2009 TAA Conference Sponsors
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TAA Membership Renewal Coupon Expires December 31, 2008
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Please take a minute to fill out the 2008 TAA Member Survey
Your answers will help us shape future member benefits!
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Subscribe to TAA Listservs
Subscribe to one or both of TAA's Listservs, one on textbook authoring and one on academic authoring.
Subscribe to the Textbook Authoring Listserv by sending an email to TAATextbookAuthoring-on@mail-list.com
Subscribe to the Academic Authoring Listserv by sending an email to TAAAcademicAuthoring-on@mail-list.com
You can switch to the Digest version of the Textbook Authoring Listserv, in which you receive only one email message per week with all that week's posts contained within it, by sending an email to TAATextbookAuthoring-switch@mail-list.com
once you have been subscribed.
To switch to the Digest version of the Academic Authoring Listserv, send an email to TAAAcademicAuthoring-switch@mail-list.com once you have been subscribed.
After you are subscribed to the Textbook Authoring Listserv, send messages to TAATextbookAuthoring@mail-list.com
After you are subscribed to the Academic Authoring Listserv, send messages to TAAAcademicAuthoring@mail-list.com
Read the archives for both Listservs here
If you have any questions, please email Kim Pawlak
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Greetings!
I encourage you to sign up for the free TAA Teleconference, "Make Your Book Better and Your Sales Bigger with Online Feedback Tools", which will be held Sept. 25 from 12-1 p.m. CST.
David Brake, CEO and founder of Content Connections, a company that specializes in market research, audience analysis, and feedback loops for publishers and authors, will show you how to create simple but effective "author-driven" surveys that can be created, managed and launched online.
You will learn the do's and don'ts of author-driven surveys; how to craft effective questions that yield actionable results; how to choose an online survey tool that works for you; other online feedback tools for your toolbox; how to manage your contact list and turn them into relationships; and how to enlist the support of your publisher.
You would receive an email one week before the teleconference containing the call-in number and password for joining the teleconference, as well as a handout in PDF format.
Sign up now!
Other upcoming Fall Teleconferences:
- "How to Craft a Winning Textbook Proposal" (Oct. 9)
- "Scholarly Writing: Strengthening Your Literature Review" (Oct. 17)
- "Scholarly Publishing: Finding Support Through Peer Mentoring" (Nov. 11)
- "How to Proactively Market Your Textbook" (Nov. 20)
Learn more about these teleconferences at http://www.taaonline.net/TAATeleconferences/schedule.html
Sincerely,
Kim Pawlak
Associate Executive Director
kim.pawlak@taaonline.net
(608) 687-3106
(507) 459-1363 cell
www.TAAonline.net
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TAA debunks the top 7 myths regarding textbook costs
By Kim Pawlak
Students' purchase of used textbooks, and more recently, the theft of new textbooks via downloads at file sharing websites, is based on misinformation about how textbook publishing works, how professors choose textbooks, the business practices of book resellers, and the motivations of authors who write textbooks, said Richard Hull, executive director of the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA).
TAA recently interviewed publishers, professors and authors as a way to set straight the top myths regarding textbook costs.
Click here to read the full article
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TAA thanks Sustaining Members
Karen Morris, Betty Azar, Michael Sullivan III, and Steven Barkan
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TAA Council appoints two At-Large members
 
Angela Jackson Claudia Sanchez
The TAA Council has appointed Angela Jackson, president and CEO of Culturally Competent Consulting, and Claudia Sanchez, an assistant professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Texas Women's University, as At-Large members. At-Large Council members serve for one year and are non-voting members of the Council.
"It is my pleasure to accept this appointment as I look forward to supporting the mission of TAA," said Jackson, who just started a one-year contract with Michigan City Schools as its Mental Health Cultural Facilitator. She will be working with all the elementary schools to support cultural assimilation into the school district for children from other countries and with cultural factors impacting mental health in children and their families. "I have a passion for writing and inspiring others in the process. This appointment allows me to join the TAA leadership and forward the association to new heights. I aspire to publish materials in multicultural education and as a council member I bring an exciting area to the publishing discussion. I was most appreciative of this opportunity to serve on behalf of TAA."
Said Sanchez: "I would like to grow as a published author while collaborating with the Council in furthering TAA's mission to enhance the quality of educational materials and support the endeavors of text and academic authors. To achieve this goal, I plan to serve TAA by disseminating information about the Association's services, policies, and programs among non-members, working actively on TAA committees, and recruiting members and Council members for the Association. I really appreciate the opportunity and am looking forward to joining efforts with fellow Council members."
