Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: April 8, 2022

Where are you starting with your writing? Anne Lamott says, “Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere.” Whether you are starting as a graduate student, a post-doc defining your research agenda, a new writing project, or a more extensive writing career, your new “first” effort will be a start (perhaps terrible) but not the end.

In this collection of articles from around the web, we find advice on academic authoring in the first person, writer’s block, research agendas, and protecting your ideas. We also find content on achieving goals as young writers, making writing a career, and considering University Presses for your next publication.

Whatever you are writing, start where you are and move forward. Happy writing!

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: November 5, 2021

As we reach the first Friday in November – also recognized as Academic Writing Month or AcWriMo in our textbook and academic authoring world – we look for ways to add productivity to our projects, to seek completion of our manuscripts, and to evaluate the why behind what we are working to accomplish.

Whether you are taking part in our TAA Preview Week (11/1-11/7), joining for our AcWriMo webinar series on Putting Your Dream of Publication to the Test, or finding your own approach to building a stronger writing practice, we hope these resources help. Happy writing!

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: August 14, 2020

This week’s collection of articles from around the web contains a variety of topics common to academic and textbook authors. Specifically, how to go from idea to completion, dealing with writer’s burnout along the way, essay writing in 2020, research contributions beyond publication, Digital First textbooks, the ‘later on’ PhD pursuit, and responding to R&R decisions.

The common thread through the collection is finding a way to finish what we start. Jim Ryun once said, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: August 30, 2019

This week’s collection of posts from around the web includes several ways to advance your academic writing efforts and to focus on your personal definition of success. Our first article suggests that the first step toward success is in selecting your research topic. Our next two focus on the literature – first as resources, second as tips for conducting qualitative research. We then explore reasons you may not want to apply for external funding and methods for teaching the practice of research. Finally, we look at new possibilities in open access publishing agreements.

Mark Twain once said, “Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself.” This week, consider your definition of success and your dream for your academic writing. Focus on that desire and see where it takes you. Happy writing!

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Most useful textbook and academic posts of the week: June 21, 2019

At last week’s Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference in Philadelphia, there were some wonderful presentations and discussion on topics of inclusive access, textbook subscription models, open access, writing and publishing strategies, and the overall trends in the changing landscape of academic publishing. This week’s collection of articles from around the web extend that discussion with some of the same topics present in our list.

As you ponder the future of textbook and academic authoring and publishing for yourself, I encourage you to consider the thoughts of Rob Siltanen, “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” Here’s to changing the world. Happy writing!

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The most useful textbook & academic posts of the week: November 30, 2018

“The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.” Wise words from William Faulkner frame our collection of posts from around the web this week.

We begin with a discussion of whether it’s acceptable to use first person in academic writing, the way that animals (our own or others) can support our academic journey, and a way to clearly express the collection of work we create. We then explore some of the things editors want and how to get to the end of our comfort zone to find our voice. We close our collection with an understanding of frameworks, publication strategies with tips from an editor, and the impact digital publishing is having on the scholarly publishing value chain.

If you dream of perfection, your work will certainly reach levels of greatness. So as you go through the next week, believe in yourself (even if you aren’t writing in first person), find your source of support, identify your goals, and stretch your comfort zone. Follow the standards or create new ways of thinking. Whatever you do, dream of perfection, and happy writing!

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