"
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Securing financing – Profit margins – Sponsoring the website –
Opening and closing credits – Founding a publishing house – ISBN
numbers – Internet domain – Project centre – Spell verification –
Negotiations with sponsors
The authors are hard at work and you yourself are working on your
own chapters. There are other things to be done on top of this: Financing Opening and closing credits: Imprint, Foreword, Contents, Index Cover design and text for the back cover Founding a publishing house Setting up a website Negotiations with sponsors Checking the deadline Accepting texts, passing them on to the readers, sending them
from there together with questions and comments back to the
authors, receiving corrections, sending the text to be proofread.
Financing
As you are writing Flying Publisher texts, you can earn money both
from the sale of the books and through sponsorship of your internet
site. The financial result of this book-plus-internet adventure varies: The minus variation: the income from the project does not cover
the printing costs, let alone the authors’ fees. The zero variation: the income covers printing costs and authors’
fees, but there is nothing left for the publisher. The plus variation: after payment of all fees, the publishers also
earn some money.
Even financial minus variations can be attractive if the work is
enjoyable. SARS Reference, for example, (see page 14) was a project
where it was clear right from the start that it would only incur
expenses without bringing in any profit. Free Medical Information is
evolving in the same spirit. It is not about money, it is about the
Opening and closing credits – Founding a publishing house – ISBN
numbers – Internet domain – Project centre – Spell verification –
Negotiations with sponsors
The authors are hard at work and you yourself are working on your
own chapters. There are other things to be done on top of this: Financing Opening and closing credits: Imprint, Foreword, Contents, Index Cover design and text for the back cover Founding a publishing house Setting up a website Negotiations with sponsors Checking the deadline Accepting texts, passing them on to the readers, sending them
from there together with questions and comments back to the
authors, receiving corrections, sending the text to be proofread.
Financing
As you are writing Flying Publisher texts, you can earn money both
from the sale of the books and through sponsorship of your internet
site. The financial result of this book-plus-internet adventure varies: The minus variation: the income from the project does not cover
the printing costs, let alone the authors’ fees. The zero variation: the income covers printing costs and authors’
fees, but there is nothing left for the publisher. The plus variation: after payment of all fees, the publishers also
earn some money.
Even financial minus variations can be attractive if the work is
enjoyable. SARS Reference, for example, (see page 14) was a project
where it was clear right from the start that it would only incur
expenses without bringing in any profit. Free Medical Information is
evolving in the same spirit. It is not about money, it is about the
cause. The writer becomes convinced of what he is doing, asks
himself: “What do I want? Money or readers?” and knows the
answer.
Just for fun, you should ask yourself this question: what would you
prefer: 1,000 book readers plus a 2,500 Euro fee
or 100,000 book and internet readers and no fee? (e.g.: SARS
Reference, page 14)
People are of two minds here. A suggestion in the interests of
mediation: write with enthusiasm and put your project out into the
world. A lot is achieved by doing that alone. Temporarily declare
money to be of minor importance. If there should be any money lying
by the wayside during the rest of your journey, pick it up and pay
your authors an appropriate fee.
Sale of the books
Profit equals income minus expenditure. This rule also applies to book
production. On the expenditure side, we have printing costs and
authors’ fees; on the income side, the sale of books either through the
book trade or to sponsors.
The printing costs for a book such as HIV Medicine 2005 (800
pages, 24 cm x 15 cm, see page 12) have already been shown in
Table 2.4. In Western Europe, 500 books cost 7,000 Euro, 1,000
books 10,000 €, 2,000 books 13,500 € and 3,000 books 17,000 €.
Table 4.1 shows how high the profit is depending on the number of
books printed and sold. The printing costs for 500 to 3,000 copies are
stated as deficits in the line “Sales = 0”. The calculations are based
on a retail price of 50 Euro with 45% deducted for middlemen and
shipping costs, leaving 27,50 Euro per book sold.
These figures show that, for 500 printed copies, the profit zone
begins between 200 and 300 copies sold. For 1,000 printed copies, it
is between 300 and 400 copies. The exact figures for this so-called
break-even point are shown in Table 4.2.
himself: “What do I want? Money or readers?” and knows the
answer.
