Dear Art, Wesley, Tom, Patty, Aaron and others out there in Conchland,
 
Thank you for some interesting and thought-provoking responses to the
question of how to write a good book on a molluscan family. Some random
thoughts follow.
 
Patty Jensen suggested that such a book:
 
1. Has clear pictures of each shell described, whether that be in colour or
black and white, photographs or drawings. The print run often dictates the
type of pictures you can use, and their location (scattered throughout the
book or bundled in one section).
2. Has comparative descriptions of each shell, which include distribution
ranges (even outside the geographical area being covered)
3. Has an INDEX
4. Has a LIST OF REFERENCES
5. Uses recent  taxonomy, has names of authors and dates, and least
acknowledges the existence of recent important references.
 
Glancing over at the shelf, the first shell book I see is R. Tucker
Abbott's "American Seashells", second edition, otherwise known as the
Sheller's Bible, at least to North Americans. Bible or no, I note that the
pictures are not all clear and many are too small; most are in black and
white. There is no comprehensive list of references; instead, references
are scattered through the text and are given in incomplete form or often
not at all. Otherwise, the book fulfills all of Patty's points of advice
(comparative descriptions, index, authors and dates, etc.), and indeed is a
very fine book to have on hand, the best on its subject. But Abbott
probably wanted his book to fit into one set of covers, and to be
affordable. In 1974, the book retailed for USD 49.50, about USD 150 in
today's money. Evidently not intended as a book for the beginner; Abbott
wrote several of those.
 
A good shell book has good taxonomy. To ensure this, any book should be
read before publication by one or more people who are knowledgeable in that
area--and by at least one who is not. This process is formalized in
scientific (and humanities) publishing as "peer review", and it keeps some
of the worst errors from embarassing* the author. (Amazing what a
difference it makes to leave a single word out of a sentence, such as
"not"... and no spell-checker in the world could catch that mistake.)
 
Well, thanks again for your thoughtful replies. It isn't all Flying Pigs on
Conch-L, no, not by a long shot.
 
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama
 
*My spell-checker says this should be "embarrassing". Oops.