Stay updated on the latest news, advancements, and changes that are shaping the textbook and academic authoring industry with our bi-weekly Industry News Round-Up. Have an item to share? Email Sierra.Pawlak@TAAonline.net.
State-Imposed Tuition Freezes Come With Unintended Costs for Students (April 9, 2025)
IHEP Sues Over McMahon’s Cuts to Institute of Education Sciences (April 8, 2025)
Trump Admin. Funding Cuts Could Hit Efforts to Restore School Libraries (April 7, 2025)
Fifty-four textbooks have been awarded 2025 Textbook Awards by the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA). Nineteen textbooks received William Holmes McGuffey Longevity Awards, 19 textbooks received Textbook Excellence Awards, and 16 textbooks received Most Promising New Textbook Awards.
The McGuffey Longevity Award recognizes textbooks and learning materials whose excellence has been demonstrated over time. The Textbook Excellence Award recognizes excellence in current textbooks and learning materials. The Most Promising New Textbook Award recognizes excellence in 1st edition textbooks and learning materials. Congratulations, winners!
All are welcome to attend the 2025 Virtual Textbook Awards Ceremony, which will be held Friday, April 25, from 7:00 – 8:30 pm. Register here
By Sierra Pawlak
Disclaimer: Participants of the Conversation Circle whose stories and advice are shared in this article will remain anonymous. This is to ensure that TAA members still receive key takeaways from the meeting, without repercussions to attendees.
During the February 26, 2025 TAA Conversation Circle, “Incorporating Inclusive Content Into Your Writing,” TAA members shared their concerns with the ever-changing political landscape of DEI. While some participants said their university had a “keep calm and carry on” approach, others experienced changes in diversity-related job titles, eradication of DEI language altogether, and even the possible loss of grant funding.
Calling all aspiring and veteran textbook and academic authors—this is your chance to connect, learn, and grow with fellow peers from every corner of the authoring world! Join us online on June 6-7, 2025, for the TAA Virtual Conference, an event packed with valuable insights, networking opportunities, and hands-on workshops.
Engage with publishers, editors, coaches, indexers, attorneys, and more, as we dive into a diverse range of topics tailored to your needs. Whether you’re looking to explore the latest in AI, strategies for co-authoring, tips for boosting productivity, staying up-to-date on rapid changes in publishing, or expert guidance on contracts, we’ve got you covered!
Stay updated on the latest news, advancements, and changes that are shaping the textbook and academic authoring industry with our bi-weekly Industry News Round-Up. Have an item to share? Email Sierra.Pawlak@TAAonline.net.
DEI Legislation Tracker (February 14, 2025)
US Copyright Office Rules Out Copyright for AI Created Content Without Human Input (January 30, 2025)
By Sierra Pawlak
During the November 27, 2024 TAA Conversation Circle, Janet Salmons, co-moderator and qualitative methodologist, shared an analogy of what she meant by the term “content curation” in the context of her work:
“If you go to an Art Museum, the curator doesn’t just hang all the stuff. They make sense of it. Like, ‘Oh, okay, here’s these George O’keefe paintings, and here are the Kachinas that were depicted in the painting,’ the artifacts and the history and the social context. So, I’m not just walking through a whole bunch of different pieces, but I’ve got something that’s making sense of it and looking for themes and pulling in other context that would help to build more meaning around it. That was the inspiration I had for using that term.”