Just for fun, you should ask yourself this question: what would you
prefer: 1,000 book readers plus a 2,500 Euro fee
or 100,000 book and internet readers and no fee? (e.g.: SARS
Reference, page 14)
People are of two minds here. A suggestion in the interests of
mediation: write with enthusiasm and put your project out into the
world. A lot is achieved by doing that alone. Temporarily declare
money to be of minor importance. If there should be any money lying
by the wayside during the rest of your journey, pick it up and pay
your authors an appropriate fee.
Sale of the books
Profit equals income minus expenditure. This rule also applies to book
production. On the expenditure side, we have printing costs and
authors’ fees; on the income side, the sale of books either through the
book trade or to sponsors.
The printing costs for a book such as HIV Medicine 2005 (800
pages, 24 cm x 15 cm, see page 12) have already been shown in
Table 2.4. In Western Europe, 500 books cost 7,000 Euro, 1,000
books 10,000 €, 2,000 books 13,500 € and 3,000 books 17,000 €.
Table 4.1 shows how high the profit is depending on the number of
books printed and sold. The printing costs for 500 to 3,000 copies are
stated as deficits in the line “Sales = 0”. The calculations are based
on a retail price of 50 Euro with 45% deducted for middlemen and
shipping costs, leaving 27,50 Euro per book sold.
These figures show that, for 500 printed copies, the profit zone
begins between 200 and 300 copies sold. For 1,000 printed copies, it
is between 300 and 400 copies. The exact figures for this so-called
break-even point are shown in Table 4.2.
Table 4.2 also shows:
1. Producing books does not ruin you. With 500 printed copies, the
printing costs are covered by selling as few as 250 copies. But:
you can barely earn anything with 500 printed copies.
2. Book production only becomes financially rewarding if you sell
more than 1,000 copies, very rewarding if you sell more than
2,000 copies.
3. The column “Profit per page” shows that you cannot pay a
proper author’s fee of, for example 25 Euro per page, from the
profits of book production until you have sold more than 1,000
copies.
1. Producing books does not ruin you. With 500 printed copies, the
printing costs are covered by selling as few as 250 copies. But:
you can barely earn anything with 500 printed copies.
2. Book production only becomes financially rewarding if you sell
more than 1,000 copies, very rewarding if you sell more than
2,000 copies.
3. The column “Profit per page” shows that you cannot pay a
proper author’s fee of, for example 25 Euro per page, from the
profits of book production until you have sold more than 1,000
copies.
Calculations for an 800-page book, retail price 50 Euro; 27.50 Euro profit per
book after deduction of 45% for middlemen and shipping
** Number of copies sold
*** Upon sale of the whole edition
If you update your book every year, you need to ask yourself: “How
many books can I sell in 12 months?” The answer depends on the
subject. Neuropathology does not sell as well as antibiotic therapy. In
some cases, it can be decisive whether a sponsor (foundation,
pharmaceutical company) buys a few hundred or – less often – a few
thousand copies in bulk.
Book production can be lucrative, but you can’t always get yourself
out of the red. Fortunately, even this does not have to mean the kiss
of death for your project. You can tolerate a deficit in the bookshops
if you manage to make money via a second financial source. This
second source is your website!
Sponsoring the website
The second source of income for a Flying Publisher project takes the
form of sponsoring contracts for an internet site. The entry of a
company logo on your homepage can balance your budget by several
thousand Euro – yet another reason to set up your website as quickly
as you can. It even makes sense to publish some texts there in
advance, although the book hasn’t been printed yet. It is common
practice in the internet business to publish in advance, as negotiations
become easier if you have something to show.
The same rules apply to the sponsor’s entry on your homepage as
those for book texts. Sponsors cannot be allowed to influence or even
change the core statement of your texts in any way. You will find
important details about this and about the criteria for selecting
sponsors at the end of this chapter. But first, there is still some
detailed work on the agenda:
book after deduction of 45% for middlemen and shipping
** Number of copies sold
*** Upon sale of the whole edition
If you update your book every year, you need to ask yourself: “How
many books can I sell in 12 months?” The answer depends on the
subject. Neuropathology does not sell as well as antibiotic therapy. In
some cases, it can be decisive whether a sponsor (foundation,
pharmaceutical company) buys a few hundred or – less often – a few
thousand copies in bulk.
Book production can be lucrative, but you can’t always get yourself
out of the red. Fortunately, even this does not have to mean the kiss
of death for your project. You can tolerate a deficit in the bookshops
if you manage to make money via a second financial source. This
second source is your website!
