Stay updated on the latest news, advancements, and changes that are shaping the textbook and academic authoring industry with our bi-weekly Industry News Roundup. Have an item to share? Email Sierra.Pawlak@TAAonline.net.
How Mountaineers Books Built a Publishing Empire From a Textbook (September 18, 2024)
The third installment of TAA Member Phil Wankat’s curation and commentary of the archival issues (1994 to 2010) of the The Academic Author, Contracts and Legal Comments, is now available. Articles include “Judges Frown Gravely on Plagiarists,” “Authors bristle at 10 percent electronic royalties.” “Protecting your rights to original art.,” and more.
By Laura Poole
I’ve been copyediting scholarly nonfiction for many years now, and I have some gentle suggestions to academic writers who would like to tighten up their prose.
These are all suggestions at the phrase level, not the sentence level, to reduce wordiness, impose active voice, and improve flow. There are NOT hard-and-fast rules and should not be done as a knee-jerk reflex. There are times when these suggested edits won’t work or will change the meaning of the phrase; in these cases, don’t do them!
Rarely do we think of the need for prayer in a school setting, but prayer can be a source of sustenance and comfort as we meet daily challenges in our lives. In A Prayer Book for Students and Teachers, Dr. Karissa Lee-Hutchins has penned a series of prayers over most situations that arise in a school setting. These meditations are insightful and imbued with humility for anyone who is striving for success or advancement or is in need of comfort in times of challenge or transition.
By Kimine Mayuzumi
Do you have difficulty in writing lately? What gets in the way? Procrastination, distraction, lack of motivation or imposter feelings? A productive and sustainable writing experience often requires a good state of mind and physical wellness.
As my partner Riyad A. Shahjahan, a professor at Michigan State University and former certified coach for National Center for Faculty and Diversity Development (NCFDD), suggests, we as writers need “a mind that is decluttered so that we can give our full attention to the task at hand.” For that, we need a ritual. Why?
On September 4, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled against the Internet Archive (IA) in the copyright infringement case, Hachette v. Internet Archive, upholding a March 2023 district court ruling that AI’s lending practices violated copyright law.
IA had argued that its digital lending practices were fair use, but the district court ruled in favor of the publishers, which included Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Wiley, who filed the initial suit in June 2020. Here’s a detailed look at the decision by Wired, “The Internet Archive Loses Its Appeal of a Major Copyright Case.”
