Academic writing is a process of education both for the reader and the writer. You preparation and dedication to your writing efforts prepare tomorrow’s research and writing efforts to move us forward.

In this week’s collection of articles from around the web, we see advice on building momentum, getting started with topics and methods, overcoming jealousy of other writers, and building a network of support. We also explore ways to establish the future of your authoring brand including social media strategies and valuing your book for the long term. Finally, we explore transformative models and book writing software.

Malcolm X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” Spend this week preparing for your future and the future of your readers. Happy writing!

Let’s talk about facing that one thing

You know, that one thing you’ve been avoiding opening, that makes you feel kind of sick to think about? It’s probably a document on your computer. Or maybe an email. Or a folder including several of either. For some people, “that one thing” is basically the gateway to their whole scholarly project: you need to start your book and you haven’t started your book. Or you started writing chapter 2 a year and a half ago and then life started happening.

How to overcome writer overwhelm

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, this post is for you. I want to make your book writing project manageable. With that aim in mind, here are the main stages of writing a book, broken down for you, along with some tools to help at every stage.

Q&A: Finding a supervisor and thesis topic

Would you or anyone have some thoughts in regards to the process to follow in trying to 1) establish if the topic would qualify as a PHD research topic and 2) finding a supervisor who can help refine the topic/interested in the potential PHD research project? By the way, I have not studied for years and perhaps this is why it has been difficult for me to find answers to the above-mentioned questions. Here’s my answer.

Choosing a methodology

This guest post from methodologist and author Margaret Roller includes links to her excellent collections of articles about qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research design.

A first draft in five minutes a day?

This is a brief post. It’s a brief post about a brief strategy which helps you to get started on writing that feels a bit – well – a bit boring. It’s the five minutes a day strategy.

Case study methodology

Case study methodology is both unique, and uniquely confusing. It is unique given one characteristic: case studies draw from more than one data source. Case study is inherently multimodal or mixed methods because it uses either more than one form of data within a research paradigm, or more than one form of data from different paradigms.

A startling remedy for jealousy of other writers

This hard-to-swallow remedy is not proposed from magnanimity or naiveté. Rather, it’s plain old self-interest: As I proved for way too long, jealousy of other writers just doesn’t help.

Building your writing support triangle

Every writer I know who has lasted in the publishing industry for more than five years has one thing in common: a support system that functions on multiple levels. Everything about this industry—querying agents, sending stories out on submission, the erratic way in which we get paid, etc.—is designed to weed writers out and wear us down. But those of us with multi-level support are more likely to weather the storms of self-doubt. There are three key types of support for writers.

Building your brand

Branding, in marketing terms for writers, is the process of establishing a recognizable identity—a brand— for you and your works in the marketplace of readers, and people who buy things for readers. In this episode we talk about what our brands need to be doing for us, and how we go about getting them to do that.

Tricky topics and managing your social media presence

Fear of being flamed, trolled, or other forms of negative engagement is one of the main reasons many researchers I work with are wary of social media. There is good reason in some contexts for these fears.

Value your books for the long term with David Farland

You are not writing one book. You are creating an intellectual property asset that can make you money for the rest of your life and 50-70 years after you die. In this interview, David Farland talks about the importance of valuing your writing, and how to keep a long-term mindset as an author.

Transformative models for scholarly publishing

Flexibility and freedom to experiment are critical for any publishing team when building a strategy to automate and manage so-called, “transformative agreements.” With COVID-19 accelerating the pressure to “publish open” and to adopt sustainable Open Access (OA) business models, the complexity of these transformative agreements and the number of stakeholders involved across publishers and institutions presents significant strategic and management challenges.

Best book writing software – which is right for you?

We’ve taken the time to carefully choose some of the best book writing software for every stage of the process! No matter if you’re just starting to plan your first book, or looking for a powerhouse tool to format and export your latest digital edition, we’ve got you covered!