FEATURED SPONSOR
of the 2009 TAA Conference Roundtable Discussions Luncheon
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FEATURED SPONSOR
of the 2009 TAA Conference Networking Hospitality Hour
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2009 TAA CONFERENCE SPONSORS
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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!
You've most likely been hearing something about Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other free "social networking tools," and you may even already be using some of these.
TAA has joined the social networking realm, and currently has a group page on Facebook and LinkedIn. If you would like to participate in these new collaborative networking groups,
- Sign up or sign in to your Facebook account
- Search for "Text and Academic Authors Association"
- Request to join
If you are already a LinkedIn member:
- Sign up or sign in to your LinkedIn account
- Click on the "Groups" link on your member page
- Click on "Find a Group"
- Search for "Text and Academic Authors Association"
- Request to join
You can also follow TAA on Twitter. Sign up or sign in and then click on "Find People" and enter "Text and Academic Authors Association."
These social networking tools are a great way for you to network with your fellow members, ask questions, start and follow discussions, and keep up-to-date on the textbook and academic authoring industry.
If you need any assistance getting set up with any of these tools, or joining TAA groups, please contact me.
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 offering several new free teleconferences this fall
TAA members can sign up now for several new TAA Teleconferences being offered this fall. Participation is free for members.
You will be asked to enter your member username and password to access the sign-up page. If you do not have them, email Kim Pawlak.
Topics being offered this fall include:
Generating & Refining Research Ideas, Part One
Monday, October 5th, 10 -11 a.m. CT (8-9 a.m. Pacific; 9-10 a.m. Mountain; 11-12 p.m. Eastern)
Textbook Supplements: The Big Three, Part One
Monday, October 5th, 12 - 1 p.m. CT (10-11 p.m. Pacific; 11-12 p.m. Mountain; 1-2 p.m. Eastern)
How Authors Can Navigate Successfully Through Copyright-Related Issues
Monday, October 8th, 12 - 1 p.m. CT (10-11 p.m. Pacific; 11-12 p.m. Mountain; 1-2 p.m. Eastern)
Generating & Refining Research Ideas, Part Two
Monday, October 12th, 10 -11 a.m. CT (8-9 a.m. Pacific; 9-10 a.m. Mountain; 11-12 p.m. Eastern)
Textbook Supplements: Electronic Products, Part Two
Monday, October 12th, 12 - 1 p.m. CT (10-11 p.m. Pacific; 11-12 p.m. Mountain; 1-2 p.m. Eastern)
Making the Most of the Author-Editor Relationship: Insights From An Author & Editor Monday, October 19th, 10 - 11 a.m. CT (8-9 a.m. Pacific; 9-10 a.m. Mountain; 11-12 p.m. Eastern)
Members also have free access to recordings of past TAA Teleconferences.
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Treat authoring like a business: Create a home office just for authoring
by Kim Pawlak
Treating your authoring like a business means creating a home office just for authoring, said Robert Christopherson, author of the best-selling U.S. and Canadian geography textbook, Geosystems.
"Prepare your home office and writing studio as if it were a formal business," he said. Read more
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Treat authoring like a business: Keep your authoring separate from your full-time job
by Kim Pawlak
Treating your authoring like a business means keeping your authoring separate from your full time job as a college or university professor, said Charles Williams, professor of sport management in the Department of Tourism, Recreation, and Sport Management at the University of Florida, and author of Personal Fitness: Looking Good/Feeling Good.
Because many institutions have conflict of interest policies and other guidelines that could affect your ability to either author a textbook or academic book as a separate activity, or limit it in some way, he said, it's important to know where to find that information at your institution, and to learn what the rules are, so that you can protect your book income.
Read more
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Don't manage time, manage goals
by Kim Pawlak
While you can't actually manage time - because it operates independently of you -- you can manage your goals, said Susan Robison, a psychologist and faculty development consultant with Professor DeStressor, during her 2009 TAA Conference session, "Time Management: Why You Don't Need It, Can't Do It Anyway - And What To Do Instead."
