Why You Shouldn’t Publish a Custom Textbook (And Why You Should)

By Sierra Pawlak

In her 2023 TAA webinar, “Is Custom Textbook Publishing Right for You?” Rebecca Paynter describes the journey of creating a custom textbook. Paynter is the associate director of the editorial team at the University of Arizona Global Campus, or UAGC. UAGC hosts online courses that are five weeks long, “which is not a lot of time for students to read a traditional textbook in full,” says Paynter. Because of this, her department creates custom textbooks for many of these courses, with the help of “faculty and other subject matter experts to better meet student needs… and potentially [create] books that can meet unmet needs out in the broader market,” she says.

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TAA Member Phil Wankat’s Curation and Commentary of ‘The Academic Author’ Archives – Installment 2

The second installment of TAA Member Phil Wankat’s curation and commentary of the archival issues (1994 to 2010) of the The Academic Author, Bios, is now available. Articles include “And now, 50 books later, a bio of Mike Keedy, author of mathematics textbooks and the founder of TAA,” and “Cognitive Aspects of Writer’s Block,” and “Author Profile: Philip Zimbardo, Improving the human condition.”

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Lauren Weingarden Awarded TAA Publication Grant

Lauren S. Weingarden has been awarded a Publication Grant from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association to cover image permission costs for her forthcoming academic book, A ‘Neuroarthistory’ of Nineteenth-Century Painters: Embodying Baudelairean Modernity. Routledge will publish the book in its “Science and the Arts since 1750” series in 2024.

A “Neuroarthistory” of Nineteenth-Century Painters: Embodying Baudelairean Modernity takes a transdisciplinary approach—combining art history, literary studies, and neuroaesthetics—to examine the modern urban experience of nineteenth-century Paris through language and images of fragmentation and transformation.

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From the Archives – Articles on ‘Writer’s Block’ From TAA Report, Compiled by TAA Member Phil Wankat

The tenth installment of TAA Member Phil Wankat’s curation and commentary of the archival issues of the TAA Report (now The Academic Author), Writer’s Block, is now available. Articles include “Emotional Aspects of Writer’s Block,” “Cognitive Aspects of Writer’s Block,” and “The New Paradox of the College Textbook.”

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Supreme Court Sides With Respondents in Copyright Case

On May 9, 2024, the Supreme Court sided with the respondents in a 6-3 decision in favor of an amicus brief filed in the case of Warner Chappell Music, Inc. et. al v. Nealy et. al. “The Court held that, assuming the discovery rule applies, there is no separate three-year limit on the damages a copyright plaintiff can recover under the Copyright Act,” said Attorney Nathan E. Denning, from Wiggin and Dana LLP, who filed the brief.

TAA had joined with five other author groups on the amicus brief, which was filed on January 12, 2024 in support of the respondents, and argued whether under the Copyright Act’s statute of limitations rule, and the “discovery accrual rule” plaintiffs in copyright infringement cases “can recover damages for acts that allegedly occurred more than three years before the filing of a lawsuit.”

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Launching a Consulting Business Part 2: Promoting Yourself

By Sierra Pawlak

In his 2023 TAA webinar,  “How to Leverage a Textbook or Academic Book to Launch a Consulting Career,” Bill Curry, a public procurement consultant and textbook author, details important steps you can take to promote yourself and your work, including creating your website, expanding your presence on LinkedIn, and writing your author page on Amazon and your publisher’s website. For resources on starting a new consulting business, read part one of this series here.

“I recommend that you not rely solely on your publisher’s marketing and sales efforts,” says Curry. “You will likely need to market your books and your consulting services yourself.”

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