2/10 TAA Webinar: Connecting With a College Textbook Publisher in Changing Times

College textbook publishing has changed in many significant ways over the past twenty years. While the industry is still dominated by a small number of large publishers, their product and business models have evolved greatly. Pressure to create a variety of low-priced product options and resulting decreases in growth and profit have caused many publishers to pull back on the acquisition of new products. Consequently, acquisitions editors have often begun to focus on managing existing titles rather than on acquiring new products. If you are flexible, persistent, and creative, you can still find opportunities to write or contribute to a college-level textbook.

Join us Thursday, February 10 from 1-2 p.m. ET for “Connecting With a College Textbook Publisher in Changing Times”, presented by Sean Wakely, Vice President of Product and Editorial at FlatWorld. Wakely will describe the current college textbook publishing landscape and provide you with actionable ideas about how to approach and form a relationship with the editorial staff who are responsible for bringing new writing talent into a publisher.

Register Today. Members Only. Join TAA.

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Vice President’s Message: My publisher has been acquired…Now what? A personal story

This past summer I gave a presentation at TAA’s 2021 Virtual Conference on the joys and benefits of working for a small publisher, which I have done for the past 18 years. Well, guess what? I no longer work for a small publisher because they were recently acquired by a larger publisher. This serves as yet another example of what we all know so well – the publishing business in higher education is changing rapidly and we all need to adapt to new paradigms.

Allow me to share how I have handled this transition so far. The first thing I did was contact my intellectual property attorney to solicit advice on questions to ask my new publisher.

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Is there a market for your book?

Writing a book takes hours; perhaps a thousand or more including the research and editing. Needless to say it is a major commitment that authors expect will have a payoff of peer recognition, dissemination of ideas, and (gasp) maybe even a royalty payment. But how do authors know the marketplace wants their book?

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Q&A: What is the first step in launching my idea for an academic book project?

Q: I have an idea for an academic book. What is my first step in launching this project?

John Bond, Publishing Consultant, Riverwinds Consulting:

“Whether it be an academic monograph, textbook, or other type of book, the first step is to solidify ‘The Idea.’ This process has several components. My recommendation is approach this in a stepwise fashion:

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Your work and international markets

“My work will have broad appeal in Europe.”

“China is a growing market and I think they’d love my book.”

“I’d like to see a Spanish-language version of my textbook. It would be a hit.”

“I know someone who can translate my book into Japanese. Should they get started?”

As a Book Publisher and later a Publishing Consultant, I have heard countless authors speculate on the market for their book outside of the English-language and/or North America. But what is involved with having your work reach Asia, Africa, Europe, and beyond?

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Five chances to reset the terms of your book contract (Part 1)

If you published the first edition of your textbook ten or more years ago, you may find yourself occasionally muttering to yourself, “I wish I kew then what I know now.”

Why is that?

Historically, the publishers start the book contract negotiation game with all the cards…backs to you. You have one card…it’s face up. And it tells everybody, “I’m new at this but I’m excited. Just tell me where to sign.”

Publishers have generally been the gatekeeper to a published book. While this may be less true now, with self-publishing and Open Educational Resources (OER), the publishers still have the most established distribution channels self-publishers cannot begin to match.

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