author
questionnaire
Please return the completed author questionnaire with your contract.
If books are co-authored, each author will need to complete a separate questionnaire. However, we suggest
that you agree the book’s key features in advance and submit the same text for that section.
Series Editors will also be asked to complete a separate questionnaire.
At the end of this questionnaire you will find a description of the kinds of marketing activities we will carry
out for your book (Appendix 1). As the author, you can also play an invaluable part in the promotion of
your book in the course of your professional activities, such as speaking at conferences or writing articles.
In addition, the fast-moving and often informal nature of internet communication means that you will often
be better placed than we are to take advantage of online promotional opportunities. In Section 3 we have
outlined ways in which you can help with the electronic marketing of your book.
1. About you
1.2 Your full names (required for Library of Congress and British Library cataloguing)
1.2 Name on title page
Please give your name as you wish it to appear on the cover and title page of your book and in publicity
material.
1.3 Are you the author or series editor?
1. 4 Autobiographical information
Information from this section may be used for the book jacket and other publicity (in brochures, in
conference programmes, in sales kits and on our website).
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Please provide a brief autobiographical summary which includes:
academic and other distinctions
membership of professional associations
positions held
other books you have written (please give details of the publisher, if not Cambridge.)
publications or media you have written or broadcast for
countries you have worked in
Please also provide us with any additional autobiographical information which may help us to sell your
book. Do not be unduly modest.
Please state if you do not wish this information to be included on our database.
1. 5 Date of birth (only required for Library of Congress and British Library cataloguing, and will not be
used in any marketing materials.)
2. About your book
NB: If your book is co-authored, please agree key features of the book with your coauthors and submit the same text for this section.
2.1 Book title
(and subtitle if any)
As the basis of all our sales and marketing activity, we will be writing the cover copy for your book,
creating the printed publicity materials and briefing our sales teams around the world. Your input to this
process will be invaluable, so please complete the next section as fully as possible.
2.2 Book details
What is unique about your book? (Please provide bullet points, rather than narrative descriptions.)
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2.3 Please provide a description of your book in no more than 150 words. This may form the basis of the
copy that will appear on the book’s cover and in publicity materials. It will therefore be read by specialists
as well as sales staff and booksellers who will not necessarily be familiar with the field. Please therefore
explain as clearly as possible what is important about your book, and how it differs from other treatments
of the subject.
In Marketing we will translate the features of your book (i.e. facts about your book) into benefits (i.e. selling
points) to form the basis of a sales kit for the sales team. Please note, it is not necessary for you to complete
this section but it would be very helpful as a starting point if you could.
Please describe the key features of your book and explain how they will benefit its readers.
Features
Example
•Includes exercises for early finishers
Benefits
Example
• Allows use with mixed level classes
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2.4 Please suggest units from your book which our sales team could demonstrate in their presentations.
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2.5 Please list any ideas for materials which could provide web-based support for your book. Would you
be willing to contribute content to be used for this purpose?
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2.6 We often ask authors for articles, interviews to post on our website. Please indicate whether you would
be willing to provide these, and whether you have any existing articles relating to the subject
matter/approach of your book that you would be willing for us to use in this way.
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2.7 Please list what you consider to be the main international and/or local competitors for your book (title,
author, publisher), if any, and describe their strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths
Weaknesses
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If you wish to include more titles, please continue below.
2.8 If your book is a new edition, please say how it differs in content or approach from the previous edition.
3. Marketing Opportunities
3.1 Online discussion groups
Do you participate in any online discussion groups? These can be a very useful mechanism for promoting
books, and that promotion is particularly effective when the author, rather than the publisher, participates.
Some of the most active discussion groups are listed in Appendix 2. of this document. Please list any others
to which you contribute:
3.2 Societies
Which professional societies, associations and/or commercial organisations will be most interested in your
book? Please indicate if you belong to any of the societies or organisations you mention.
3.3 Exhibitions / Lecture tours / Speaking engagements
Which exhibitions / conferences do you attend regularly?
Please describe your level of experience in presenting at conferences.
We may ask if you would be willing to speak at specific conferences or meetings. In principle, will you be
available and willing to do this?
