I've always been approached by publishers (rather than me approaching them), and have not had any problems. Just be sure it's the kind of publisher who pays you, not the sort who takes your money.

I've had two books published on invitation, and both worked out very well. One nice thing is that you don't have to come up with an idea, or do the sell. That takes pressure off you. Another nice thing is that you have more bargaining power when it comes to writing the contract. For example, my second publisher-by-invitation offered me a made-for-hire contract, paying me $10,000 for the job. I insisted on royalties, as I thought the book would sell well. I was right, and I passed the 10 thou a few years ago, and still get royalties averaging over a thou per year, with prospects of that continuing for many years.
Look carefully at other books the publisher has done, ask what will be their promotion budget, and talk to some authors they have published garden books for in the past.

Pinetree,
Thank you for responding, I appreciate your candid post.
Would you think that a neophyte author has any grounds to stand on to negotiate a royalities stipulation in their contract , or would you suggest obstaining from requesting royalities as someone who is on their first book ?

I think that an author should have enough confidence in a new book to expect it to sell well and long. So royalty is the way to go. Imagine accepting a single lump sum payment, and then finding you have a best seller out there, and no more money will be coming in. Don't feel intimidated by it being a first book -- after all, the publisher thought enough of your talents to request it of you. So feel a little cocky yourself.

Pinetree -- good advice. Sounds like you've had experience with book publishing, and it's all been good. I've got to have another conversation with the publisher peeps and get the terms clear. So far they've just been kind of fishing and I've just been kind of trying to find out what the project will involve. Thanks.

Not sure I know where the post that follows yours is coming from -- since you were responding to my post and not Zone Denial -- so if it's sarcasm I guess it's over my head. I haven't been on the forum in two weeks -- gone on vacation. But it's good to see that other writers out there are really reading the Garden Writers Forum and responding.

Message to M.I.Z.D. -- surprised to see you dipping in your oar with a book project, also getting advice on the GW Forum. That means you'll be writing something, right? And you might actually have to make a couple of pesky phone calls, in the furtherance of that project, yes? Isn't that going to be weird for you when you've said previously that garden writers waste the time of busy professionals, namely landscapers like you? Whoa, you're gonna need therapy to straighten your head out when you get to work on that manuscript!

Previously, on Professional gardeners...

SHENANDOAH:
There is something else going on in this thread that puzzles me, however, and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's a low level of hostility (about publicity? writers? phone calls? can't tell...)

MICH-IN-ZONE-DENIAL: Read the writing.

The few horticultural projects that I've worked on as an illustrator were where the author was contacted by the publisher, contacted, pursued, harassed, won over. Both times the book did get published. Sometimes the deadlines were a bit unrealistic. And even though some slip-ups were obviously the fault of the publishers they never owned up to it. Everyone seemed happy with the outcome and the deal. I didn't feel the pay was equal to the effort. These were college level text books that required years of work and research to put together (I'm talking about the writing though the illustrations were also time consuming). I guess college professors don't really look at book authorship the same way as we do.

"So far they've just been kind of fishing and I've just been kind of trying to find out what the project will involve."

So just ask! Authors who allow this kind of vague communicaiotn often end up with equally vague contracts, and no can be happy unless they know exactly what they want you to deliver.

Shenandoah,
So the hostility is still burning huh ?
Sheesh.

No wonder people did not want to speak with you when you called with such a lovely disposition as yours.

Here is a link that might be useful: read the writing, and then learn from it.

The world does not revolve around any of us ... it is easy to see how one would get hostile when being rejected while offering such a good magazine deal but when you crossed that nursery off your list you became victim to "hostility" a negative emotion or a "delusionary state of mind".

Remember .. you preselected this nursery as one of the better nurseries to write about ... there must of been valid reasons for your selection .. if you would have contemplated this for a second or two this may have allowed you to regain control of your emotions and invoke more positive emotions like persistance .. patience ....

Placing yourself in the same shoes as the owner / operator may also help you understand all that was going through this persons mind at the time you called ...

Now .. hostility is still deluding you as you attack Mich in some type of "I have you now revenge". Making another attempt to contact the owner of this nursery should of been your next choice ... it's you job.

What you needed was more information about how the nursery business works.

Perhaps we should medidtate this line from Laags post :

"In the end, you want the interview more than the person you want to interview did. "

.. believe ot or not it was true at the momement you called.

Good Day ...

If I were you, I would go for a standard royalty contract and be sure you know what rights they are getting. (often, with work-for-hire, that means they own all the rights, forever and ever, which would not be the case with a standard contract, where you might only be giving them first North American rights, hardcover rights, whatever.)

I'm very much in favor of agents--I know that not everybody is--but the nice thing about an agent in this case is that not only could they negotiate a better deal for you, they might also know whether a flat rate is more common for this particular publisher or this particular type of book.

For instance, I had an idea for a reference book that would be part of an existing series that a publisher does. My agent said she thought it might be work-for-hire, but she would check. At least she's in a position to find out how the rest of the series has been handled and whether this would be a good deal for me.