Conference Registration is now open.
Register Early and Receive Two Free Books!
 
read review
The first 30 conference registrants will receive a copy of Robert Boice's Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing, (read review) donated by the publisher, New Forums Press, and Self-Publishing Textbooks and Instructional Materials by Franklin H. Silverman, donated by the publisher, Atlantic Path Publishing.
Register here
View the Preliminary Conference Schedule
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2009 TAA Conference Sponsors
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Sponsor the 2009
TAA Conference for only $200!
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SAVE THE DATE!
2010 TAA Conference to be held in Minneapolis, MN
The 2010 TAA Conference on Text and Academic Authoring will be held in Minneapolis, MN at the Ramada Mall of America, June 24-26.
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TAA member benefit: Books for Purchase
TAA members may list and promote works on-line if they hold the rights. These works can be out-of-print or self-published.
Works will be posted on the TAA site, permitting adopters and individual buyers to buy directly from the author.
Authors set the price.
Authors provide the means of delivery, either electronic or print format.
To list your work in the Books for Purchase section, fill out this application. Email an image of the book cover to kim.pawlak@taaonline.net
To view the works for sale visit http://www.taaonline.net/books/index.html
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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!
Please join us for the 2009 TAA Conference on Text and Academic Authoring in San Antonio, Texas, June 25-27.
This year's conference will feature three workshops and almost two dozen sessions in addition to free mentoring and plenty of networking opportunities.
The first 30 conference registrants will receive a copy of Robert Boice's Professors as Writers: A Self-Help Guide to Productive Writing, donated by the publisher, New Forums Press, and Self-Publishing Textbooks and Instructional Materials by Franklin H. Silverman, donated by the publisher, Atlantic Path Publishing.
First-time conference registrants receive up to $45 off registration. Discounts on group registration are also available. Contact me if you are interested in a group rate.
Register today!
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 elections nominations deadline Mar. 1
One officer position and two Council positions will be opening up on the TAA Council on July 1, 2009. Any member of TAA is eligible to serve on the TAA Council. The open officer position is Secretary, and will be a three-year term. The Council terms are also three years.
"This is an exciting time for TAA as several important issues are coming to the forefront," said Don Collins, vice-president/president-elect and TAA Elections chair. "TAA has always been open to new blood and new ideas. Please look over the board expectations and carefully consider nominating someone for any of these positions. I also want to point out that this election as all others in the past have been open for self nomination. Several board members past and present have been self nominated."
TAA Council members are required to attend two meetings per year, one in January in St. Petersburg, Florida, and one the day prior to the association's annual conference (held traditionally in late June or early July). Travel and lodging expenses related to attending these meetings is reimbursed. Officers also attend monthly teleconferences.
To nominate yourself or a colleague for the TAA Council, email your nominations to TextandAcademicAuthors@taaonline.net or mail to TAA, P.O. Box 76477, St. Petersburg, FL 33734-6477. Contact TAA if you have any questions: (727) 563-0020 or TextandAcademicAuthors@taaonline.net
Nominees must send a 100-150 word bio, and a 100-150 word position statement with their nominations, describing why they would be a good candidate for the TAA Council. Deadline for completed nominations is March 1, 2009. Ballots are mailed to the membership March 15, 2009. The deadline for the receipt of ballots from members is April 15, 2009. Terms begin July 1, 2009.
TAA Headquarters is also sending Nomination Forms to all TAA members by mail.
PDF Downloads for more info:
2009 TAA Council Call for Nominations Letter
TAA Secretary Duties and Responsibilities
TAA Council Member Duties and Responsibilities
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TAA Teleconference:
Negotiation of Author-Publisher Contracts for the Experienced Author
This one-hour teleconference, presented by Michael Le nnie of Lennie Literary & Author's Attorney on March 4 from 12-1 p.m. Central Time, is for experienced authors who have more advanced contract questions and who would like to share their contract experiences with fellow participants.