Sponsoring the website
The second source of income for a Flying Publisher project takes the
form of sponsoring contracts for an internet site. The entry of a
company logo on your homepage can balance your budget by several
thousand Euro – yet another reason to set up your website as quickly
as you can. It even makes sense to publish some texts there in
advance, although the book hasn’t been printed yet. It is common
practice in the internet business to publish in advance, as negotiations
become easier if you have something to show.
The same rules apply to the sponsor’s entry on your homepage as
those for book texts. Sponsors cannot be allowed to influence or even
change the core statement of your texts in any way. You will find
important details about this and about the criteria for selecting
sponsors at the end of this chapter. But first, there is still some
detailed work on the agenda:
How do we shape the first and last pages of our book? How do we
found a publishing house, how to we reserve the domain name for
our website and how do we set it up?
Opening and closing credits
Every book has “opening credits”: empty or almost empty pages upon
which only the title is repeated, and an imprint, foreword, list of
collaborators and contents are printed. In order to reduce work on the
opening credits to a minimum, we have prepared a Word document
(http://HIVMedicine.com/textbook.doc). Open the document and
remain in standard view (View->Normal), so that you can see the
horizontal lines “Page break” and “Section break”. Make sure that you
do not delete these lines; they contain important information regarding
page number, header and footer.
You can rewrite the opening credits for your project within only 10
minutes. Change title and publisher, enter your address on page 4,
write 3 sentences in the foreword and enter the first colleagues in the
list of collaborators. Name the first chapters from page 11 onwards
and, finally, update the contents in page 9. Procedure: position the
cursor anywhere in the Contents and press the right-hand mouse key.
From the menu which appears, select “Update field” and, in the next
window, “Update entire table”. Take good care of this document.
Later, you will copy the chapters from your authors into it.
Foreword
You should draft a foreword very early on – even if nothing is left of
it in the final version. Drafting forewords helps to present a concept
more precisely.
List of collaborators
You asked your authors to supply you with the details for the list of
collaborators in your first letter. Enter these details.
Index
The index is at the back of the book. You can only compile one if,
within the individual chapters, you have already defined which words
will be recorded in the index. You will not edit these so-called index
entries until you reach the final stages (see Page 59).
found a publishing house, how to we reserve the domain name for
our website and how do we set it up?
Opening and closing credits
Every book has “opening credits”: empty or almost empty pages upon
which only the title is repeated, and an imprint, foreword, list of
collaborators and contents are printed. In order to reduce work on the
opening credits to a minimum, we have prepared a Word document
(http://HIVMedicine.com/textbook.doc). Open the document and
remain in standard view (View->Normal), so that you can see the
horizontal lines “Page break” and “Section break”. Make sure that you
do not delete these lines; they contain important information regarding
page number, header and footer.
You can rewrite the opening credits for your project within only 10
minutes. Change title and publisher, enter your address on page 4,
write 3 sentences in the foreword and enter the first colleagues in the
list of collaborators. Name the first chapters from page 11 onwards
and, finally, update the contents in page 9. Procedure: position the
cursor anywhere in the Contents and press the right-hand mouse key.
From the menu which appears, select “Update field” and, in the next
window, “Update entire table”. Take good care of this document.
Later, you will copy the chapters from your authors into it.
Foreword
You should draft a foreword very early on – even if nothing is left of
it in the final version. Drafting forewords helps to present a concept
more precisely.
List of collaborators
You asked your authors to supply you with the details for the list of
collaborators in your first letter. Enter these details.
Index
The index is at the back of the book. You can only compile one if,
within the individual chapters, you have already defined which words
will be recorded in the index. You will not edit these so-called index
entries until you reach the final stages (see Page 59).
Cover
The cover consists of a front and a back page. Ask a professional
artist to design it.
In the HIV Medicine book, the title is followed by the current year.
In addition, the book is a different colour every year. The reason: you
should be able to tell from the new colour that you are looking at the
current edition, in which the texts are less than 12 months old. In
addition, it shows who is carrying the new edition in their coat
pocket.
The back cover should be planned just as early as the graphic design
of the front cover. The text which appears there must be able to
convince a potential but as yet undecided buyer. Do not be afraid to
sing the praises of your book. This is not the place for false modesty.
For once, self-praise is allowed.
