Wally wrote:
I'm considering to write a book on woodworking. The intended book will
be about the wood itself (mechanical properties, types of finishes,
some botanic info to identify the trees, variety of usage, etc).

The reason why I'm interested in writing this book is because I've
never found any book that have all this together with a reasonable
amount of info. Basically this book would be a blend from
"Understanding wood from Bruce Hoadley, Woodworker's Guide to Wood
from Rick Peters, and some other books like the botanic stuff (for
identifying wood) + finishing.

If I attain my objectives, my book would provide all the information
necessary about identifying a tree, harvest it and dry it for
woodworking usage. You would also have all the mechanical info about
wood properties (shrinkage, resistance, spans, etc). You would also
get sample pictures with all those species with various finishes and
stains. At last, you would have pictures of furniture or objects made
by each specie.

My questions to you wreckers:

1. Do you see a significant value in such a book?

2. Would you suggest additional chapters on other subjects?

3. What are the pitfalls with publishers?


Thanks for any useful information!

Some problems with your approach: the U.S. Forest Dept. has already
done it...Encyclopedia of Wood. Best job of publishing has been done by
Lee Valley. Other tomes you seem to have missed: Know Your Woods,
Albert J. Constantine, Jr.; World Woods In Color, William A. Lincoln;
Useful Woods of The World, Flynn & Holder,and a few others.

Next up, if you can differentiate the book enough to give it value
enough for people to add it to their libraries, is to find a publisher
BEFORE you write the book.

Good luck.