Are you excited to be part of TAA’s Virtual Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference this year? The conference will kick off with a half day of programming on June 18, and presentations continuing June 21-24 and will feature a variety of session formats as well as networking opportunities.

All presentations will be hosted on Zoom, with 30- and 50-minute session formats welcome. Our Zoom formatting will allow for audience voice and video participation, chat features, break out rooms, question and answer formats, panel presentations, and more.

Three tracks of programming options

The conference schedule contains 23 presentations from industry experts categorized into three tracks to make it easy to decide which topics are most relevant to your writing goals. Most sessions are being recorded and will be available on demand to conference registrants following the event.

Textbook Track

In the Textbook Track there are ten presentations plus a special session on what we have learned from the recent DEI survey conducted by TAA’s Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Other sessions in this track are:

• Back to the Future: Opportunities to Reset the Terms of Your Book Contract
• Book Publishing 101: The Steps from Idea to Finished Product
• Copyright and Permissions Issues for the 21st Century Textbook Author
• Creating an Author Promotional Platform: What, Why, and How To
• Inclusion and Diversity in our Textbooks
• Publishing Litigation and Dispute Resolution: 2020-21 Roundup
• Publisher Roundup: Royalty Hints in the Pages of Financial Filings
• Reach All Students: How Can We Make Our Educational Content Accessible to All?
• Think Small!  How Authoring Stand-Alone Supplements with Small Publishers Could be Your Niche
• What is Happening to Your Textbook?

Academic Track

The Academic Track contains nine additional sessions as follows:

• Coauthor Strategies for Non-Peer Writing Collaborations: Mentors and Mentees
• Concretizing the Abstract
• Double-Dipping Using Focused Feedback: How to Improve Your Writing While Improving Student Writing
• Faculty Writing Groups: Sustaining and Thriving in a Virtual World
• Five Academic Writing Moves to Level Up Academic Writing for Publication
• How to Use Mindmapping to Make Yourself a More Productive Writer
• Pitfalls to Avoid: Unload the Dead Weight in Your Academic Writing
• Support Strategies for Your Writing Journey
• Writing Success Through Accountability

General Track

Four general interest sessions close out the session programming with topics including:

• Brand Beyond Borders: Making Your Name
• How to Include Diversity and Culture in Your Textbook and Other Academic Writing
• Streamline Your Data Management & Writing Productivity: Zotero Digital Citation Management System
• What Does Mindfulness Have to do with Academic Writing? Lots!

Exclusive access to TAA’s How To Video Library

Conference registrants also get exclusive access to a library containing an additional 17 pre-recorded how to videos. This library features 5- to 10-minute how-to videos on topics relating to scholarly writing, time management, productivity, publishing, online presenting, and more. Many thanks to the video presenters who provided these valuable tips and strategies!

Writing & Publishing

• 8 Tips for a Productive Writing Sprint
• Grant Writing Tips for State Grants
• How to Decipher the Creative Commons Licenses
• How to Work Productively with Your Publisher: Investigate, Collaborate, Communicate
• How to Write Daily
• Ten Techniques for Writing Productively
• Ten Tricks for Writing Productivity

Time Management & Productivity

• How Kanban Flow Can Help Writers: How and Why to Use It!
• How to Use OneNote to Construct a Literature Review
• How to Use Styles to Build a Table of Contents and Document Framework
• Manage Your References with Mendeley
• Partnering with Librarians: Enhance Your Writing & Publishing Experience
• Reconceptualizing Writing To Increase Productivity: A Cognitive Processing Model of Text Composing

Presenting & Marketing

• Creating Your Oral Presentation – Tips
• How to Create a Manageable Routine for Publishing Social Media Content
• Polishing Your Virtual Persona: Easy Tips to Sound Better
• Polishing Your Virtual Persona: Easy Tips to Look Better

Conference networking opportunities

As noted in last week’s blog article from John Bond, conference networking is just as important in the age of Zoom as it was in traditional venues.

We invite conference registrants to join us for networking immediately following the last sessions on June 18, 21, 23, & 24. The networking events will take place in one of TAA’s Zoom rooms and will be hosted by TAA President Laura Frost, TAA Vice President Kevin Patton, and TAA Executive Director Michael Spinella.

• Make connections for an author collaborator or accountability partner.
• Enjoy mingling with author colleagues and industry experts for large group discussion and in small group Breakout rooms.
• Get connected, gain knowledge, and get inspired!

Networking Event Schedule:

• Friday, June 18, 4:30 – 5:00pm ET
• Monday, June 21, 4:00 – 4:30pm ET
• Wednesday, June 23, 4:00 – 4:30pm ET
• Thursday, June 24, 4:00 – 4:30pm ET

Conference Sponsors

Last, but not least, this event would not be possible without the generous support of our conference sponsors: Top Hat, Archstone Law Group P.C., and Copyright Clearance Center (CCC).

It’s not too late to register!

Registration will stay open throughout the event, so register now to gain access to all these great conference resources!