Just some of what Lennie will cover in this discussion:
A. What Are The HOT Current Issues I Need to be Aware of To Preserve and Protect My Royalties?
1. "The CourseSmart Syndrome"
2. "PubSupps"
3. An Unfair Trade: Don't fall for a Publisher's Offer to give you an Audit Clause in exchange for "A Two Year Look-Back"
4. Kit and Kit within Kit - "Magic Number Mischief"
B. As a Successful Textbook Author, What Should Be My Focus In Negotiations?
1. Electronic Rights
2. Re-Openers
3. Right of Approval or Right of Consultation
a. Cover Art/Photography
b. Selection of Supplement Authors
c. Marketing Plan
d. Advertising Copy
4. Reserving Right to Hire an Assistant
5. Scaled Royalty Rates - "Ask the questions and do the math"
6. Canadian Royalty Rates
7. The "Retirement Plan"
8. Is There a Difference In Strategy Between Negotiating a Contract For a New Book, vs. Negotiating an Amendment for a New Edition?
C. [Briefly] As a New Textbook Author What Should Be My Focus In Negotiations?
1. Actually, These Concepts Apply to Both New and Seasoned Authors
2. The Best Negotiation Leverage Device
3. How to Avoid Having Your Textbook Authoring Career In Shackles Before It Begins
4. Help: my Textbook's Been Kidnapped and I've Been Kicked Off the Island
D. The Contract Database Project
Lennie will also share a few sample improved contract clauses.
Although this teleconference is geared towards more experienced authors, even new authors could benefit from listening in on the discussion.
Free for members.
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New TAA Conference Roundtable Discussion:
Service Learning Through Applied Projects
Nancy Volkman, associate professor in the department o f landscape architecture and urban planning at Texas A&M University, College Station, will moderate a Roundtable Discussion at the 2009 TAA Conference (San Antonio, June 25-27) on "Service Learning Through Applied Projects."
During this 30-minute roundtable, Volkman will discuss how to involve groups, particularly students, in active, realistic learning experiences through the use of service learning projects.
"These projects are typically done for not-for-profit groups, small communities, minority groups, and others who could benefit from professional quality research or applied projects but cannot afford them," she said.
Volkman will discuss and illustrate some of the types of projects that her undergraduate and graduate students have worked on over the years in the field of landscape architecture. She will also draw from the experiences of colleagues in the natural sciences, social sciences and planning to cover the variety of service learning that can be done. Strategies for success, challenges, and potential outcomes will also be discussed.
Volkman is a graduate of Beloit College, Beloit, WI and University of Illinois, Urbana, IL. She currently serves as an associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. Her principal areas of teaching have focused upon landscape history, cultural landscape studies, design and planning for historical landscapes, and community design. She is widely published, particularly in the area of landscape history, including the leading text and reference in that field, Landscapes in History, co-authored with Phil Pregill, now going into its 3rd edition. Professor Volkman is a member of several honor societies, including Phi Kappa Phi, and a registered landscape architect in the state of Texas. She is also in her third year as co-editor of ARRIS - The Journal of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. |
Salkind Literary Agency sponsoring 2009 TAA Conference
The Salkind Literary Agency is sponsoring the 2009 TAA Conference at the $200 level. As a division of Studio B. Productions, Inc., the Salkind Literary Agency, headed by bestselling author and noted literary agent, Neil J. Salkind, works with general non-fiction trade and textbook authors.
The staff of Salkind Literary Agency has extensive experience running imprints for major trade and textbook publishers, and Neil has personally written over 100 books including the best-selling Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics. The agency has placed over 4,500 books with virtually every trade publisher, and is experienced in putting together large and complicated transactions.
Visit the Salkind Literary Agency website and thank them for supporting your association:
http://www.studiob.com/salkindagency/ |
Tech Bit: Forget That File at Work?
You're traveling and you realize an important files is on your desktop.
Maybe you can get a co-worker to email it to you. Or you can suck it up and do without (SOL).
Or you could plan ahead and realize you are going to need files you may have left back at home.
There's a program/free service that lets you get any file off your computer using any web browser, Windows Live Sync (https://sync.live.com/).
