Forty-seven textbooks have been awarded 2026 Textbook Awards by the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) Awards Committee. Twelve textbooks received William Holmes McGuffey Longevity Awards, 11 textbooks received Most Promising New Textbook Awards, and 24 textbooks received Textbook Excellence Awards.
Your Author Bio: Time to Shine
By John Bond
If you’re an academic venturing into the world of publishing, your author bio is a small but important tool. It travels with your work, shapes how readers see you, and often determines whether media, conference organizers, or potential collaborators take a second look. But too many scholars undersell themselves here. Let me be blunt: humility has no place in your author bio. This is not your departmental webpage. It’s your moment to shine.
2026 TAA Textbook Awards Nominations Open Until Nov. 1
Nominations for TAA’s 2026 Textbook Awards is now open. Recognize your textbook today by nominating it for one our industry-respected awards:
McGuffey Longevity Award – to recognize long-standing textbooks and learning materials that have been in print for at least 15 years.
Textbook Excellence Award – to recognize excellence in current textbooks and learning materials.
Most Promising New Textbook Award – to recognize promising textbooks and learning materials in their first edition.
TAA Reduces Nomination Fees for Member Author Nominators
Starting with the 2026 Textbook Awards, TAA member author nominators will be able to nominate their works at a discounted rate. The TAA member-author nomination rate will be $250 (one book or two-book series) and $400 (three-book series). Publisher nomination rates will increase to $450 (one book or two-book series) $700 (three-book series). 2026 Textbook Awards Nominations are open September 1 to November 1.
A Publishing Strategy to Last a Career
By John Bond
Early in one’s career, academics and researchers focus on individual wins (read: getting published). Long term, however, they are better served by developing a personalized Publishing Strategy. This may sound highfalutin, but it is simpler than it sounds and easier to develop and curate over time than most people think.
First, what is a Publishing Strategy? A Publishing Strategy is a long-term, intentional plan for when, where, and how you publish your research, aligned with your academic goals, research agenda, and career stage. Most people only start to think about this after achieving their first position in academia. They’re anxious to get their first publication under their belt. It is gratifying, invalidating. This first publication might enable them to fulfill a requirement for employment or for a research grant. These first few wins are important, but I suggest you quickly move past them to develop a wider plan.
To Self-Publish or Not. That is the Question
By John Bond
Self-publishing has been through quite an evolution in my lifetime. From decades being thought of as “vanity publishing,” to an emerging option for both print and then digital in the Nineties, to complete acceptance and preference in many genres of fiction, self-publishing has transformed how authors think about getting their ideas and thoughts out to the world.