OT: Anyone publish a book before

Has anybody here written and book and got it published?

I am toying with the idea, technical based. (not a novel)

If you have had a book published then fill me in on what you had to do, steps needed, how many rights to your book do you have in the end, how much money did you make etc.

Google "self-publishing". I don"t have details, but there are plenty of shops that will do that for you. They will do the printing, and the marketing is up to you. Just like those cookbooks that church ladies come up with- usually dealing with smaller shops.

Go to the John Deere tractor forum and make a call out to Pat Browning.

He has published a technical book and should be able to answer your questions.

Good luck and best wishes on your book project.

My Aunt owns a publishing Co . Galde Press, in Minneapolis . Give her a jingle she may give you some tips.

yep.. as the others said.. decide if you want a publisher.. or to self publish and distribute.

go from there.

soundguy

At least two other people who have used this site beside Mr. Browning.....Norm Swinford (an Allis-Chalmers fountain of knowledge), and Sherry Schaefer(who covers most all things Oliver) have published books.
You might post your questions in those forums to see what comes up.
I doubt you would get them to say how much money they made, but they might steer you in the right direction for the other things.
You might also check the various publishers who have printed other technical books.

Thanks I will do that.

If you write a book and say it is fiction, are you protected from lawsuits?

That is something that can get you in deep trouble. Sister-in-law wrote a book on collecteable model horses and for every one she got information from and was listed as to getting the information from and that they were OK with the project after She got a dowm payment from the puplisher and book was being printed one of the people she got information caused a stink and the production was stoped and she had to repay her advance and they did not have the money. She was working trying to support herself, husband and sone while waiting and fighting the goverment dissability program for her husband that was disabled and goverment was saying he could work yet he was not able to walk up the stairs to their apartment, had to crawl half way and rest before he could crawl the rest of the way and at that time he was bleeding from the eyes as well as a lot of other things. Never could prove it but family thinks his job delievering radioactive products to hospitals burned him. If you do something make absoutaly sure no one can come back and say you got information that they did not want you to have or that after they said you could use it for free then that they cannot go to publisher and demand a big payment for there few words. Sisterinlaw has not written anything since and She had stuf published before that.

My Son Did 2 and is toying with a action Comic book ... Honestly , No great success , And It is Very good reading , Marketing is His responsibility , with little helpfrom publishing house ... possibly He was victim of Vanity publishing ./.

Sister published a book on poetry about 20 years ago. Cost quite a bit and recovery was about 10%. Got it out of her system was the best thing. Vanity publishing seems like the place. Dave

It seems that everyone "knows someone" who has published a book, and is willing to give you advice. I have published 3 books (McGraw-Hill) and have some first-hand info. Let me give you some advice:
1. Everyone has a book inside them, but few of them are willing to struggle enough to get it published.
2. If you plan to make a fortune, don't write your book for a very small niche. You could sell it to everyone in that group, and still not make money.
3. Books have benefits outside of simply selling books. Besides the tax breaks, you become an authority on your subject, although many more people might actually know more about it than you do. This might make you money, add fame, both, or neither, depending on your group.
4. Books are about 10 times more difficult to write than they appear to be. By the time your book appears on the market (if it does), you'll be sick of looking at it. You'll be required to submit it chapter by chapter, and write the next chapter while you're editing THEIR editing of previous chapters. You'll also re-edit pre-publication proofs, then "galley" proofs. You might also be required to submit professionally taken photos and/or diagrams to illustrate your book. The publisher may or may not pay for this. And their deadlines are always weeks ahead of yours.
5. You should write a proposal first, then go searching for a publisher. Don't write the book first. The publisher may want a slightly different slant that will increase your potential sales dramatically. That publisher will ask you some tough questions, like to whom your book is intended to sell, who your competition is, why would anyone buy it, and dozens more questions. By the time you finish your "fishing" for a publisher, you might decide not to write it.
6. Vanity publishers are bad, or good. They're bad, because they charge you to get your book published, then wash their hands of you and your book. They're good if you truly have an overlooked niche that has millions of potential customers, because all they will charge will be the printing and editing fees, and you get the remains. And they WILL publish your book, even if it's full of misspellings, not very attractive, and has a target population consisting of you and your family.
7. There are dozens of other questions that you should have, and I don't have the time to answer them. One thing you might do, if you have a potentially popular book of, say, the Harry Potter sales potential, is to employ an agent. Yes, they will take money from your proceeds, but they can negotiate contracts that contain benefits that you never thought of.

Now, gun guru, do you still want to write a book? This should give you a gut check.