Did you hear it? The clarifying question…the laughter of recognition…the applause of approbation at seeing a colleague’s excellent work recognized…the intent murmur of mentoring…the conviviality of networking…the sound, metaphorically that is, of synapses firing! All these sounds and more characterized the 27th Annual TAA Textbook and Academic Authoring Conference held in Baltimore last June. I hope you had a chance to join us and that you got as much out of the conference as I did. But in case you couldn’t make it, I hope you’ll check out some of the sessions that were recorded and are now available on the TAA website. Visit TAAonline.net/podcast-library to check them out.

And, have you heard that TAA is on the move? We’re a growing organization, over 2000 authors strong, and we are committed to the work that academic and textbook authors do. Excellence in scholarly communication and pedagogical writing leads to faster advances in human knowledge and culture – your work is crucial to that great enterprise. As your association, many of our activities, such as the annual conference and publishing our print and e-newsletters, are directly aimed at providing you advice and tips on all aspects of your writing career. But we also recognize that the best advice you can get may come from your fellow authors, so one of our key roles is to provide opportunities for you to find each other, and to network and mentor in an environment of professionalism and mutual respect. Those networking opportunities happen in person at the annual conference, AND they happen every day through the community pages on the TAA website. Be a part of it all – join an online discussion, jump in with your insights and your questions, and engage with your peers!

As always, I’d love to hear from you. If you have an idea for how TAA can better serve you and the authoring community, feel free to contact me at michael.spinella@taaonline.net.