Busy TAA People: Beverly Stein Signs Contract for Music Textbook

TAA member Dr. Beverly Stein, a professor in the Department of Music at California State University, Los Angeles, signed a contract with Rowman & Littlefield in May 2023 for a textbook entitled, Unlocking Meaning in Art Song: A Singer’s Guide to Practical Analysis Using Schubert’s Songs, to be published in June 2024 in time to present to the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) conference.

“Rowman & Littlefield has a new imprint that is combined with NATS, so it’s perfect for my book, which teaches singers how to analyze their songs, using Schubert’s lieder as examples,” says Stein. “I so appreciated TAA for helping me to learn about contracts, when I was considering their offer.”
Congratulations Beverly!

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Industry News Roundup: November 2023

McGraw-Hill Hosting 11/30 Webinar on Navigating Generative AI in Higher Education.

McGraw-Hill is offering a free, 45-minute webinar on Thursday, November 30, at 12 PM ET, entitled, “AI EmpowerED: Navigating Generative AI in Higher Education.”

Panelists from McGraw Hill School Group, the University of Pennsylvania and Central Washington University will engage in a lively discussion of Generative AI’s potential to shape the way we learn, teach, and work, and how to address the challenges it poses in higher education. Topics include: What Generative AI is and how it’s different from traditional AI; The benefits and challenges associated with Generative AI; Strategies for using Generative AI cautiously and ethically; How Generative AI is shaping the skills we need and the importance of lifelong learning; and Effective ways to become more familiar with Generative AI and incorporate it into your teaching practices. Register

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TAA Member Phil Wankat: Archival Articles on Money From the ‘TAA Report’

The fifth installment of TAA Member Phil Wankat’s curation and commentary of the archival issues of the TAA Report (now The Academic Author), Money, is now available. Articles include “Frustrations of a University Book Author,” “The Simplified Employee Pension,” “The New Paradox of the College Textbook,” and more.

Wankat selected articles that have information that is still valid today, and included commentary on each. We will be adding these articles to the web page, “Articles from TAA Report Archives (now The Academic Author) with Commentary,” over the next few months. The articles are organized into 10 categories, including Authors Needed, Cartoons, Contracts, Ethics, Money, Production, Recognition and Rewards, Software, Textbooks as Scholarship, and Writer’s Block. 

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TAA Member Phil Wankat: Textbook Ethics From the ‘TAA Report’

The fourth installment of TAA Member Phil Wankat’s curation and commentary of the archival issues of the TAA Report (now The Academic Author), Ethics, is now available.

Wankat selected articles that have information that is still valid today, and included commentary on each. We will be adding these articles to the web page, “Articles from TAA Report Archives (now The Academic Author) with Commentary,” over the next few months. The articles are organized into 10 categories, including Authors Needed, Cartoons, Contracts, Ethics, Money, Production, Recognition and Rewards, Software, Textbooks as Scholarship, and Writer’s Block. 

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Textbook & Academic Authoring and Publishing Industry News Roundup: October 2023

Right-Wing Textbook Publisher Teaches ‘Stilted Version’ of Past

An October 12, 2023 article in TIME’s Made by History by Adam Laats, a Professor of Education and History at Binghamton University, “The Right-Wing Textbooks Shaping What Many Americans Know About History,” shares how conservative textbook publisher Abeka, whose textbooks are mainly used in private schools and homeschools, have influenced what some Americans know about American history and how those versions of history are “gaining steam.” Read More

One Textbook Author’s View on ChatGPT

In an October 23, 2023 article on Genetic Literacy Project, “Will AI make biology textbook authors redundant? Here’s one author’s view of CHatGPT,” by biology textbook author Ricki Lewis shares her experience using ChatGPT and whether it could replace her as a textbook author. Could ChatGPT write a textbook like hers, she doesn’t think so. Read More

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TAA Members Weigh In On the Value of Association Benefits

To help guide planning for the association’s future, TAA recently surveyed members about their primary reasons for joining, what their most valuable member benefits are, and what benefits they think the association should begin offering. Of the 1,953 members surveyed (representing those who have agreed to receive emails), 77 responded.

Thirty-one percent of respondents said that their primary reason for joining TAA was to receive member benefits and services, and 30% said it was ”to network with other textbook and/or academic authors.” Seventeen percent of respondents said they joined for another reason.

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