The most useful textbook & academic posts of the week: June 22, 2018

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." ~Douglas AdamsDouglas Adams said, “I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.” Do you like that sound? As the official start of summer is upon us, we hope that you are finding time to work on your writing projects and are better equipped to meet deadlines or to finish work on projects whose deadlines may have passed during the academic year.

Our collection of articles from around the web this week begins with some strategies for writing for publication, conducting qualitative interviews, and conducting interdisciplinary work. It continues with concerns regarding “business-as-usual” confidentiality in a growing state of research openness, unreported editorial misconduct, and the value of literature reviews. Finally, we have found some discussions on peer review, expanded access to ProQuest through Google Scholar, and a new community-controlled open access publishing platform – the Free Journal Network. Enjoy and happy writing! [Read More…]

Textbook and academic discussions – keep them going

Roundtable Sessions 2018If you were at the 31st Annual Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference in Santa Fe, NM last weekend, you know the excitement and passion this group of authors shared throughout each session and networking opportunity. For the nearly 100 participants in the roundtable discussions held Saturday afternoon, there was much to talk about and some incredible ideas shared in the groups. Many participants expressed an interest in continuing these conversations beyond the conference. To this end, we have used the roundtable discussion topics to start eight threads in our LinkedIn group for just that reason.

If you were in attendance, we’d love for you to get the conversation started by sharing notes from the session with our LinkedIn group. If you weren’t able to attend (or were participating in another roundtable at the time), please share your insight, ideas, and questions in any or all of the discussions linked below. The roundtables just got bigger! Welcome to the table! [Read More…]

Write with purpose, publish for impact

This post was originally published on SAGE MethodSpace and has been republished with permission.

SAGE MethodSpace logoWhen we put our thoughts into writing and publish them, we tell the world something about who we are. We move beyond circles of people who know us — colleagues and friends– to reach readers we will never meet. They learn about us from the choices reflected in our writing. What messages do you want to convey to your readers?

2018 TAA Council Award Winners

During the 2018 TAA Awards Ceremony on June 15th in Santa Fe, NM, in addition to honoring our twenty-six Textbook Award winners, four individuals were honored with TAA Council awards recognizing exemplary contributions to the Association and the authoring community.

The awards were given by Mike Kennamer, TAA Council President during the ceremony. His remarks on each of the winners is included below.

Author website or social media? Oh, the choices!

Congratulations! Your book is written. It passed peer review and the final changes have been made. It’s with the publisher and they are full steam ahead. They anticipate publication in four or five months. It is now seeming all too real. But that pesky marketing reminder keeps popping up on your calendar. Your day is already jammed packed. How will you fit it all in?

One of your published colleagues raved about the power of their author website and the results they saw. Another said blitzing social media brought them great contacts and increased visibility. With your limited schedule, which should you do?

How to write an engaging title for your academic journal article

We’ve all been told to “never judge a book by its title” and yet, we all do. In a world with abundant information, indexed and cataloged into a series of links on the screen, the title may be the only part of your work a potential reader ever sees. Unless, of course, that title encourages them to click the link and read more.

How to smash an unexpected block: When the writing’s going well

We’ve all probably read articles about writer’s block that stumps and paralyzes, but several writers I know have experienced another unexpected and surprising block. One described it: “My fingers play the computer keyboard like a concert pianist, my pages pile up like gold. ‘Wow, I think, I’m gonna go all night!’”

Then he confessed, “‘Faster than a form rejection, more powerful than an editor’s frown, able to freeze me in a single flash, a horrible thought darkens my brain: I can’t stand it anymore!’”

What? The writing was going just too well.

Taxes and Authors: What you should know

In his recent TAA webinar, “Taxes and Authors: What You Should Know”, Robert Pesce, partner at Marcum LLP shared some important information about the new tax law. He also offered advice on two key questions for tax-conscious authors: 1) What type of entity should you be? and 2) Are you keeping good records on your business deductions?

How-to: Video creation for textbook authors and instructors

Videos are increasingly integral to the learning process. As a textbook author, you can increase the value of your book for both students and instructors by creating and publishing videos linked to your content. And as an instructor, videos you create to supplement your course can help students review and retain material outside the classroom.

You can get started making your own videos with nothing more than a modern computer. Using functionality that’s built into both Windows 10 and macOS, you can create a screen capture video and narrate along with it.

2018 Textbook award-winning insight (Part 4): What they wish they had known before they started, writing advice

Recently we reached out to winners of the 2017 TAA Textbook Awards and asked them to answer some questions about their textbook writing. The first installment in this four-part series focused on why they decided to write their textbook, and how they got started. The second installment focused on what they do to boost their confidence as a writer, how they fit writing time into their schedule, and what software they use. The third installment focused on which pedagogical elements in their textbook they are most proud of, and what involvement they have had in marketing their book.

This fourth, and final, installment in the four-part series focuses on what they wish they had known before they started, and advice for other authors.