Authors information

The Dyscalculia Centre | INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS

We are constantly looking for educational books to publish.

First and Best in Education runs a range of publishing imprints. We are always looking for new books and software to publish that fit our formats.

Most of our books are published for teachers or parents, but we are sometimes interested in looking into other publishing areas including business books.

We publish in the following ways:

As photocopiable books. These are highly used in schools and include school improvement reports, worksheets, GCSE and A level texts as well as notes for parents which the schools copy and then pass on. These are normally 60 to 120 pages of A4 in length.
On disk. Again for schools, this format allows teachers to change the text if they so wish before using the book with pupils.

Formats

Because of our specialist approach all work must be submitted in one of the approved formats. Where a computer format is mentioned it is always for the PC. We cannot accept Apple Mac disks nor can we accept any format other than those listed here.

Photocopiable books. These can be supplied either as ready to publish hard copy (printed out on a laser printer at at least 600dpi), or on Adobe Acrobat 4, or in Word for Windows 6, 7 or 8.
On disk. Either Adobe Acrobat 4 or Word for Windows 6 7 or 8.

But please note, that if the book has illustrations, crosswords, designs or mathematical formulae it must be provided in Adobe Acrobat or as printed material. If providing us with printed copy remember we will be printing the book directly from your material – we will not be resetting the book and thus the quality must be sufficiently high. Adobe Acrobat is available from Adobe on 0131 458 6842, fax 0131 451 6999 or at www.adobeshop.com

Before sending in your work, please be aware of the following points:

We cannot accept work that includes colour. For our photocopiable publications there would be little point in producing colour pages, because as soon as the pages are photocopied, all colour would be lost.
We do not publish fictional material.
After we have read your manuscript, you will be asked to proof and edit the book yourself. You must supply the final version of your book ready for print – we do not use proof readers and editors to change your work. If we spot any spelling mistakes or other errors we will return the whole book to you for you to review it – we will point out the errors we have seen, but will not check the whole book for you.

What we have published

A list of our bestsellers is below and a copy of the current First and Best catalogue is available on the Internet at www.firstandbest.co.uk . We have published over 1000 photocopiable books, over 500 books on disk, and around 20,000 worksheet sets.

Illustrations

Do remember that while a bound volume may require pictures simply to break up the page, this is not necessary on a disk or a photocopiable page where the individual will be using just a couple of pages at a time. Our authors provide their own illustrations.

Lay out of books

For printed submissions please make margins no less than 1 inch for left/right margins, no less than 0.5 inch for Header/Footer. Any page numbers should be at the bottom of the page and centred. Please do not include page numbers on the contents page.
If you include any questions or crosswords within your book please include an answer sheet with your work. Check that puzzles work by asking someone to complete them for you.

Opening submissions

Authors are asked to submit the following in the first instance as printed material or on disk/email
(newbooks@firstandbest.co.uk). We do not accept handwritten submissions.

Information on your proposed book following the guidelines set out here
A note on how you would present the book if accepted. This will be either as printed pages, or in Adobe Acrobat or in Word.

If your submission is accepted you will be able to decide how long you wish to take to complete your work. Authors normally opt for anything from a few weeks to nine months. The time will be a guide only - we appreciate that there is no way that you can guarantee what other events might occur in the following months.

Please do not phone. We cannot accept phone calls to enquire about books and the possibility of publication. If you have any queries please email newbooks@firstandbest.co.uk fax 01536 399 012 or write to the address above.

Copyright and payment

Authors must assert that they are the copyright owners of the text, illustrations and data supplied. Authors are paid by royalty twice a year. Royalties are calculated as 7½% of the pre-VAT retail price of the book or disk and for bound books sold in book shops. Authors make no payment towards publication costs.

All royalties are paid in Sterling. How many copies of your book will sell is hard to judge, and the fact that we want to commission a title does not mean that we are certain how popular it will be. A best selling book/disk of around 60 pages might earn its author around £5000 a year, but some books achieve much lower sales. Many of our authors have written a number of books with us and so can increase their income.

Know your publisher!

It is our belief that all authors should always know something about the format and style that is used by their publisher. Therefore we strongly advise all prospective writers to take a look at one or two recent First and Best books.

Our titles have a standardised cover and style, which teachers have come to expect over the last five years. Although we have the facility to vary this and to produce titles in paperback and other formats we will not do this unless a very strong case is made for this. If in approaching us you are proposing a book which is outside our normal format it is important that you make this clear from the very start and explain why you feel the format should be varied.

Best selling Books

A list of our recent best selling books is given below. It is interesting to see that the top three best sellers are all older books which have sold well for over 5 years – their strength lies in the fact that they are not subject specific and have a relevance to teachers in general rather than to one narrow group of teachers. Our series of dyscalculia books continues to be well received primarily because there is not a great deal of such material written specifically for teachers on the market. The only new book on the list is “Life Games” which offers original and topical activities for teachers of KS3/4 PSHE. Details of these books can be found in the alphabetical list on www.firstandbest.co.uk

	Title
1	Critical Thinking
2	Raising Grades through Study Skills
3	Citizenship through Assembly
4	Maths for the Dyscalculic Pupil: Shapes, Percentages and Fractions
5	Enterprise Education : The Complete Coursebook
6	Life Games
7	Practical Activities for Children with Dyscalculia: School’s Edition
8	Risk Assessment Documents for Nursery Schools
9	Coping with Teenage Stress
10	The Relevant Assembly

As a general point it is clear to us that a book which offers the solution to a perceived problem will sell better than a book which simply offers yet another way of doing the same thing. If we can persuade the potential customer that there is a solution to a problem, that our book contains this secret solution, and that knowing the solution will make a teacher's life easier or help him/her to deliver their subject more effectively - then that book will sell. The top selling books on the list above all have in common the fact that they offer a low-cost solution to a problem; they provide something which cannot be obtained elsewhere.

Our best selling book in the last 3 years has been Raising Grades Through Study Skills.

Book submission check list

If you would like to send in a more detailed proposal you should try to include the following:

1. Book title - provisional - and proposed length

2. Sample pages – 5 to 10 pages to give us a feel for your style

3. Contents page

4. Details of the proposed book:

The subject and scope of your book. Give as much detail as is necessary to give a good grasp of the book and the approach you plan to take. Please include any special or unique features.
The type of book (textbook/workbook) and the level - kS3/A-level....
The purpose of the book and how it will be achieved.
Why you believe the book is needed
Please list up to six features of the proposed book
Will the book feature any supplementary material - accompanying templates on CD/teachers guide/solutions section?
Will the book need to be updated regularly?
What are your main sources of information in the book?
Are there any copyright issues?

5. The market for your book:

Please give details of the proposed audience for your book – PSHE Coordinator primary/head of RS…...
Why do you believe the book is needed?
Which books are available covering the same subject at similar levels? How does your book relate to them and what particular advantage does your book have?

6. Is your book a textbook?

Which specific features make your book a textbook?
Which course or part of a course does it intend to cover? Which exam board? Be precise.