Founding a publishing house
Founding a publishing house is very easy in some countries. In
Germany, for example, all you need is to register a business with the
appropriate local authority. Take along your ID papers and 22 Euro
and the formalities are taken care of in half an hour.
ISBN Number
Books need an ISBN number. This number guarantees that your
book will appear in the electronic registers of the booksellers.
The allocation of these numbers is regulated differently in every
country, so that we cannot give you any detailed information here.
The annual costs are low.
Setting up a website
The foundation of a publishing house is followed by the setting up of
a website. First, you must reserve an internet domain and find a
service provider upon whose computer your texts can be connected
with the internet. This service provider is called a “web provider” or
“internet provider”, the service is known as “webhosting”. In
addition, you need someone to maintain your website.
The cover consists of a front and a back page. Ask a professional
artist to design it.
In the HIV Medicine book, the title is followed by the current year.
In addition, the book is a different colour every year. The reason: you
should be able to tell from the new colour that you are looking at the
current edition, in which the texts are less than 12 months old. In
addition, it shows who is carrying the new edition in their coat
pocket.
The back cover should be planned just as early as the graphic design
of the front cover. The text which appears there must be able to
convince a potential but as yet undecided buyer. Do not be afraid to
sing the praises of your book. This is not the place for false modesty.
For once, self-praise is allowed.
Founding a publishing house
Founding a publishing house is very easy in some countries. In
Germany, for example, all you need is to register a business with the
appropriate local authority. Take along your ID papers and 22 Euro
and the formalities are taken care of in half an hour.
ISBN Number
Books need an ISBN number. This number guarantees that your
book will appear in the electronic registers of the booksellers.
The allocation of these numbers is regulated differently in every
country, so that we cannot give you any detailed information here.
The annual costs are low.
Setting up a website
The foundation of a publishing house is followed by the setting up of
a website. First, you must reserve an internet domain and find a
service provider upon whose computer your texts can be connected
with the internet. This service provider is called a “web provider” or
“internet provider”, the service is known as “webhosting”. In
addition, you need someone to maintain your website.
Internet domain
Almost a decade after the gold-diggers’ age on the internet, it is not
easy to find good domain names that are still available. Almost all
the catchy names have been reserved by people who were in the net
before you. So we have to switch to longer names, which doesn’t do
any harm, thank goodness. www.FreeMedicalJournals.com isn’t
elegant at first sight, but that doesn’t seem to have bothered the more
than 20 million visitors who have visited our site since February
2000. www.SARSReference.com was also a makeshift solution,
because the title we wanted was already taken. It also did no harm:
>200,000 visitors in 18 months.
If you are in search of domain names, you should make sure that you
reserve both the *.com and the appropriate country-specific domain
(*.fr for France, *.es for Spain, *.it for Italy, etc.). *.com domains
were originally intended for commercial enterprises, but today they
are the gold standard. Do not reserve a country-specific domain for
which the *.com domain is already taken, nor a *.com domain, if the
country-specific domain is no longer available.
You can find out at www.netsol.com if *.com domains are still
available.
Webhosting
It is wise to make webhosting contracts with companies in your own
country. The advantage here is that you can get an answer quickly
and easily if you have any questions or problems. It only makes
sense to make webhosting contracts with companies abroad if you
have a good command of the language. In addition, the difference
between the time zones should not be too large – so that the hotline is
not asleep when you are having problems.
Maintenance of the website
As soon as the domain names have been reserved and the webhosting
contract signed, you must decide who is responsible for maintaining
the website. The initial design should be left to an experienced
graphic designer. For all subsequent work, student assistants should
be your first choice – it is motivating to be involved in a prestigious
project and everyone benefits from this collaboration.
Almost a decade after the gold-diggers’ age on the internet, it is not
easy to find good domain names that are still available. Almost all
the catchy names have been reserved by people who were in the net
before you. So we have to switch to longer names, which doesn’t do
any harm, thank goodness. www.FreeMedicalJournals.com isn’t
elegant at first sight, but that doesn’t seem to have bothered the more
than 20 million visitors who have visited our site since February
2000. www.SARSReference.com was also a makeshift solution,
because the title we wanted was already taken. It also did no harm:
>200,000 visitors in 18 months.
