Hello,

I have just gone through So You Want to Write a Book on your Web site. I found it to be very informative and well done. I have extensive experience in computer programming and helpdesk support and am considering writing on such topics. Can I get a list of what topics are currently "hot" so I can see if I have the necessary knowledge to pursue writing for you?

Thank you,
Dovid Herskovits

Hi Dovid,

Unfortunately, we generally don't operate the way many other publishers do in terms of just chasing hot topics with authors who are generically qualified to write on many topics. We look for authors who are already knowledgeable and passionate about a subject, who can look at our catalog and say, "You need a book on such and such a subject" because they are convinced of the subject's importance and the lack of good information on the subject. If we're doing our job right, many of these subjects will already be covered with projects in the pipeline but not announced. But even so, an intelligent query that shows you've thought about both the frontiers of the computer industry and what's covered (and what's not) by our existing list will get you onto our radar.

"So You Want To Write a Book" has a fairly up-to-date list of the general topic areas we're interested in. Within those areas, we're open to proposals. We're also interested in bioinformatics (as you will see from our recent book introductions and our upcoming bioinformatics conference.) We're starting to look at some gaming-related topics (see, for instance, Physics for Game Developers), since we think that gaming and simulation are pushing the state of the art in a number of ways.

Going up even a level further, we're interested in books that help to tell us the shape of the future, and in fact help us to get there by bringing back "news from the frontier" so that others can follow in the footsteps of the pioneers. Overall, the big themes that concern us right now are the emergence of a next-level network operating system and network applications (read about our Emerging Technology Conference in April for an outline of that interest), and the application of computers to fields outside the now-traditional business areas. We're convinced that computers are becoming far more pervasive in our society and that there will be new "breakthrough" industries springing up over the next few years.

I hope this helps. Take a look at our catalog, and tell us what's missing.

Tim

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