The beginning of a new academic year is a great time to set intentions and think about goals. Goal setting can seem arbitrary or ambiguous, particularly for large projects that take months or years to complete. What if you thought about your goals in terms of the final product of a semester? Deliverables. Deliverables are the concrete items you will deliver to yourself or others at the end of a period.
Your work and international markets
“My work will have broad appeal in Europe.”
“China is a growing market and I think they’d love my book.”
“I’d like to see a Spanish-language version of my textbook. It would be a hit.”
“I know someone who can translate my book into Japanese. Should they get started?”
As a Book Publisher and later a Publishing Consultant, I have heard countless authors speculate on the market for their book outside of the English-language and/or North America. But what is involved with having your work reach Asia, Africa, Europe, and beyond?
Five chances to reset the terms of your book contract (Part 1)
If you published the first edition of your textbook ten or more years ago, you may find yourself occasionally muttering to yourself, “I wish I kew then what I know now.”
Why is that?
Historically, the publishers start the book contract negotiation game with all the cards…backs to you. You have one card…it’s face up. And it tells everybody, “I’m new at this but I’m excited. Just tell me where to sign.”
Publishers have generally been the gatekeeper to a published book. While this may be less true now, with self-publishing and Open Educational Resources (OER), the publishers still have the most established distribution channels self-publishers cannot begin to match.
Nominations for the 2022 Textbook Awards now open
Nominations for the 2022 Textbook Excellence Award (“Texty”), McGuffey Longevity Award (“McGuffey”), and Most Promising New Textbook Award, are open through November 1, 2021.
For more than 20 years, TAA has supported textbook and academic authors through these highly-recognized awards, given annually to emerging and veteran published authors in eight subject categories.
5 Ways authors can assist their publisher with book promotion
Whether you are an author working with a larger publisher with a sizable marketing budget, or a smaller publisher with a tight marketing budget, you can–and should–play a role in promoting your book. Paul Krieger, author of a four-book Visual Analogy Guide supplement series with Morton Publishing, shares five ways authors can assist their publisher with book promotion:
TAA Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Town Hall on Peer Review
Peer Review is at the heart of the process scholars use for advancing knowledge, testing theories, and authenticating claims and findings of research. Identity – both of the reviewers and the reviewed – is an inescapable component of peer review, and it can add an element of subjectivity to any assessment. Members of TAA’s Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will conduct a Town Hall to hear from members about their experiences in peer review. Have you experienced biases in the peer review process? How did you become aware of it, and did the publisher address the issues? Are there ways you’ve seen diverse identities improve the peer review process?
Join us Tuesday, September 21 at 4 p.m. ET for a discussion guided by members of the Committee. Take this opportunity to include your voice in the discussion, and leave with strategies for reviewers and authors navigating DEI issues in the peer review process. Let’s learn from our experiences.