If you attend conferences in the future, please contact ELT Marketing with the details so that we can
provide appropriate marketing support.
Email: eltmktg@cambridge.org
Tel: 01223 325922
3.5 Reviews and advertisements
We would normally send review copies to, and advertise in, a selection of the printed and online
publications listed at the back of this Author Questionnaire. Please tick those you feel most appropriate to
publicise your book and add any others (with contact details) that are not listed but that you feel would be
suitable.
Appendix 1.
How we market your book
Cambridge has branches, offices and representatives in over 60 countries around the world,
supported by an extensive network of agents, distributors and licensees. Cambridge ELT books
are now sold in more than 200 countries.
A selection of the following techniques will be used to market your book.
Direct mail
Your book will be featured in the Cambridge ELT catalogue, which is produced annually and
mailed to 350,000 teachers, booksellers and distributors around the world. Where appropriate, a
separate brochure for your book will also be mailed to teachers and booksellers. Each
Cambridge office has its own marketing database, so that even very large mailings can be highly
targeted. Brochures may be supported by special offers, competitions, or other free resources.
Marketing materials may be tailored to meet the needs and priorities of local markets and
translated into local languages.
Point of sale materials and incentives
Where appropriate, we will supply booksellers with a range of items (such as posters,
counterpacks, and stickers) that they can use to create eye-catching displays in their bookshops.
Items such as wall-charts and posters may also be produced for teachers to support classroom
use. Other giveaways may also be produced to help to create, or maintain, brand awareness
amongst teachers, students and booksellers.
Review coverage
Review copies of your book will be sent to appropriate publications. Copies of any reviews that
we receive will be sent on to you.
Advertising
Your book will be advertised in a range of appropriate print and electronic publications.
Website promotion
Each new title is promoted via the Cambridge website, with a full description and a cover image.
In addition, we also run competitions and offer downloadable worksheets, study guides, tests
and interactive exercises. If you provide us with an original article, we will publish it in our
online newsletter, Cambridge Link, and also try to place it in other publications to support our
advertising activity.
Email marketing
Our offices are also developing extensive email lists for customers, so that they can be alerted to
new publications. Teachers and students are also encouraged to sign up on the Cambridge
website to receive email alerts.
Book fairs, conferences and seminars
Cambridge attends all major book fairs and ELT conferences around the world. Wherever
possible, we arrange for authors to participate in these conferences, as this is an effective way of
raising the profile of your publications. We also run an active programme of seminars for
teachers, to support the classroom use of Cambridge publications. Please do keep us informed,
therefore, of your travel arrangements and of any speaking engagements you have accepted.
Advance information
Information about your book will be distributed electronically to bibliographic agencies, distributors,
booksellers and librarians around the world. This is particularly important for internet booksellers who
need this information to populate their websites.
Appendix 2.
Discussion lists, newsgroups etc
British Council
Seven regional discussion lists.
http://www.britishcouncil.org/english/eltecs/discuss.htm
CALLNews
Computer Assisted Language Learning News.
http://listserv.cddc.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/callnews
Dave’s ESL Café
Very active online community, with a range of discussion groups catering for different interest groups.
http://www.eslcafe.com/discussion/
ELTASIA-L
Mailing list for ESL teachers in Asia.
http://eltasia.com/
Foreign Language Teaching Forum
Very active email discussion list for foreign language teachers, mainly USA-based.
http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/
JALTTALK
Mailing list of Japan Association of Language Teaching.
http://jalt.org/index.php
Lingu@NET
UK email discussion group for all those involved in language teaching and research.
http://www.mailbase.ac.uk/lists/linguanet-forum/
Linguist List
The primary web resource for all aspects of linguistics.
http://www.linguistlist.org
NETEACH-L
Forum through which international EFL/ESL teachers can discuss issues related to using technology as an
educational tool.
http://www.ilc.cuhk.edu.hk/english/neteach/main.html
TEFL.NET Forum
Online discussion for EFL/ESL teachers.
http://www.tefl.net/forum/
TESL-L Discussion List
Electronic discussion forum that focuses on issues related to TESL/TEFL
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/~tesl-l/