Holiday tactics to honor your all-important academic project

The holidays can be wonderful times for reconnecting with family and friends; taking breathers from the daily-weekly-yearly chase of accomplishment; kindling or rekindling feelings of love, warmth, and generosity even to those who’ve published much more than you; and indulging in delectable seasonal goodies. But we academics often feel conflicted about how much time to “take off.”

Maybe we’re feeling the pressure of having to participate in holiday events. Maybe we’re worried about being grilled by well-intentioned family or friends about the progress of our dissertation, article, or book. Maybe we’re very aware of the dangerous loss of momentum from our work. Maybe we just don’t like all those jolly gatherings.

Here, from clients who have suffered through such “maybes,” I suggest three holiday strategies you can apply, depending on the severity of your “maybes” and your fortitude.

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Join Us Throughout the Month of November for #AcWriMo – Academic Writing Month

Every November, the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) joins with academic authors around the world to recognize and promote the month-long academic write-a-thon event, Academic Writing Month (AcWriMo). Started in 2011, this event encourages academic authors to focus on daily writing habits that move their projects closer to completion.

TAA is partnering with SAGE Publishing’s Methodspace to offer several resources for #AcWriMo throughout November 2022. Visit the TAA Blog each week in November for an article related to this year’s AcWriMo theme, “Intellectual Freedom & Integrity”.

Visit TAA’s AcWriMo 2022 page for events and activities open to TAA members and non-members.

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Organizing your professional affairs: Set up a ‘Business Executor’

What will happen to your professional affairs if you suddenly die?

True customer service and support requires preparing for such possibility. Getting your affairs in order can also be helpful for basic recordkeeping and file management.

As a long-time freelancer, I’ve always worried about what would happen, and how my clients would get notified if something happened to me, or worse. Then, a few years ago, a close professional colleague died suddenly. It was disastrous for his loved ones, and bad for his customers and clients as well. We miss him sorely.

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11/9 TAA Webinar – Textbook Authoring Inspirations, Insights, and Innovations

Join us Wednesday, November 9 from 1-2 p.m. ET for the TAA Webinar, Textbook Authoring Inspirations, Insights, and Innovations. Award-winning nutrition textbook author Jamie Pope will share her journey to published textbook author and beyond and share insights into the textbook writing process, including:

  • How writing a textbook differs from writing trade book
  • Why you might want to consider writing a textbook
  • What background and experience you need to get the attention of a publisher
  • How to decide whether to write an introductory or upper-level textbook
  • How to negotiate an author-friendly contract

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Register for AcWriMo 2022 Webinar: How Academic Writing Coaches Get Unstuck

Ever wonder what a writing coach does when they get stuck in their manuscript? Join Boyd, Mazak and Wang as they describe the biggest challenges they’ve faced when writing books and what they do to move past them. They’ll describe some of the key ways that scholars get tripped up when writing and share examples from their recent experiences with their own books. They’ll also discuss the strategies they recommend to junior and senior faculty members and what happens when they take their own advice.

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Advice: Do nothing

How is your schedule?

If you are like the rest of the people I know, you either:

  • Rolled your eyes,
  • Snorted,
  • Laughed,
  • Said, “Don’t ask,”
  • Had a dark cloud come over your face,
  • Or took a deep breath.

Feeling pushed to the max is the number one response I get nowadays when I ask someone about where they are with their writing and work.

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