Leveraging collaboration among authors and editors

When I started writing anatomy and physiology textbooks in the 1980s, I never gave much thought to this last part of my adventure: my exit. And here I am, getting ready to step back and hand it all over to others in a few short years.

I’m finding out that some of my friends in TAA who have exited or are on the “offramp” are valuable counselors who freely give advice from their experience. Most recently, four colleagues presented their experiences at the 2022 TAA Conference in a panel called Time to Slow Down: Finding an Offramp from the Authoring Freeway. Even with all this help, my offramp has been a bit bumpy.

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: April 22, 2022

As we near the end of April, spring is in the air; new life is blooming; and most academics are gearing up for the end of another school year. With so much going on, where does that leave your writing?

In our collection of articles from around the web, we find some resources to help turn the page, deal with rejection, devote yourself to writing, reset, and learn to say “no”. In order to accomplish our goals, we must move forward. In order to seize the best of opportunities that await, we must say no to the ones not in our best interests and devote our efforts to those that are.

Chris Grosser said, “Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.” As you head into this last full week of April, create opportunities to write then align your efforts to meet your goals. Happy writing!

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What is a typical rate for a textbook contributor?

Q: What is a typical rate for a textbook contributor? Do I have any negotiation power if I think the rate isn’t fair?

A: Lorraine Papazian-Boyce, author of ICD-10-CM/PCS Coding: A Map for Success, and the upcoming Pearson’s Comprehensive Medical Coding: ICD-10-CM/PCS, ICD-9-CM, CPT, HCPCS:

“I’ve contributed to dozens of projects for multiple publishers over the last 8-9 years. It is a wonderful way to get started in the field, gain credibility with a publisher, and earn $ here and now. The rate for contributors depends on the type of content you’re being asked to develop, such as exercises, a chapter, supplements, etc. It also varies by field and publisher.

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