You download and install a small application on the base desktop. Configure it with a username and password (here's where you really want to use a hard to guess, strong password).
Then when you need a file, you go to https://sync.live.com/ and log in. Your files are displays and you can download the one you need.
Your network administrator will freak, but a system like Windows Live Sync will save your rear end someday.
Gregg Marshall, CPMR, CSP, is a speaker, author and consultant. He can be reached by e-mail at
gmarshall (AT) repconnection.com, or visit his website at http://www.repconnection.com
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Listen to recording of TAA Teleconference on taxes and authors
TAA members can now listen to a recording of the February 10th TAA Teleconference "Taxes and Authors - What You Should Know" presented by Robert M. Pesce, Partner, Marcum & Kliegman, LLP: Listen to recording |
Listen to recording of TAA Teleconference on royalties
TAA members can now listen to a recording of the February 17th TAA Teleconference "Royalties: Are You Unknowingly Losing Money?" presented by Gail R. Gross, CPA, Marcum & Kliegman, LLP: Listen to recording
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Listen to recording of TAA Teleconference on writing and editing effectively
TAA members can now listen to a recording of the February 19 TAA Teleconference "Writing and Editing Effectively Using 'Fast Writing' and 'Slow Editing'" by Dr. Sonja Foss, Professor of Communication, University of Colorado, and Dr. William Waters, an assistant professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown: Listen to recording
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TAA thanks Contributing, Sustaining Members
TAA thanks Contributing Member Walter Savitch and Sustaining Members Robert Christopherson and Susan Fawcett.
Contributing and Sustaining Member categories are voluntary. Contributing Members pay $100 if their royalty income exceeds $10,000, and Sustaining Members pay $150 if their royalty income exceeds $25,000. These funds are used to provide additional member benefits and services.
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TAA Gift Memberships
Jay Withgott gave a gift membership to Barbara Murck.
Roger Flynn gave a gift membership to Mary Kay Biagini. Christopher Harris gave a gift membership to Scott Boyd.
Pat Casey gave a gift membership to Karen Dunlap.
You can give a TAA Gift Membership for only $15.
Providing a gift membership to a family member, friend, student or colleague is a great way to assist them with their writing and show your support for TAA's mission.
Learn more
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Free consultation for contracts
Michael R. Lennie, a long-time member of TAA, is building a major database of textbook author contracts to more effectively and efficiently serve TAA members. Mr. Lennie is an authors' attorney and literary agent. His firm is Lennie Literary & Authors' Attorney located in San Diego. A free 15 minute legal consultation is offered to all authors who provide contracts. The offer is good anytime in
2009.
He seeks both "off-the-shelf " un-negotiated contracts (i.e., the publisher's boilerplate contract) as well as negotiated contracts.
Please mark the upper right corner of the first page of the contract with either a large "N" or "UN" to designate the contract as "Negotiated" or "Un-negotiated." Contracts negotiated in the last six years are preferred, and should include amended contracts, amendments and supplements where they exist to demonstrate changes to the contract over time.
Your contracts should be sent in electronic form to michael@lennieliterary.com. If only print copies are available, send to the address shown below. You are invited to redact any personal information if you wish. However, use of these materials will not identify the author.
If you have questions, please e-mail or call Michael.
Michael R. Lennie
Lennie Literary Agency & Authors Attorney
2667 Camino del Rio South
Suite 301-9
San Diego, CA 92108
Phone: (858) 272-2248
Fax: (858) 272-2541
michael@lennieliterary.com
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TAA 2008 Teleconference Series
TAA members can now listen to recordings from TAA's 2008 Teleconference Series. The playback options have been enhanced to enable members to rewind, fast-forward and pause the recordings in addition to stop and play. The recordings can also now be downloaded and listened to on a computer or Mp3 player.
These recordings are for members-only. Only TAA members have permission to download TAA Teleconference recordings. Recordings may not be copied, shared with, or distributed to non-members.
Listen to or download the recordings:
Learn more about these teleconferences at http://www.taaonline.net/TAATeleconferences/schedule.html
Don't have your member username and password? Email Kim Pawlak
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