If you are in search of domain names, you should make sure that you
reserve both the *.com and the appropriate country-specific domain
(*.fr for France, *.es for Spain, *.it for Italy, etc.). *.com domains
were originally intended for commercial enterprises, but today they
are the gold standard. Do not reserve a country-specific domain for
which the *.com domain is already taken, nor a *.com domain, if the
country-specific domain is no longer available.
You can find out at www.netsol.com if *.com domains are still
available.
Webhosting
It is wise to make webhosting contracts with companies in your own
country. The advantage here is that you can get an answer quickly
and easily if you have any questions or problems. It only makes
sense to make webhosting contracts with companies abroad if you
have a good command of the language. In addition, the difference
between the time zones should not be too large – so that the hotline is
not asleep when you are having problems.
Maintenance of the website
As soon as the domain names have been reserved and the webhosting
contract signed, you must decide who is responsible for maintaining
the website. The initial design should be left to an experienced
graphic designer. For all subsequent work, student assistants should
be your first choice – it is motivating to be involved in a prestigious
project and everyone benefits from this collaboration.
Your website is brought to life by the texts you publish there:
whether further information (daily or weekly news, congress reports,
calendar of events, “frequently asked questions”, and address lists) is
offered, is dependent on the time you have and the dedication of your
students. But remember: regular maintenance is the name of the
game. A website where nothing happens for weeks will moulder and
die.
In addition, you should offer your visitors the chance to join a
mailing list. This is where readers can show their interest in being
informed by e-mail about new or updated texts in the future. This
direct contact to the readers is eminently important for the success of
your project!
The deadline is approaching
A deadline is a deadline. It is not always easy to make it into a real
dead line, because the publisher is dependent on the contributions of
his authors. These things are generally of help:
1. A first reminder e-mail (or phone call) 30 days before the
deadline;
2. A second reminder e-mail 10 days before the deadline;
3. A telephone call 1 day after the deadline if the article has not
arrived.
As a publisher, you should not be afraid of the fact that this is an
annoying procedure. On the contrary: most authors are grateful to be
reminded in good time of the task they have taken on.
And as for the authors – we already mentioned it earlier: anyone who
worries or knows that he can’t meet a deadline should not become
involved in book projects.
Project Centre
In Chapter 2, we indicated how important it is to know the current
status of every text (see Page 31). The project centre – which is
sometimes one and the same person as the publisher – keeps account.
This is where the texts arrive and are passed on.
What must be considered?
whether further information (daily or weekly news, congress reports,
calendar of events, “frequently asked questions”, and address lists) is
offered, is dependent on the time you have and the dedication of your
students. But remember: regular maintenance is the name of the
game. A website where nothing happens for weeks will moulder and
die.
In addition, you should offer your visitors the chance to join a
mailing list. This is where readers can show their interest in being
informed by e-mail about new or updated texts in the future. This
direct contact to the readers is eminently important for the success of
your project!
The deadline is approaching
A deadline is a deadline. It is not always easy to make it into a real
dead line, because the publisher is dependent on the contributions of
his authors. These things are generally of help:
1. A first reminder e-mail (or phone call) 30 days before the
deadline;
2. A second reminder e-mail 10 days before the deadline;
3. A telephone call 1 day after the deadline if the article has not
arrived.
As a publisher, you should not be afraid of the fact that this is an
annoying procedure. On the contrary: most authors are grateful to be
reminded in good time of the task they have taken on.
And as for the authors – we already mentioned it earlier: anyone who
worries or knows that he can’t meet a deadline should not become
involved in book projects.
Project Centre
In Chapter 2, we indicated how important it is to know the current
status of every text (see Page 31). The project centre – which is
sometimes one and the same person as the publisher – keeps account.
This is where the texts arrive and are passed on.
What must be considered?
1. Ideally, every text should be read by two qualified colleagues
with a good sense of literary style.
2. After being read twice, the text should be returned to the author
with any unanswered questions. The corrections of the authors
must be recorded using the function “track changes” (click
Tools->track changes ->highlight changes + highlight changes
while editing).
3. The authors’ corrections are checked by both readers and the
chapter subjected to Word spell verification (see next section).
4. The text is checked by a professional proofreader.
5. The proofreader’s changes are checked once again by one of the
medical readers.
Microsoft Word spell verification
Word spell check is a valuable tool and should be used by the
authors, the readers and the proofreaders. You start spell verification
with F7. As soon as the dialog window opens, check that the window
shows correctly “Spelling < your mother tongue >”.
