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.

Jean Murphy Receives $1,000 TAA Publication Grant

TAA member Jean Murphy has been awarded a $1,000 Publication Grant from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association to cover manuscript editing costs for her academic book, A View From The Balcony: Opera Through Womanist Eyes Praxis for Developing a Balcony Hermeneutic of Restorative Resistance, which will be published by Cascade in early 2024.

“Being a member of TAA gave me access to resources and authors who gave pointers, encouragement, and the incentive to bring this book to completion,” said Murphy. “This grant validates all the time and effort spent to bring it to fruition and certainly assists with the cost of being an author. Please extend my thanks to the selection committee.”

TAA Member Phil Wankat: Evergreen Advice on Textbook Contracts From the ‘TAA Report’

The third installment of TAA Member Phil Wankat’s curation and commentary of the archival issues of the TAA Report (now The Academic Author), Contracts, 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 NeededCartoons, Contracts, Ethics, Money, Production, Recognition and Rewards, Software, Textbooks as Scholarship, and Writer’s Block. 

10/19 TAA Webinar: Blunders, Bad Ideas, and Bliss: My Experience Writing a Textbook

Are you contemplating writing a textbook? It can be a daunting process but there are many success stories and opportunities to learn from colleagues who have recently published their content.

Please join XanEdu Publishing and Erica Irlbeck, Ed.D, Professor of Agricultural Education and Communications at Texas Tech and author of The Crisis Communication Guide for Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources, on October 19 from 2-3 p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, “Blunders, Bad Ideas, and Bliss: My Experience Writing a Textbook.”

12/7 TAA Webinar – Passion for Learning and Research: Is Earning a Doctorate the Right Path For You?

Join us Thursday, December 7 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, “Passion for Learning and Research: Is Earning a Doctorate the Right Path For You?”. Presenters Dr. Tasha Egalite, a newly minted PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in TESOL at New Mexico State University, and Dr. Kristin Kew, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Administration at New Mexico State University, will share and reflect on their own doctoral journeys, the critical issues they encountered, and the hoops they jumped through while completing their dissertations. Some of the themes discovered during their research on the dissertation process and obtaining a doctorate were sustaining momentum, maintaining purpose, and creating meaningful works while furthering their learning in the fields of education and educational leadership. Advice will be provided on how to determine whether to apply for a doctoral program and how to navigate some of the pitfalls and rabbit holes of the academic arena.

Busy TAA People: TAA Members Named to 2024 Edition of Best Lawyers

TAA Members Brenda Ulrich and Zick Rubin, intellectual property attorneys with Archstone Law Group, PC, were named to the 2024 Edition of Best Lawyers. Recognition by Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by their peers. Their lists of outstanding lawyers are compiled by conducting exhaustive peer review surveys in which tens of thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. Congratulations Brenda and Zick!