That's right! When well-known publisher Prentice Hall needed someone to write their dictionary of real estate, they asked Jerry Cox, his wife Barbara, and their friend and colleague David Silver-Westrick. Here are some extracts of a recent interview ...

"Writing a dictionary is a strange process," according to Jerry. "It's not like writing a report or a book chapter. Each of the [3,000 or so] entries was a complete piece, but each one also linked to many other individual pieces. The process was more complicated than you would expect."

Who will use this book? The dictionary will be used by real estate students in conjunction with many Prentice Hall real estate textbooks. "We also wrote it for the audience we know so well—buyers and sellers of homes and other real estate."

What background prepares someone to write a dictionary of real estate? Jerry and his co-authors know real estate, of course. They also have had some legal education, and they are good communicators. "Some terms required rather extensive research. We were rather surprised to find faulty definitions in some of our resources. Then we all completed several rounds of reading each entry," says Jerry, "and rewritings of the material until we were all happy."

How did you decide which terms to include? "The dictionary includes nearly 3,000 terms and many illustrations. We knew we wanted to cover all the terms that are used in real estate transactions, principles, and practice. That included basic construction and architecture terms as well. We didn't leave many out!"

What were some of your goals for this dictionary? "We worked hard to make sure the entries were both accurate and written in plain language."

What was most important about a successful process of writing this book? "That one's easy. The people you write with. This could have been a real nightmare, but with David and Barbara the process went very well. We all pay attention to detail and respect one another. Couldn't have been a better team."

Congratulations to Jerry!

The Prentice Hall Dictionary of Real Estate is scheduled for release in November, 2000. There's more information at http://www.dictionaryofrealestate.com .