Culturally Competent Consulting, Inc.'s mission is to provid teachers with the tools to effectively communicate with children of color and understand their worldviews. "Increased self-efficacy and self-worth for children of color are good indicators for academic success," said Jackson.
Jackson's educational history includes B.S. in industrial management; M.Ed. in Community Counseling; and a Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Virginia Tech where she also specialized in race & social policy. She has published academic articles and taught as an assistant professor in counseling/psychology programs teaching courses such as abnormal psychology, practicum/internship, and multicultural counseling.
Jackson is a certified Study Circle on Race Facilitator charged with facilitating groups that help people work together for creative community change. She is a member of The American Counseling Association subscribed to the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development.
The enthusiasm shown by these two indidividuals and the sophistication of the questions they have posed in their short time as TAA members, said TAA President Paul Siegel, was what led him to recommend them for Council. "I have a special affinity, too," he admitted, "for first-time conference attendees who so clearly manifest a drive to get more involved. After all, my own first TAA conference was less than a decade ago, in New Orleans. And I was asked at that conference to serve as primary planner for the very next conference, which was in San Antonio."
Prior to teaching at Texas Women's University, Sanchez taught and pursued graduate studies at Texas A&M-College Station, where she graduated with an M.S. in Curriculum and Instruction and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. Her research interests include grant writing, mentorship in teacher education programs, multicultural teacher competency, Spanish language literacy, and English as a Second Language (ESL) teaching methodologies. A frequent presenter at the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), the International Reading Association (IRA), and the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) association. Sanchez is director/co-director of three federal grants totaling over $4 million dollars, which focus on the preparation of teachers in critical need areas.
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TAA to hold teleconference on how to strengthen a literature review
Dr. Sonja Foss, a professor of communication at the University of Colorado, and Dr. William Waters, coordinator of composition, director of the Writing Center, and assistant professor in the English Department at Northwest Missouri State University, will present a TAA teleconference on Friday, October 17 from 12-1 p.m. central time entitled "Scholarly Writing: Strengthening Your Literature Review".
Sign up
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TAA launches Fall Teleconference Series
TAA has launched its members-only Fall Teleconference Series.
- "Make Your Book Better & Your Online Sales Bigger with Online Feedback Tools" (Sept. 25)
- "How to Craft a Winning Textbook Proposal" (Oct. 9)
- "Scholarly Writing: Strengthening Your Literature Review" (Oct. 17)
- "Scholarly Publishing: Finding Support Through Peer Mentoring" (Nov. 11)
- "How to Proactively Market Your Textbook" (Nov. 20)
Learn more about these teleconferences at http://www.taaonline.net/TAATeleconferences/schedule.html
Sign up for one or more Fall teleconferences
Don't have your member username and password? Email Kim Pawlak
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AUTHORS ASKING
Q: "I have recently completed a textbook, and am searching for a publisher. Should I have the book copyrighted?"
A: Mary Ellen Lepionka, Atlantic Path Publishing:
"You can, or the publisher can do that for you in your name. The publisher typically pays the fee and sends two finished copies to the Library of Congress when the book is out. Request that the publisher register the copyright in your name, which is normal unless you have permanently assigned copyright to the publisher. My understanding is that in signing the publishing contract you do assign exclusive copyright use to the publisher (hopefully for a specified time rather than indefinitely), after which rights can revert to the author. However, an original work is ultimately, automatically, the property of its author or creator, which is a separate function from granting rights. It does seem confusing. Publishers typically do the paperwork and payment for registering the copyright, and a textbook often contains additional material and ancillaries that the publisher provides, and that may be why most textbooks have the publisher's name on the copyright page. But, if I understand correctly, copyright ownership of the author's content can be (and often is) registered in the author's name (unless it is a work for hire), and the publisher usually will perform this service if asked. I believe we have attorneys on this list who can clarify this for us."
A: Arthur & Elaine Rubin, AUTHORS & EDITORS:
"We
respectfully disagree. Make sure the Copyright IS in your name. Best
way to be sure is to do it yourself. Forms are on-line, fees are small,
and you can do it yourself. Second best, and be sure you get full
documentation, is to have a Publisher do it."
A: Stephen E. Gillen, Authoring Attorney, Greenebaum Doll & McDonald:
"The norm in trade book publishing is for the author to retain the copyright and grant to the publisher an exclusive license to publish the work in book form and to exercise certain subsidiary rights (sometimes the license granted is broader and sometimes it is more narrow). The norm in educational publishing is for the publisher to be granted the copyright (and at lower levels in the curriculum the works are sometimes signed as works-for-hire), but it is possible and not uncommon for authors of educational works to negotiate to retain the copyright (this is perhaps more likely at a house that has both trade and educational imprints).
