2024 TAA Post-Conference Survey: Majority of Respondents ‘Very Satisfied’ With Experience

In a survey sent to attendees of TAA’s 2024 Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference, which took place in Nashville June 21-22, the majority of respondents (91.49%) said they were very satisfied with their conference experience. Eight-and-a-half percent said they were satisfied and no one said they were dissatisfied.

A little over 38 percent of respondents said they participated in 10 or more sessions, with 28 percent reporting they participated in 7-9 sessions, and 32 percent saying they participated in 4-6 sessions. Sixty-eight percent of respondents rated the sessions very high quality, with 30 percent rating them high quality. No one rated them low or very low quality.

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2024 TAA Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring Receives Rave Reviews

Multiple attendees of the 2024 TAA Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring, held in Nashville June 21-22, called it the best conference they had attended this year or even ever.

“The opportunity to share time with, and be inspired by, fellow authors who are proud of their craft and conscientious about their work is priceless,” said Karen Morris.

Christina Gushanas said: “Every session I attended was intriguing and applicable to my career in academia. Not everyone at my institution values academic writing, so to be surrounded by others who were excited about academic and textbook authoring was very motivating!”

Attendees from across the country representing a variety of writing disciplines gathered for sessions on artificial intelligence and authoring, copyright, DEI, writing strategies, productivity, marketing, contracts, and much more.

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TAA Featured in Episode of The A&P Professor Podcast

TAA was featured in an episode of The A&P Professor podcast on April 12, “Pulse of Progress, Looking Back, Moving Forward,” with host Kevin Patton, an award-winning anatomy and physiology textbook author. Kevin’s comments about the benefits of TAA membership and invitation to attend TAA’s 2024 Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring come in at 50:22.

In the episode, Kevin says: “With a strongly supportive network of colleagues, TAA provides many resources and active, engaging opportunities for growth and network-forming. TAA meets the needs of those interested in creating textbooks, lab manuals, workbooks, and other learning resources, as well as those who focus on academic writing, such as journal articles, dissertations/theses, monographs, and scholarly or other nonfiction works.”

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The Value of Continued Connections

By John Bond

Writing, to many, is solitary work. Research, as well, can connote time by yourself spent interpreting data, not to mention the time spent on the literature review. When it comes time to submit for publication, there are numerous hours of combing over your writing for accuracy and grammar. Then checking proofs prior to publication.

All of this adds up to time alone. Many academics, by nature, are solo people. Not all, but some. They understand the heavy lifting the individual has to do. Don’t get me wrong. I have met some big personalities in writing and publishing that love to talk. But they may not be, hmm, the rule.

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Macmillan Learning’s Susan Winslow to Give Inaugural Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook and Academic Authoring

Susan Winslow, from Macmillan Learning, has been selected to give the inaugural Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring as Opening Keynote at the 2024 TAA Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring in Nashville, TN June 21-22. Her presentation, “The Very Human Experience of Learning,” will dig deep into the moments that make learning special: the emotions, the bonds we form, the aha! moments, and those big motivations that stick with us for life.

As AI becomes a bigger part of education, we can’t forget that at its core, learning is a human thing. It’s all about finding the right mix of tech and touch. The session will help us to understand the different ways to blend modern tech with the timeless human side of learning to help engage and inspire students.

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TAA Announces Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring

The Michael Sullivan Lecture on Textbook & Academic Authoring honors the life and work of mathematics textbook author Michael Sullivan, a long-time TAA member who has authored or co-authored more than 120 mathematics textbooks, many of which have been published in multiple editions.

The Lecture series provides a forum for textbook and academic authors to learn from veteran textbook and academic authors and other academic and textbook authoring and publishing experts. It will feature an invited lecturer whose textbook or academic authoring accomplishments are prolific, award-winning, and highly engaging and inspiring, or whose experience in the textbook or academic authoring or publishing industry qualifies them as an expert. The lectureship was established in 2023 by a generous gift from Michael Sullivan.

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