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It is very, very unlikely a book will get published without you having a title. Effectively, you're publishing the same material an IM would but with less fundemental understanding.

I would think, (though i have no experience in such matters) that if you wanted to write a very basic book that taught the rules of chess and a few basic principles, it would not matter. Otherwise, I think you would need to be a strong player, or know a strong player who can guide you.

A book for adults, with no understanding of how to play and no aspiration to become the next grandmaster, who wish to know how to play chess, probably would not care. If you did write a book and were serious about publishing it, I would recommend you get a titled player to endorse it to give it legitmacy. Why not do a blog or a web site instead?

This is just a terrible idea.

Nove1 (which looks just like Novel, incidentally) has the right idea. Start up a website or blog! Much simpler, and you still get recognised.

Even the "inscrutable" Michael De La Maza went through hoops of fire to break 2000/Expert, win a section at the World Open in Philly before he converted his blogs/website into a marginally successful book. He also had endorsements from many a titled player, including famed NM Dan Heisman.

So yeah ... it's nice that you want to do something for beginners. I'm sure you'll cover a good deal of material with great ideas as well ... though like anything else in the world,  research papers and textbooks are written by PhDs for a reason ... so you're better off just blogging or putting out a "white paper" of sorts.

Dan Heisman has written nine books I think, and he doesn't have a title (Well, he's CM now, but that doesn't count as a title).

But he's a very accomplished coach.

You don't need a title, but you do need to know about teaching chess. And/or be a good writer.

How is CM not a title? Anything that goes in front of your name is a title. NM, IM, GM, FM, CM, WGM, WIM etc.

Well it's not a permanent title.

That's not what he said though, is it? 

Well no, but a lot of people don't really consider it a title. For example there are only two 'cm's' on chess.com. I am sure that there are a LOT more players within the rating range of 2000-2199, but none of them are showing their 'title'.

Well, ok. But a year or so ago, the title didn't exist. Now it exists, you can get it if your rating is xxxx+ and you pay FIDE $$$, which is its real point.

If FIDE introduces the CP title ("chess player") which everybody can get for $250, will everybody who does be a titled player?

NM is similar sillyness that exists in a few countries.

To me, when you talk about a titled player, that's an IM or GM.

Of course they will. Otherwise, it wouldn't be the CP 'title', would it? 

I would be extrmely difficult to write a good and effective book for beginners because the people who tend to write the books are so far advanced in their knowledge of chess that it would very difficult to remember their thought processes back to the time when they first learnt to play.

To  explain something effectively to someone else, you have to be able to think back to when you were first learning about a topic so that you can appreciate what kinds of aspects of that topic a beginner is likely to find difficult, and then recall how you went about trying to make sense of it. Even then, you have to be able to explain it so that someone can understand it. That's difficult to do.

It's easy to lecture, but it's much more difficult to teach.

I remember when a Professor of Maths at some university wrote a book teaching very basic Maths(eg arithmetic and simple geometry etc) to 7-9 year olds, but the problem was that even people studying for a degree couldn't understand it, never mind 7-9 year olds. The more you know about a subject, the more the basic aspects of the subject become instinctive and known only at a subconscious level, so it makes it all the more difficult to teach so that a novice can understand.

 Ebooks can be made for around 50 dollars.  To me that would be the best route here.  Produce an ebook sell it for 10-15 dollars.  If you sell 2 you are only out 20 -30 dollars.  If you sell alot you may even make a decent chunk of change.  Low risk-probably medium to low reward proposition. 

I was looking at doing it myself.  My idea is on a completely unique idea.  I think that is the key when you are not a "expert" yourself.  You have to have a unique idea.  If you just rehash something that has been done then no one will pay attention.  Now if I could just get off my butt and do the work. 

well there are alot of companies that will handle your "self publishing"  i assume you want to sell this book on the open market??? if so , do you nhave something to say of value to chess players that people will pay for???? can you draw or can nyou find an illustrator??? that would add another dimension maybe.....Just thinking outloud here, stay with me.....if there was a terrible plague, like the "black Death" in europe in the 1300's, and much of the world's population died, then there wouldn't be as many chess experts, and you would have less competition, just thinking outloud here.......

i'm totally agreed with Nove1...blog or website is a much better way

 A blog or website would actually be more costly than an ebook wouldn't it? 

Not unless you want to pay for a web host. There are many places that host blogs for free, including Chess.com. Blogger.com and wordpress.com specialize in blogs. You can also get free web hosting, though it might not be as reliable as paid hosting.

As for the OP, I doubt that there is any gap to be filled. Go to a public library, and I'm sure you'll find several books for beginners. If you want to self-publish, take a look at Cafepress.