Announcing Tech Publishing Festival – July 2012

Tech Publishing Festival – July 2012 is a special offer (available through July 2012) from Pothi.com to the authors of technical books. All through July, Pothi.com will provide free design and distribution services to tech authors. You only have to take care of preparing the final content of the book. We will format the book and design a cover for you. You will also get our online distribution service for free for one year. Through this service, the books get listed on Flipkart, Indiaplaza and other online retailers’ websites.

Submit Your Manuscript

How much money does it save the authors?

Pothi.com is a self-publishing platform. To publish through us, normally authors have to prepare their books in print-ready format themselves, or take paid services from us. Assuming a 200-pages book, the savings include

• Rs. 3000 for formatting
• Rs. 2500 for cover design
• Rs. 1500 for extended online distribution

Total Savings: Rs. 6000

What kinds of manuscripts are eligible?

Manuscripts related to Computer (Science), Information Technology, Software Products and Internet are welcome. They can be of different types including, but not restricted to

• Textbooks/Reference Books on
  • Programming Languages
  • Programming Tools and Technologies
  • Specific topics in computer science like databases, networks etc.
• Interview/Exam preparation and Q&A
• Software Engineering and Management
• Manuals/Guides of
  • Open source software
  • Enterprise Products
• Guides for beginners
• Other topics in tech domain

What is the deadline for submission?

Manuscripts should be submitted by July 30, 2012. If you have just started writing the book and need some more time to finish it, submit a partial manuscript with at least 2-3 chapters by this deadline. The complete manuscript must be submitted by August 31, 2012 to be eligible for the offer. Please note that partial manuscript should have actual chapters and not just a plan/introduction/preface.

How to submit?

Through this form. Manuscripts will not be accepted through e-mails or CDs. You will receive a submission id on successful submission. Please keep it handy for further communication.

If you submit partial manuscript, you will receive the instructions for submission of full manuscript separately. Do not resubmit the form for full manuscript.

What about pricing the book and royalties?

Price and author earnings or royalties will work as per the usual Pothi.com practices. Please check the following relevant sections in our FAQs.

• Book Pricing
• Post Publishing Support

Why write a technical book?

A technical book usually conjures the picture of a 1000 page tome covering a particular technology in great detail. It is natural to think that writing those books requires super human effort and you, as a mere mortal, are not capable of that. However nothing can be farther from truth.

By leveraging the print-on-demand and online distribution, it is now possible to publish books free from the usual limits on audience size and book size. It is perfectly viable to write a short book about the niche expertise you hold. Writing such a book can help you significantly enhance your credibility as an expert and open doors to new opportunities.

Why self-publishing is a good fit for technical authors?

Self-publishing based on a print-on-demand model is a great fit for the authors of technical books. In today’s fast moving technology landscape, technical books have a short life span. So the time to market and the flexibility of quickly revising content becomes very important. With print-on-demand, you can reach the market in matter of weeks and the updates can be done in days.

Additionally, Online communities provide the perfect avenues to reach out to your potential audience with little cost and great effectiveness. They are also likely to be comfortable buying the books online thus reducing the need to be present in physical book stores.

Terms & Conditions for Tech Publishing Festival – July 2012

• Pothi.com will not be responsible for editing the manuscript. The author must submit the final manuscript.
• All decisions regarding formatting and cover design will be at Pothi.com’s sole discretion.
• Author will be identified as the publisher of the manuscript.
• Only one manuscript per author is allowed in the offer.
• Manuscript should be your original work. We may announce any violations of copyright on our blog. Any legal liabilities related to copyrights will be author’s.
• Pothi.com will have exclusive rights to publish, print and distribute the manuscript in India and a non-exclusive right to publish, print and distribute in the rest of the world for one year since the date of listing on Pothi.com.
  • Normal Pothi.com terms are non-exclusive. So, if you want to avail non-exclusivity that, do not submit the manuscript for this offer. You can always publish it through our normal offering.
  • After one year, the exclusivity will expire. Sales and distribution will continue unless delisting request is received by us.
  • Pothi.com reserves the right to discontinue listing the book at its own discretion. If this happens in the exclusivity period, Pothi.com will rescind the exclusivity and the author is free to publish the manuscript through other channels. If the listing has been discontinued due to copyright violations or any other illegal conduct on the part of the author, the author will be liable to pay for the services rendered under this offer at the following rate
    • Formatting: Rs. 15 per page in the final print ready manuscript
    • Cover Design: Rs. 2500
    • Extended Online Distribution: Rs. 1500
• Submission does not guarantee acceptance in the offer. Pothi.com has rights to refuse a manuscript for the offer without giving reasons. The manuscript might still be eligible for normal self-publishing offering from Pothi.com.
• Except when covered by the above, all other terms and conditions on Pothi.com will apply.

Queries?

Write to info@pothi.com with “Tech Publishing Festival – July 2012” included in the subject line.