Book Review: Guide to Textbook Publishing Contracts

One of the first experiences a textbook author will have is dealing with a publishing contract. Very few of us are attorneys ourselves and very few of us will have had any prior experience negotiating a publishing contract. Our expertise is in our teaching discipline—not in contract law.

I have learned—the hard way—that I should NOT be the only one looking at contracts and amendments presented to me by my publisher. I’ve therefore made it a habit to have an attorney specializing in textbook publishing contracts to review, suggest, and debate the points in anything I sign. Now I have a much better idea of the potential risks and rewards involved in each new professional writing project.

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6 Key takeaways from the TAA webinar, ‘Go on the (Virtual) Road to Promote Your Book’

Whether ​you are self-publishing or working with a major publisher, you will need to actively promote your textbooks and encourage faculty to adopt them, says Janet Salmons, an independent researcher, writer and consultant with Vision2Lead, Inc. In the April 13 TAA Webinar, “Go on the (Virtual) Road to Promote Your Book”, Salmons shared steps authors can take to launch their own virtual tour as a way to interact with present and future readers. Here are 6 key takeaways from the presentation:

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TAA once again stands up for authors in Google Books case

More than a decade ago, in 2004, Google initiated a program, in concert with several university and large public libraries, to scan and digitize the entire contents of millions of books without regard to whether they were or were not still under copyright, ultimately making complete digital copies of more than 20 million books. Google’s goal was to expand its search business to include print works as well as online works. It spent hundreds of millions of dollars on this project, suggesting what Google believed to be its commercial potential.

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