12/11 TAA Webinar: Video Creation for Textbook Authors and Instructors

Videos are increasingly integral to the learning process. As a textbook author, you can increase the value of your book for both students and instructors by creating and publishing videos linked to your content. As an instructor, videos you create to supplement your course can help students review and retain material outside the classroom. Join us Tuesday, December 11 from 1-2 p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, ‘Video Creation for Textbook Authors and Instructors,” where presenter Sasha Vodnik, a computer programming textbook author, will survey free tools for recording and production, as well as popular paid alternatives, and examine the tradeoffs. He’ll also walk through the steps to record video and audio, put it together, and publish it online.

Purdue global nondisclosure agreement runs roughshod over faculty rights

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has released a copy of a four-page non-disclosure agreement that appears to be a condition of employment for Purdue Global employees, including instructional faculty, that states that any work product, including all course materials “or other intellectual property that arises in any part in the course of … employment at Purdue Global, is commissioned and owned by Purdue Global as a work-for-hire and may not be used, duplicated or distributed outside of Purdue Global.”

8 Biggest secrets to writing a winning manuscript

In her 2018 Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference presentation, “Discover How to Deliver What Editors and Publishers Need: Demystifying the Publishing Process,” Dr. Kathleen King shared key strategies for planning the work and working the plan toward successful publication.

As a professor, award-winning author, and editor, King shared her successful experience – having published more than 30 books and 150+ articles – summarized in the following eight biggest secrets to writing a winning manuscript.

2018 Textbook award-winning insight (Part 3): Pedagogy and marketing involvement

We recently reached out to winners of the 2018 TAA Textbook Awards and asked them to answer some questions about their textbook writing. The first installment of this four-part series focused on why they decided to write their textbook, and how they got started. The second installment focused on what they do to boost their confidence as a writer, how they fit writing time into their schedule, and what software they use.

This third installment in the four-part series focuses which pedagogical elements in their textbook they are most proud of, and what involvement they have had in marketing their book.

Beware of fake journal acceptance letters

An April 18, 2018 article on the Society for Scholarly Authors’ blog, The Scholarly Kitchen, called attention to a scam in which unknown individuals, using fake acceptance letters, are promising publication in the journal of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The article’s author, Angela Cochran, ASCE’s associate publisher and journals director, said that over the last five years, the society has become aware of seven fake acceptance letters for its journals.