this chapter, and those that follow, should help your publishing dreams become a reality. But before launching into book preparation details, we’ll take a look at the reasons why teachers and school leaders should set aside time to write.

■ Reasons to Write

Although writing a book may seem overwhelming, there are powerful reasons for beginning this breathtaking journey. The most compelling drivers—to serve, to lead, to teach, and to inspire—are presented below, with several examples of recently published books.

To Serve

Sharing information—ideas, experiences, skills, research—that helps educators become more proficient is a valuable way to serve others. A book is the ideal communication vehicle for “sharing” since it has the potential to reach a wide audience. Applying Servant Leadership in Today’s Schools by Mary Culver (2009) exemplifies the type of book that “serves” practitioners. Culver presents service leadership strategies coupled with authentic scenarios that support their implementation.

To Lead

Professionals in the vanguard of leading-edge educational practices often write books that show others how to follow along. A case in point is Richard and Rebecca DuFour and Robert Eaker. This influential trio has written extensively about the role professional learning communities (PLCs) play in improving teachers’ effectiveness. In Revisiting Professional Learning Communities at Work: New Insights for Improving Schools (DuFour et al., 2008) PLC principles are reviewed along with strategies for breaking down barriers that impede their implementation.

To Teach

The desire to “teach” provides another reason to write. Robert Marzano, for example, has authored a series of books that introduces educators to research-based practices that strengthen instructional outcomes. Among the best is Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading: Classroom Strategies that Work, which includes step-by-step assessment instructions and valuable evaluation tools (Marzano, 2010).

Another example of books that “teach” is provided by Teaching the iGeneration: 5 Easy Ways to Introduce Essential Skills with Web 2.0 Tools by Ferriter and Garry (2010). From this up to the minute tech resource teachers learn how to use websites, blogs, wikis, videos, Skype, podcasts, and other Web 2.0 tools to enrich instructional presentations.

To Inspire

Sometimes achieving educational goals seems impossible, especially with setbacks like test scores that sink instead of soar, students who fail instead of flourish, and faculty members who evade rather than embrace challenges. It is no wonder that a discouraged school leader would grab hold of The Moral Imperative of School Leadership by Michael Fullan (2003). Although a slim volume, this book packs a punch aimed at revitalizing the principalship through collaborative cultures, shared leadership, and purposeful behavior. It “inspires” by sharing specific strategies for managing change paired with credible stories of leadership success.

Now that you have reviewed the four rationales for preparing a book, use the Reasons to Write worksheet (Appendix A) to identify the motivators that apply to you. If there are additional reasons why you are considering writing a book, be sure to jot them down.

■ Reasons Not to Write

Although the intent of this book is to fuel your authorship ambitions, to be fair, let’s take a look at reasons not to write a book. There are a few myths about the rewards that come from publishing that ought to be dispelled. So take note: educators should not write a book for any of the following reasons.

For Money

Some inexperienced authors picture hefty monetary rewards from publishing a book. The truth is that the remuneration will be modest, and that’s only if the book sells in considerable numbers, not just at first but over the long haul. There are also expenses associated with writing a book, such as buying a computer, word-processing software, copy paper, and printer ink. Reference books and subscriptions to online professional journals cost money too, so that has to be included in the literary budget. Writing time should also be factored in. What do you earn per hour? If you spend twenty hours a week writing, what does that add up to—at your normal hourly rate—over the span of a year or more? The truth is that writing an education book, although immensely satisfying, will not make the author tons of money. On the other hand, if the book is touted by the latest television guru, endorsed by a sports celebrity, or becomes the basis for a blockbuster film, maybe the author will strike gold!

For Approval

Do you crave affirmation for the job you perform? Are you crushed when you encounter disapproval? Does being evaluated unnerve you? If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you will need to toughen up before publishing a book. No matter how much thought and time you devote to the development of your manuscript, during the publishing process you can expect criticism—albeit constructive criticism—from your editor, manuscript reviewers, and copy editor. And once the book is published you may encounter individuals who just flat out do not like your book (just pray that it is not a reviewer for a major publication). But you should not lose heart because there are people you can count on for unconditional approval—your family. Not only will family members love your book; they will purchase multiple copies!

For Career Advancement

Listing a published book on your résumé is guaranteed to catch the eye of a potential employer but no one is going to hire you simply because you are an author. You will climb the career ladder because of your talents, reputation, and compatibility with job requirements. This proviso also applies to professors who are pressured to publish in order to attain tenure. At higher education institutions, publishing is not the sole determinant that governs professorial advancement.

Have your hopes been dashed by the foregoing review of publishing myths? Probably not, since few educators write books for personal gain. So, assuming your interest in book writing is still solidly intact, the critical attributes that are necessary for bringing your book project to fruition follow.

■ Author Attributes

Anyone who takes on the impressive responsibilities associated with writing a book should be confident, committed, conscientious, and courageous. Don’t feel intimidated by these prize-winning traits, however, because if you are a successful educator you already have these essential attributes. If you are a teacher, for example, you are confident about the subject matter you teach, committed to meeting the needs of your students, conscientious about carrying out your assigned duties, and courageous when circumventing serious trouble, such as “out of control” students who strike out at others.

Likewise, principals are confident about overseeing the operation of their schools, committed to raising every student’s achievement, conscientious about fulfilling their legal responsibilities, and courageous when managing emergencies, such as school “lockdowns” precipitated by threatening intruders.

But how do these four attributes apply to writing?

Confident

Authors find out where their talents lie from editorial and readership feedback. Writers may learn, for example, that they are A+ organizational engineers, word-choice wizards, or punctuation prodigies. Nevertheless, when problems are identified—spelling snafus, grammar glitches, metaphor mix-ups—authors remain confident that they can learn what they do not yet know how to do and put it into practice in their writing.

Committed

Book writing is pure joy. Finding the perfect quote for a chapter lead-in, composing a sentence that captures the essence of an elusive concept, and generating narratives that flow effortlessly across the page are satisfying accomplishments. But since the time it takes to prepare a book may span more than a year, authorship requires a fair amount of commitment. To craft a product as complex as a book requires daily, weekly, and monthly attention. Do...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• About the Author
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Resources Available as Free Downloads
• 1 Why Write?
• 2 Best-Practice Practitioner Books
• 3 Book Mechanics and Safeguards
• 4 Titles, Topics, and Themes
• 5 Writing Style and Steps
• 6 Publishing People and Processes
• 7 Conclusion
• Appendix A: Reasons to Write
• Appendix B: Writing Goals Form
• Appendix C: Book Analysis Guide
• Appendix D: Author Bio Template
• Appendix E: Chapter Text and Images Worksheet
• Appendix F: Sample Query Letter
• Appendix G: Sample Prospectus
• Appendix H: Sample Submission Letter
• Appendix I: Chapter Framework and Features Template
• Appendix J: Sample Manuscript Submission Checklist
• Index