Over the past several years major publishers have been moving away from physical or electronic books into online learning platforms and courseware, and from straight sales of standalone books to bundles, custom products and subscriptions. Traditional publishing contracts were developed at a time when a book was a discrete unit, sales could easily be tracked in those units, and revisions occurred on a predictable cycle. Publishers are trying in various ways to update and adapt their contracts to the new textbook landscape. In her 2023 TAA Conference session, presenter Brenda Ulrich, an attorney at Archstone Law Group, will explore the ways in which the contracts are changing, and what the implications are for authors.
Thinking about writing an open access textbook? Learn from this case study
Christopher Iverson, and Dan Ehrenfeld, both Assistant Professors of English and Humanities at Farmingdale State College (SUNY), will share their experience authoring the Open Educational Resource, Processes, which compiled FSC writers’ work, in their 2023 TAA Conference session, “The Creation of an OER to Establish and Maintain a Writers’ Community at a Regional Public College.”
They will share highlights, outline key decisions and processes (such as the selection of a Creative Commons License that best supports their mission to share their work broadly), and discuss ways that composing OERs can build community on and between campuses. Processes will be published by SUNY Geneseo Press, and the experience of creating it opened opportunities for community building remotely.
TAA CDEI Committee to launch survey on DEI-related publishing issues
TAA’s CDEI Committee is launching a survey in late April to gather information on several DEI-related publishing issues in nine categories, including reviewer-related issues, editor competencies, positive representation, case studies, understanding bias, incorporating triggering sensitivities, inclusive scholarship, and language.
The goal of the survey is to learn more about how TAA can support its members and their publisher’s efforts to incorporate DEI topics in their writing.
The similarities and differences between academic and textbook writing
What are similarities and differences between academic and textbook writing? Find out in the 2023 TAA Conference session, “Academic vs. Textbook Writing – Similarities and Differences”, presented by Kenneth L. Campbell, Professor of History at Monmouth University.
As an author of both textbooks and academic works, Campbell will explore the similarities and differences between these two types of writing. On the one hand, good writing is good writing, and it seems like many of the same principles should apply to both academic and textbook writing—and he believes they do.
Check the Authors Coalition of America’s author list: You could be owed royalties
Authors Coalition of America, LLC, has identified a number of American authors who may be due royalty payments from non-U.S. sources. These royalties have been received to compensate authors for the foreign reprographic use of U.S. copyrighted materials.
While the majority of reprographic royalties distributed to ACA are the result of surveys and samplings in foreign countries done on a non-title specific basis, and therefore are remitted to organizations representing the categories of authors for whom the funds were collected (like TAA), ACA also receives royalties due individual authors from select countries that collect by title-specific methods.
Want to feel more joyful when writing? This 2023 TAA Conference session is for you
“I want to feel more joyful through the process of my writing.” If this statement resonates, you will not want to miss the 2023 TAA Conference session, Empowering Joyful Writing, by Dr. Tracy Hodges, Owner and Chief Creative Officer of The Empowering Advocate LLC.
The stressors of current life are pushing more and more people to seek joy in their work. Writing is one task that may not spark joy for many of us— it is challenging, vulnerable, and time-consuming.