By John Bond
“Will a publisher steal my book idea?”
“Will a peer reviewer steal my ideas (data, theory, conclusions, etc.)?
In my Publishing Consulting practice over the last ten years, I get some of the same questions asked over and over again. Common ones are, “Do you know a journal that is interested in my paper on XYZ?” “Do I need an agent to get published?” Or, “Are people still reading books?
By John Bond
If you’re an academic venturing into the world of publishing, your author bio is a small but important tool. It travels with your work, shapes how readers see you, and often determines whether media, conference organizers, or potential collaborators take a second look. But too many scholars undersell themselves here. Let me be blunt: humility has no place in your author bio. This is not your departmental webpage. It’s your moment to shine.
By John Bond
Early in one’s career, academics and researchers focus on individual wins (read: getting published). Long term, however, they are better served by developing a personalized Publishing Strategy. This may sound highfalutin, but it is simpler than it sounds and easier to develop and curate over time than most people think.
First, what is a Publishing Strategy? A Publishing Strategy is a long-term, intentional plan for when, where, and how you publish your research, aligned with your academic goals, research agenda, and career stage. Most people only start to think about this after achieving their first position in academia. They’re anxious to get their first publication under their belt. It is gratifying, invalidating. This first publication might enable them to fulfill a requirement for employment or for a research grant. These first few wins are important, but I suggest you quickly move past them to develop a wider plan.
By John Bond
Self-publishing has been through quite an evolution in my lifetime. From decades being thought of as “vanity publishing,” to an emerging option for both print and then digital in the Nineties, to complete acceptance and preference in many genres of fiction, self-publishing has transformed how authors think about getting their ideas and thoughts out to the world.
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.”
TAA was featured in an episode of The A&P Professor podcast on April 12, “Pulse of Progress, Looking Back, Moving Forward,” with host Kevin Patton, an award-winning anatomy and physiology textbook author. Kevin’s comments about the benefits of TAA membership and invitation to attend TAA’s 2024 Conference on Textbook & Academic Authoring come in at 50:22.
In the episode, Kevin says: “With a strongly supportive network of colleagues, TAA provides many resources and active, engaging opportunities for growth and network-forming. TAA meets the needs of those interested in creating textbooks, lab manuals, workbooks, and other learning resources, as well as those who focus on academic writing, such as journal articles, dissertations/theses, monographs, and scholarly or other nonfiction works.”
