[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi All,

       as a result of all the enquiries that I recive about keeping poultry from new owners I decided to put together a booklet complete with photographic illustrations.
       21 chapters and 10,000 words later a friend suggested that I publish is as a guide to understanding poultry behaviour for the novice / back yard keeper. A couple of pay to publish companies have had a look at it and are happy to produce it for a fee.
       I havent approached a conventional publisher yet as I understand that I will need to have it edited and employ an agent as well as ensure that the manuscript is presented in a specific way. This will all cost money and Im not sure if the book is good enough or if there is a sufficiend demand for it.

      Has anyone had any experience of publishing for the pet / animal care market?

Buffy

[robert waddell]

there are at least 4 book writers on here and possibly more  all in different fields      to me it sounds like you have done all the work and others have to get a slice of the pie  or is that just my Scottish upbringing 

[lill]

can you not publish it your self, it would be cheaper and you are the one in control, as Robert says, other do nothing and take a whack of the dosh, better in your pocket than in theirs, this is just my opinion, surely it cant cost that much for you to do a booklet, it may not look professional but it is the content that matters not how it looks.

[Dan]

You need to ask yourself why you want to publish the book. If it's for the pure pleasure of it then go the self-publishing route, you'll learn a lot and might sell a few hundred copies. Lulu is a dead easy way to do it - http://www.lulu.com/uk

If you want to reach as wide a readership as possible, sell as many copies as possible, and perhaps establish yourself as a writer, then you really do need an editor and a literary (publishing) agent.

Yes, it's very easy to self-publish, and can be done for buttons, but to get the exposure you need through book shops, online, and in reviews, magazines and so on, you really need someone who knows the publishing business.

Alternatively contact one of the specialist publishers like the Good Life Press to see it they'd be interested - http://www.goodlifepress.co.uk/titlesubmissions

HTH. 

[chrismahon]

I bought two excellent starter books from a cheap bookshop which I would thorougly recommend. Very well written and covering every aspect I could think of. Only breed missing I spotted was Crested Cream Legbars. Superb photos and the best section on coops and runs I've seen. They were only £3 each. The point I am making here Buffy is that the market is flooded to the extent that two very good books with rrp of £15 each were being sold at £3.

[deepinthewoods]

markets are always flooded. if buffy came in at a new angle, ie the behavioural aspects of chicken management, then it might be worth a shot, id be interested in an analysis of breed behaviour. looking after chickens is hardly rocket science, understanding them is entirely different.

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi everyone,

  thanks for the feedback. The book is really about chicken behavours and communication to help owners undertand their birds, how they communicate, social structure etc. I have included basics on housing, feeding, breeding etc. But the main aim was to help people to get more from their birds and learn to communicate with them. 

 The topics included in the book are all based on the things that new owners want to know and also reflect the questions that are posted on the forums that I contribute to.

An ebook could be an option if I didnt include the photographs. I do have a couple of pay to publish companies interested but I would have to pay for the book to be edited and produced and the bookshops that sell it would need to make a mark up on it so I might end up out of pocket or with a barn full of books that I cant sell.

I am in the process of writing another book which should have a wider mainstream apeal so perhaps I should just focus on getting that published.

Buffy 

[chrismahon]

Now that's an interesting subject little covered or even considered by many. We bought a CD called 'talking to chickens' when we first started and it set us on the right path immediately. Long before a hen is visibly ill it stops talking to us -that gives us a head start on things, but doesn't apply to cockerels unfortunately. Our chicken keeping has always focussed on communication and behaviour in an effort to understand them, rather than just keeping them. Problem is you do become very involved with the characters. Then there's the problem that different breeds speak slightly different languages but each seems to understand the others. We have a lot to learn from them.

[Sylvia]

Buffy, go to your local book shop, look for the publisher of each chicken book, make a note of them and send a copy of your book to one. If they say no thanks, send it to the next. But don't get discouraged, it sounds a really interesting book and I'm sure it will do well.

[Bert]

I'd buy a copy of your book, It sound very good

[Castle Farm]

Why don't you ebook it.
Grant B did and I bought a download online.

[colliewoman]

I would certainly be interested in a copy if you do get it published.
i would rather a book than an ebook personally

[northfifeduckling]

I'd have one, too, paper rather than e! 

[chrismahon]

I thought about a chicken dictionary. Perhaps it's possible now that books are read on electronic tablets. Highlight the word and you get the sound played as well -or is this still science fiction?

[Buffy the eggs layer]

Hi everyone,

  thanks for the feedback. And thanks Chris for taking the time to understand your birds I'm sure that they really appreciate it. Hens of different breeds do communicate at different levels. I find that the more confident and relaxed the breed then the more sophisticated or varied their behaviours.

I do cover the noises that chickens make and what they mean in the book as well as explaing body language and what these sounds and movements mean when combined. I have split them into chick, hen and cockerel behaviours and used my own photos to illustate but the idea of actually being able to hear the noise or see video footage of behaviour is even better. I will look into this as an added feature of the book. If I used an internet site to provide the illustrations then, I could produce the text in an ebook. Perhaps a paper copy for those who are not Kindle fans could work too.

The market for this book is small,

Chicken owner, who is interesed in behaviour rather than just eggs and meat, who is comfortable spending money on books.

From what I can gather from the publisher, so many poultry keepers are smallholders or backyard keepers who wouldnt be that interested in what their chickens think or are trying to tell them and if they were they wouldnt want to pay for that information.

So the market for this book is people who keep chickens for pleasure as much as productivity and who are enjoying their birds as part of a lifestyle choice rather than a true small holder who is scrimping and struggling to make ends meet.

Apparently this is an affluent market but a small one so the number of copies required would be low.

I am going to edit the manuscript and send it to the relevant publishers as suggested. I will let you know how I get on.

Buffy