Featured Members Tracy Hodges, Katherine Wright – Learning from others on the road to the professoriate

TAA’s featured member profiles generally feature veteran textbook and academic authors and industry experts. In this issue we are delighted to feature two recent doctoral-recipients-turned-assistant-professors: Tracey S. Hodges and Katherine L. Wright. Here Tracey and Katherine share insights on their writing practices, lessons learned, and their experiences chasing rabbits and becoming the rabbit to be chased.

Register early for TAA’s 2017 Textbook & Academic Writing Conference

Looking for inspiration with your writing? Join us for TAA’s 30th Annual Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, June 9-10, 2017. Early registration is now open!

Learn from industry experts, gain new perspectives, and get inspired for your writing projects. All conference activities will take place at the beautiful Renaissance Providence Downtown Hotel, a 4-Star luxury hotel located in the heart of Providence. The recently renovated boutique hotel is housed in a historic 1920’s era building, providing a one-of-a-kind backdrop for a memorable conference and visit!

How to leverage technology to benefit writing collaboration

Although collaborative writing projects can present challenges in terms of communication, work flow, and organization, there are several technology tools available that can help increase productivity and the overall success of the project. Kathleen P. King, Professor and Program Director of Higher Education & Policy Studies at the University of Central Florida, Orlando discussed this topic in her 2016 TAA conference presentation, “Leveraging Online Learning Technology & Environments to Benefit Research Group Writing”.

Two more types of university friends you may have never thought of (part 2)

If you’re a graduate student struggling with your dissertation, you probably crave at least a few people who really understand and can help you get through the long and torturous journey. Many dissertation writers have confided to me as their editor and coach that their chairs and committee members, unfortunately, may not be the most supportive or nurturing. In Part 1 of this series, I recommended two types of individuals you may not have thought of who can help support you and be immense help: librarians and secretaries. Here I’ll suggest two more.

9 Ways to improve your academic writing style

When it comes to academia, the quality of your writing has a lot riding on it. Whether you are in university or are employed as a teacher and/or researcher, the work you produce can make or break your academic career.

Strong writing (and empirical content, of course) is a major factor in whether a paper you write will be published in a reputable journal. So before you begin drafting your next article, consider these 9 ways to improve your academic writing.

Join us 11/18 for the TAA webinar ‘Becoming a Productive Writer: Strategies for Success’

Why does it seem like there’s never enough time to write? One of the key challenges of academic life is balancing the many demands on our time; while writing is generally key to professional success, finding time to write is consistently challenging. Most academics realize that they need to protect their writing time but still struggle to do so. Rather than seeing not-writing as a simple failure, it can be helpful to see it as a reflection of the inherent difficulties of writing and time management.

Join us Friday, November 18 from 12-1 p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, “Becoming a Productive Writer: Strategies for Success,” where presenter Rachael Cayley, who blogs at Explorations of Style and tweets at @explorstyle, will discuss how and why academic writing is so hard and look at some strategies for establishing a productive writing practice.