This is the procedure if a different language is given: mark the whole
text with CTRL-A, then define the language: Tools->Language->Set
Language + your mother tongue + OK)
When you subject the text to spell verification, words which are
unknown to the system are shown in red. If the spelling is correct,
type ALT-A in order to add the word to the supplementary
dictionary. If you do not want the word to be included (e.g. in the
case of proper names, foreign words and unusual words) type ALT-G
and the entry will be ignored.
The final version of the texts
The individual chapters gradually pass though the stages of reading
and final proofreading and assume their definitive form. You are on
the verge of publishing the first chapters on the internet and the
authors are waiting impatiently to see themselves on the net.
Suddenly, a potential sponsor calls and asks to talk. What do you
need to bear in mind?
with a good sense of literary style.
2. After being read twice, the text should be returned to the author
with any unanswered questions. The corrections of the authors
must be recorded using the function “track changes” (click
Tools->track changes ->highlight changes + highlight changes
while editing).
3. The authors’ corrections are checked by both readers and the
chapter subjected to Word spell verification (see next section).
4. The text is checked by a professional proofreader.
5. The proofreader’s changes are checked once again by one of the
medical readers.
Microsoft Word spell verification
Word spell check is a valuable tool and should be used by the
authors, the readers and the proofreaders. You start spell verification
with F7. As soon as the dialog window opens, check that the window
shows correctly “Spelling < your mother tongue >”.
This is the procedure if a different language is given: mark the whole
text with CTRL-A, then define the language: Tools->Language->Set
Language + your mother tongue + OK)
When you subject the text to spell verification, words which are
unknown to the system are shown in red. If the spelling is correct,
type ALT-A in order to add the word to the supplementary
dictionary. If you do not want the word to be included (e.g. in the
case of proper names, foreign words and unusual words) type ALT-G
and the entry will be ignored.
The final version of the texts
The individual chapters gradually pass though the stages of reading
and final proofreading and assume their definitive form. You are on
the verge of publishing the first chapters on the internet and the
authors are waiting impatiently to see themselves on the net.
Suddenly, a potential sponsor calls and asks to talk. What do you
need to bear in mind?
Negotiations with sponsors
Foundations and pharmaceutical companies can be considered as
possible sponsors for your project. Foundations will generally
subsidise your project, while pharmaceutical companies will buy up
part of the printed version in order to distribute the books to
interested doctors. As every type of co-operation between doctors
and pharmaceutical companies must remain free of any conflict of
interests, there are a few rules you should know.
Leprosy
When you wrote, you wrote the truth and did not formulate your
texts with company X or company Y in mind. This is an extremely
important point. The standards regarding independence of statements
and recommended therapies cannot be set high enough. Any doctor
who writes something against his own convictions for his own
benefit is guilty. Doctors who practise accommodating journalism
quickly end up on a par with drug barons and arms dealers. May
anyone who practises this kind of accommodating journalism in
medicine be struck down by leprosy so that he can no longer write!
Selection of potential sponsors
The chances of reaching an agreement with sponsors from the
pharmaceutical industry depend on various factors. Both personal
and internal company factors play a role here. One of the golden
rules of a colleague who had 30 years experience with the publication
of medical textbooks was:
“The marketing budgets of pharmaceutical companies are structured
according to drugs. There is more money for drug X than for drug Y.
Budgets are generous when new drugs are being introduced to the
market, very generous when a drug is being introduced and has to
compete against an existing market leader.”
When you approach the staff of a pharmaceutical company with your
project, you are expected to “sell” your project. This is not meant in a
derogatory way, it just means that you should ask yourself these
questions before you approach the company:
1. What good will it do this company to sponsor me?
2. What can I offer this company with my book and/or my website
that other media cannot?
Foundations and pharmaceutical companies can be considered as
possible sponsors for your project. Foundations will generally
subsidise your project, while pharmaceutical companies will buy up
part of the printed version in order to distribute the books to
interested doctors. As every type of co-operation between doctors
and pharmaceutical companies must remain free of any conflict of
interests, there are a few rules you should know.
