Publishing a book - a lesson learnt

As I await with bated breath the appearance of Bridge the Culture Gaps (Nicholas Brealey/Hachette) I would like to share some thoughts on how to get a book published.

I was lucky that my first books (Germany and two different editions of Intercultural Business Communication) were the result of being approached by a co-author or a publisher who I already knew. I had some knowledge which they recognized was of interest to readers. One book (International Communication in Business - Theory and Practice) was the result of organizing a conference and having a sufficient surplus to pay for the proceedings to be published by a small academic publisher. Needless to say only a few people bought it and over twenty years later I still have a pile of copies gathering dust in the cellar. My latest book resulted from approaching a number of publishers where I had contacts or whose list seemed to match my idea.

What I have learnt from my experience over the past year is that what you need is not only interesting content and the proven ability to write but, if you want to get published by a traditional publisher as opposed to going the self-publishing route, you need to show that you have a clear target group or 'audience' for the book and that you can play a significant role in reaching them. This is as important as brilliant ideas or an innovative approach. While for the author the book may be like a precious baby which has been nurtured over many years, for the publisher it is a product which has to be marketed. Publishers talk about having a 'channel to market' or a 'platform.' In my case this means my clients and students as well as followers, like you, on social media. I found Linkedin to be particularly useful.