If you’ve been struggling with writing anxiety, getting started can be very hard. Anxiety-inducing concerns—do I write well? will my audience hate it? am I smart enough?—accompany the decision to write and crowd upon the writer, sometimes causing severe discomfort, or even paralysis. It can feel like writing is so hard that effort is futile. To approach your work when such anxieties hit, you want to identify small, easy, gentle steps to get started. Start with a tiny step that you know you can accomplish, then you can have small successes that help you move forward, and you can build comfort and confidence over time.
2022 TAA Council Elections – Cast Your Vote
Three candidates are running for two open positions on the TAA Council, the association’s governing board. Terms begin July 1, 2022. Council members serve three-year terms.
“Out of my gratitude for all the guidance TAA has provided me throughout my authoring career, I want to give back to this terrific organization.” – Candidate Jessica Smartt Gullion, Associate Dean of Research for the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas Woman’s University
“TAA has been a vital resource in my scholarly journey, and I wish to give back to the organization that contributed to my own success and to the success of so many others.” – Laura Jacobi, Communication Studies professor and director of a peer-facilitated academic support program
“I want to hit the ground running when I enter the academic industry. This opportunity is wonderful to be associated with individuals with extensive experience and knowledge to pass the torch down to new scholars such as I.” – Tabitha H. Kinneer, third-year PhD student in Communication at the University of Kentucky
How to evaluate an effective book cover
Go ahead. Judge that next book by its cover. Or, at least, judge the cover itself and what purpose it serves for the book. Textbook author, Paul A. Krieger tells us that “Good book covers are important” and shares four specific benefits to a quality cover design.
- The book cover serves as an advertisement for your book;
- A quality cover makes a positive first impression with your readers;
- It informs your readers what the book is about; and
- It can improve overall sales.
Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: April 8, 2022
Where are you starting with your writing? Anne Lamott says, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” Whether you are starting as a graduate student, a post-doc defining your research agenda, a new writing project, or a more extensive writing career, your new “first” effort will be a start (perhaps terrible) but not the end.
In this collection of articles from around the web, we find advice on academic authoring in the first person, writer’s block, research agendas, and protecting your ideas. We also find content on achieving goals as young writers, making writing a career, and considering University Presses for your next publication.
Whatever you are writing, start where you are and move forward. Happy writing!
Five surprising business lessons for writers
Like most writers, I keep bumping up against, and avoiding, articles on how to treat my writing more like a business. I know I should pay more attention to the articles, but they always seem to interrupt precious writing time. In an infrequent browse through an older business publication, though, I stumbled on an article that didn’t give me administrative agita. Even deep in creative bliss, a writer can hardly resist the title: “Ten Traits That Make You Filthy-Rich” by Jeffrey Strain (TheStreet.com, February 1, 2008).
The five points here from Strain’s evergreen article remind us what we need to do not only to become rich (yes, it’s possible) but to stay true to our writing potential, creativity, and drive.
Welcome new members to TAA: March 2022
With membership in TAA, you are not alone. You become part of a diverse community of textbook and academic authors with similar interests and goals. We are pleased to announce the addition of 71 new TAA members who joined us in March 2022.