TweetChat Recap: #AcWriChat 11/3 – Get Organized

On November 3rd, TAA co-hosted its first TweetChat event with SAGE Methodspace as part of Academic Writing Month (AcWriMo). The focus on this event was getting organized with your academic writing projects.

Six questions were presented during the hour-long event on type of project, inspiration, organization steps, audience influence, desired impact, and next steps. The full conversation is available in the Storify record below.

Mark your calendar and join the discussion this Friday, November 17th at 11am ET as we discuss writing productivity. Simply log in to your Twitter account and search for #AcWriChat. As questions are posted, tag your responses with the #AcWriChat hashtag. See you there!

2018 Textbook Award Nominations Now Open

Nominations for the 2018 Textbook Excellence Award (“Texty”), McGuffey Longevity Award (“McGuffey”), and Most Promising New Textbook Award, opened September 1 and will run through November 1.

For more than 20 years, TAA has supported textbook and academic authors through these highly-recognized awards, given annually to emerging and veteran published authors in eight subject categories.

How to part with your publisher when your textbook goes out of print

During the 2017 TAA Conference session, “Wanna Get Away? Maybe Now You Can: Parting with Your Publisher,” intellectual property attorney Stephen E. Gillen, a partner at Wood, Herron & Evans, said that one event that can open the door to parting with your publisher is when your textbook goes out of print.

When and how your textbook goes out of print is governed by your contract, said Gillen, which means it’s best to think about these situations in the early stages of negotiating your publishing contract. “They [your publisher] are probably going to be more inclined to make changes in that language in the beginning than they would be somewhere along the way,” he said.

Call for Proposals: Textbook and academic authoring conference

TAA’s 31st Annual Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference will be held at La Fonda on the Plaza, Santa Fe, NM, June 15-16, 2018. The conference is attended by authors and aspiring authors of textbooks, journal articles, and other academic works, as well as by industry professionals from across the country.

TAA invites the submission of presentations relevant to authoring and publishing textbooks and academic works (journal articles, books, and monographs).

7 steps to creating a new writing habit

es when we try to create a habit or a change in behavior, we try and create or change too much at once. Unfortunately this overreach is often not sustainable and we crash and burn in failure.

Fall is a great time to start fresh and focus on forming new behaviors. With the right steps to follow, along with determination and commitment, you can work to create a new writing habit that sticks.

4 Key strategies for choosing the right journal

During the 2017 TAA Conference session, “Weeding and Harvesting the Most Appropriate Journal for Your Work: Successful Strategies from Novice and Experienced Academic Writers,” Laura Jacobi, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato, shared four key strategies she employs when seeking the right journal to publish her work. View the full presentation.