10 Disaster control guidelines for your textbook schedule

Drafting and production schedules are more important than one may think in the world textbook publishing. At the same time, deadlines can be burdensome for authors. Missing them is a principal cause of marketplace failure. An untimely textbook, finding no uncommitted customers by the time it reaches them, is doomed. Furthermore, postponement—pushing back a product another whole adoption cycle—is usually not a good option.

The best way to deal with schedules is to master them at the very beginning through realistic planning, starting with a drafting calendar.

10 Disaster control guidelines for your textbook schedule Read More

How reporting royalty income affects taxes for authors

It is well established that an author who is engaged in the business of writing for income should report royalty income on Schedule C, not Schedule E. But what about a retired author who no longer is writing but still receives royalties from previous work? Should retired authors report royalty income on Schedule C or E? Or, should a sole-proprietor S corporation that reports royalty income as corporation profits and author wages be used? Each reporting method has tax consequences and legal issues.

How reporting royalty income affects taxes for authors Read More

Download a sample of ‘Writing and Developing Your College Textbook’

Writing and crafting a textbook and attending to authoring tasks is a time-consuming, complex—some would say monumental—project, even harrowing at times. The updated and expanded third edition of Writing and Developing Your College Textbook, will guide you through the nuts and bolts of the textbook development process, and provide essential background information on the changing higher education publishing industry, as well as how to choose a publisher, write a textbook proposal, negotiate a publishing contract, and establish good author-publisher relations.

Subscribe to our email list and we’ll send you a 17-page sample of the book. 

Download a sample of ‘Writing and Developing Your College Textbook’ Read More

Q&A: How to write for student learning vs. faculty content

The following Q&A is based on a TAA webinar presentation by Michael Greer, from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Development by Design, entitled, “Bringing Textbooks to Life: Strategies for Improving Student Engagement”.

Q: Laura Frost, Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Whitaker Center for STEM Education at Florida Gulf Coast University:

“One of the problems with producing a textbook that helps the student learn is that the faculty member is the person who is selecting the textbook and the publishers know this. Do you have any suggestions for authors who are interested in writing for student learning vs. faculty content?”

Q&A: How to write for student learning vs. faculty content Read More

Join us 9/27 at 12 p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, ‘The 10 Habits of Highly Productive Academic Writers’

Gina HiattOne of academia’s secrets is that most people struggle to get enough writing done. This is partly because they believe some heinous myths about writing, and also because they don’t know the correct habits. On top of that, scholarly writers are often quite anxious – about failure, about not writing enough, and about their careers. They frequently are perfectionists, but perfectionism leads to procrastination, which leads to paralysis.

Join us Tuesday, September 27, from 12-1 p.m. ET, for the TAA Webinar, “The 10 Habits of Highly Productive Academic Writers”. Dr. Gina J. Hiatt, Founder and President of Academic Ladder® Inc., will show you how some simple changes in your habits will lead to big payoffs in your writing productivity and creativity.

Join us 9/27 at 12 p.m. ET for the TAA webinar, ‘The 10 Habits of Highly Productive Academic Writers’ Read More

Trends in college textbook publishing: 5 Tips for navigating the digital transition

Many college textbook authors are experiencing declining print unit sales and diminishing royalty checks. Regular price increases previously helped college textbook publishers offset shrinking print sales, but that strategy is no longer effective. Consequently, some publishers are cutting budgets to offset revenue shortfalls. They’re also diverting remaining investment resources into new digital products and services that offer a measure of protection against the depredations of used, rental, and pirate competition. As a result, those publishers are rebranding themselves as software or learning science companies and setting very public goals to eliminate or scale back their print publishing programs in favor of fully digital product models. What are the key forces driving college publishers’ online publishing strategies? What are some steps higher education textbook authors can take in response?

Trends in college textbook publishing: 5 Tips for navigating the digital transition Read More