A couple of weeks ago, I reached out to winners of the 2016 TAA Textbook Awards and asked them to answer some questions about their textbook writing. I had so many great responses I decided to create a three-part series to share them. The first installment focused on why they decided to write their textbook, how they got started, and what they do to boost their confidence as a writer. This second installment in the three-part series focuses on how they fit writing time into their schedule, what software they use, what their favorite pedagogical elements are, and what involvement they have had in marketing their book.
Just released by TAA Press: ‘Guide to Textbook Publishing Contracts’
When it comes to negotiating your textbook publishing contract, you have more leverage than you think.
In this 40-page guide by Stephen Gillen, a Partner at Wood Herron & Evans, you will learn the key provisions of a typical textbook contract and how to determine what’s important to you so that you can enter into the contract negotiation process better informed. Get the “better”, “best” and “better still” options you can consider when making decisions about what to negotiate.
Textbook award-winning insight (part 1): Getting started and boosting your confidence
I recently reached out to winners of the 2016 TAA Textbook Awards and asked them to answer some questions about how they made the decision to write their textbook, how they interested a publisher, what they do to boost their writing confidence, how they fit writing time into their schedule, and more. I will be sharing their answers in a series of posts over the next few weeks. This week’s installment focuses on why they decided to write their textbook, how they got started, and what they do to boost their confidence as a writer.
The textbook of the future: What will it look like?
What does the textbook of the future look like? I asked my students to explore this question, and their answers will surprise and, perhaps, inspire today’s textbook authors.
5 Ways to tame your publishing lions
Forget kindergarten. All I really need to know about being a textbook author, I learned as a lion tamer.
I’m a textbook author and professor now, but in my youth I was an apprentice lion tamer. And it continues to surprise and delight me that many of the principles I learned during those adventures have helped me in my career.
How to find and work with an illustrator
Illustrations are an important part of many textbooks and peer reviewed papers because they can help explain concepts in ways that photographs can’t. According to Joanne Haderer Muller, a board certified medical illustrator and Chair of the Board of the Association of Medical Illustrators: “Illustrations have many advantages over photographs. For example, illustrations can show readers an average, rather than a specific, example of a concept, procedure, animal, or anatomical arrangement. They can show detail that may be lost or hidden in a photograph, can help explain things at a molecular or cellular level, and can show how a process unfolds over time to really explain the author’s message.”