Leprosy
When you wrote, you wrote the truth and did not formulate your
texts with company X or company Y in mind. This is an extremely
important point. The standards regarding independence of statements
and recommended therapies cannot be set high enough. Any doctor
who writes something against his own convictions for his own
benefit is guilty. Doctors who practise accommodating journalism
quickly end up on a par with drug barons and arms dealers. May
anyone who practises this kind of accommodating journalism in
medicine be struck down by leprosy so that he can no longer write!
Selection of potential sponsors
The chances of reaching an agreement with sponsors from the
pharmaceutical industry depend on various factors. Both personal
and internal company factors play a role here. One of the golden
rules of a colleague who had 30 years experience with the publication
of medical textbooks was:
“The marketing budgets of pharmaceutical companies are structured
according to drugs. There is more money for drug X than for drug Y.
Budgets are generous when new drugs are being introduced to the
market, very generous when a drug is being introduced and has to
compete against an existing market leader.”
When you approach the staff of a pharmaceutical company with your
project, you are expected to “sell” your project. This is not meant in a
derogatory way, it just means that you should ask yourself these
questions before you approach the company:
1. What good will it do this company to sponsor me?
2. What can I offer this company with my book and/or my website
that other media cannot?
If the answer to both questions is “nothing”, you should perhaps
rephrase your offer – or look out for another company. In this life, all
you get for nothing is nothing.
What is allowed and what is not
Pharmaceutical companies live off the sale of their drugs, and the
staff of their marketing departments have been instructed to increase
the turnover of these drugs. In order to increase the turnover,
arguments are collected to convince doctors of the superiority of the
company’s own products. The companies want to sell, pulling out all
the stops: that is their job.
It is our job to distil the truth from the information available to us,
especially from scientific literature. Regardless of the fact that you
have a duty to write the truth and nothing but the truth, you should
remember the following points when negotiating with possible
sponsors:
It is allowed for the potential sponsor to itemise the advantages of his
product. It is your task to separate fiction from the truth. for the potential sponsor to ask you if he may read and comment
on the passages about his product. Upon this request, you should
send him the passages as a PDF file, never as a Word document.
Reserve the right to accept changes or not.
It is not allowed to provide the sponsor with the original document so that he can
make corrections to it. to incorporate whole passages from the potential sponsor. to permit the potential sponsor to influence the composition of
your team of authors.
It is bad to print the logo of your sponsor on the cover. Logos belong on
the first inside page of the book.
It is dubious practice to accept advertising for drugs in the book, such as full page
adverts on the last few pages. This compromises your credibility.
rephrase your offer – or look out for another company. In this life, all
you get for nothing is nothing.
What is allowed and what is not
Pharmaceutical companies live off the sale of their drugs, and the
staff of their marketing departments have been instructed to increase
the turnover of these drugs. In order to increase the turnover,
arguments are collected to convince doctors of the superiority of the
company’s own products. The companies want to sell, pulling out all
the stops: that is their job.
It is our job to distil the truth from the information available to us,
especially from scientific literature. Regardless of the fact that you
have a duty to write the truth and nothing but the truth, you should
remember the following points when negotiating with possible
sponsors:
It is allowed for the potential sponsor to itemise the advantages of his
product. It is your task to separate fiction from the truth. for the potential sponsor to ask you if he may read and comment
on the passages about his product. Upon this request, you should
send him the passages as a PDF file, never as a Word document.
Reserve the right to accept changes or not.
It is not allowed to provide the sponsor with the original document so that he can
make corrections to it. to incorporate whole passages from the potential sponsor. to permit the potential sponsor to influence the composition of
your team of authors.
It is bad to print the logo of your sponsor on the cover. Logos belong on
the first inside page of the book.
It is dubious practice to accept advertising for drugs in the book, such as full page
adverts on the last few pages. This compromises your credibility.
If a potential sponsor does not accept these points, you must abstain
from any further co-operation – even if this causes temporary
difficulties with the financing of your project. Remember: the worst
thing that can happen to you is loss of credibility. Everyone knows
the jokes about the qualified university lecturers working as
pharmaceutical sales reps. If you sell yourself you lose your
credibility – a flaw which marks some people in our profession for
the rest of their lives.
from any further co-operation – even if this causes temporary
difficulties with the financing of your project. Remember: the worst
thing that can happen to you is loss of credibility. Everyone knows
the jokes about the qualified university lecturers working as
pharmaceutical sales reps. If you sell yourself you lose your
credibility – a flaw which marks some people in our profession for
the rest of their lives.