For most practical purposes, the grant of an exclusive license of indeterminate duration is not materially different from an assignment of the copyright. But there are important legal differences that have most significance in the event of a dispute between the author and publisher or at the margins of a license of narrower scope.
The copyright process has changed in the last couple of weeks [answered July 24, 2008]. The familiar 2-page forms (TX, PA, VA, and SR) are no longer available on the copyright office web site. Now, you are encouraged to submit your application online via eCO or to fill out a one-size-fits-all application (form CO) that captures your information in a bar code (and hence requires the latest release of adobe to use). It is very much different from the tried-and-true process we have become accustomed to and a little buggy yet."
Read more Authors Asking Q&As
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Chilean Ministry of Education to hold forum on language, communication textbooks
The Textbook Unit of the Chilean Ministry of Education will hold an international forum, "The International Seminar on Language and Communication Textbook" in Santiago, Chile, May 25-27, 2009. The goal of the Seminar is to share the broad array of ideas and perspectives, and to open spaces for discussion related to teaching practices with Language and Communication textbooks from a national and international approach.
The successful "Seminario Internacional de Textos Escolares -SITE 2006" and the high interest in the History Textbook Seminar to be held in November this year, said organizers, have demonstrated that high-quality textbooks are one of the most important factors in making the learning experience more relevant to students and teachers. For that reason, they have decided to continue with an international forum to maintain the dialogue on textbooks and to develop academic competences related to teacher's knowledge in this area.
The objectives of the Seminar:
- To make possible the exchange of studies and researches that can help to improve the textbook quality as a didactic tool of support considering the new approaches to the teaching of Language and Literature.
- To exchange experiences considering relevant issues such as: analysis of the speech, reading habits, teaching of reading-writing and Literature.
- To establish a debate about the real importance of Language textbooks for the development of linguistic abilities in a globalized world.
- To stimulate the Chilean academy, especially in the area of education and the teaching of Language to develop competences and increase the capacity in the production, use and research on school textbooks.
The Seminar welcomes contributions from teachers, publishers, university-based faculty of education researchers related to Literature, Linguistic or other matters and graduated students on the following topics: language and Literature didactics on school textbooks; content Analysis in school textbooks; school textbooks and reading ability; and school textbooks and initial literacy.
Send an abstract (max 200 words) exclusively on the topics mentioned above, to: textos@textosescolares.cl
Deadline for abstract: November 15th 2008.
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TAA seeks 2009 Texty, McGuffey Award nominees
Ask your publisher to nominate your textbook or other learning materials for a 2009 Textbook Excellence Award or McGuffey Longevity Award.
Textbook Excellence Awards (or "Textys") recognize current textbooks and learning materials that demonstrate excellence based on four criteria: interesting and informative; well organized and well prepared; up to date and appealing; and teachability. McGuffey Longevity Awards (or "McGuffeys") recognize textbooks and learning materials whose excellence has been demonstrated over time.
Texty and McGuffey entries must be officially nominated by publishers, but authors can ask publishers to nominate their book. Authors do not need to be members of TAA. The nomination fee for each book is $300.
Download Nomination PDF forms for 2009 Texty and McGuffey Awards: click here
The deadline for sending nomination forms and fees for the 2009 Texty and McGuffey Awards is October 15, 2008. The deadline to receive the books for judging purposes is November 15, 2008. These deadlines are flexible according to publication dates. Contact TAA headquarters if you need more time: (727) 563-0020 or e-mail.
Read about TAA's 2008 Texty and McGuffey Award winners: Click here
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TAA seeking judges for 2009 Texty, McGuffey Awards
TAA is seeking judges for its 2009 Texty and McGuffey Awards. Judges must be published authors in one of the eight award categories: math, stats; communication/education/ performing arts/visual arts; language/literature; computer science/engineering; physical sciences; life sciences; humanities/social sciences; and accounting/business/economic/management.
Entries are judged by no fewer than three but usually five judges. Judges who have a directly competing work are asked to sit out. Judges are asked to rank entries on a 1-5 scale in these criteria: interesting and informative; well organized and well prepared; up to date and appealing; teachability. In addition, judges are asked to describe strengths and special features that contribute to each work. Judges also are asked to describe weaknesses. In event of a tie on the rankings, these open-ended comments can assist the chief judge for each category in making a decision. The open-ended comments are made available to nominated authors, without judges being identified.
Download Judge Application Form (PDF): click here
For more information about serving as a judge for the 2009 Texty and McGuffey Awards, contact Janet Tucker, TAA's Managing Director, at (727) 563-0020 or e-mail.
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