"One of the things that the research on time management workshops show, is that they don't work," she said. "What happens to people emotionally is they come out of the workshops feeling absolutely overwhelmed by a thousand techniques they're not going to do, and so they're not going to manage their time any better." Read more
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Manage your goals with use of 'Pyramid of Power'
by Kim Pawlak
To help her clients focus on important tasks instead of wandering from task to task, Susan Robison, a psychologist and faculty development consultant with Professor DeStressor, created the "Pyramid of Power" -- a pyramid-shaped goal-setting model.
"I chose the pyramid for the design of my model because that is the most stable structure you can construct," she said. "It has a wide base and a narrow top, with your goals at the top. The model can work top down and bottom up." Read more
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2009 TAA Conference receives high marks
"I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful conference. I had a great time and learned an enormous amount about things I really needed to know. I particularly appreciated that people were so open and willing to share the wisdom they've accumulated through years of hard work!"
- Judy Sklar Rasminsky, co-author of Challenging Behavior in Young Children, which won a 2007 TAA Textbook Excellence Award, and Challenging Behavior in Elementary and Middle School, which won a 2009 TAA Textbook Excellence Award
"The TAA Conference was well-organized. Exceptional presenters. Exciting location (San Antonio, TX). This conference was an exceptional value. Thursday's offerings were so attractive that I was disappointed that I could not attend all of them."
- Russell G. Kulp, Chair, Bachelor Degree Programs, Central Pennsylvania College
View the 2009 TAA Conference photo gallery: Click here
Download PDFs of 2009 TAA Conference presentations: Click here
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Royalty accounting suit against Pearson resolved
The suit against Pearson Education, Inc. by business authors Courtland L. Bovee and John V. Thill, alleging the publisher manipulated royalty accounting to minimize the royalties it pays them, has been resolved. Read more
Staying upright in a sea of economic uncertainty
Southern Oregon based publisher, CNS Productions, Inc. is small potatoes in comparison to the big east coast textbook publishers but they are quickly becoming the Big Kahuna when it comes to drug and addiction education publishing. Read more
393 U.S. books being sold illegally in Vietnam
Six publishers - Oxford, Cambridge, Pearson Education, Cengage Learning, McGraw Hill and Macmillan - through local book distribution company Fahasa organized a press conference on July 9 to announce the titles of 393 of their books that are being illegally printed in Vietnam. Read more
Pearson among publishers to participate in CA's free Digital Textbook Initiative
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that Pearson Education, one of the nation's largest textbook publishers, is among the nine content developers to submit 20 free high school math and science digital textbooks by the June 15 deadline of the first phase of the Governor's Digital Textbook Initiative. Read more
CCC launches new Educational Services page
The proposed class action settlement between Google, the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers remains in the forefront of today's news. To help keep you fully informed and up-to-date with the latest developments. Copyright Clearance Center is offering a series of interviews, seminars and presentations featuring leading experts who are well versed on the settlement and its various components.
Is Cram101 ripping you off?
Cram101 is selling outlines and highlights of thousands of college textbooks without paying royalties on those sales to authors, and in some cases, without copyright notices or with incorrect copyright notices. Some TAA members have found that outlines based on their textbooks on Cram101 have contained inaccuracies, outdated information, and content that doesn't even appear in the actual textbooks. Find out if outlines of your textbook are being sold on Cram101. Join the discussion about Cram101 on the TAA Textbook Authoring Listserv
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TAA NOTES
Authors can now self-promote for Texty, McGuffey Awards
Starting with the 2010 TAA Textbook Excellence Award and McGuffey Longevity Award nomination process, authors can choose to self-nominate their books. The nomination process begins in August. For more information on TAA's Texty and McGuffey Awards: Click here
TAA earmarks $4,000 for TAA Publication Grants in 2009-2010
TAA has up to $4,000 available for making TAA Publication Grants in 2009-2010. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis. The grant period runs from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. Grant applications for the first half of 2009-2010 are due by December 1, 2009. Learn more about applying for a TAA Publication Grant in the TAA Member Center: Click here
Derrington awarded a $265 TAA Publication Grant
Mary Lynne Derrington, an assistant professor at Western Washington University, has been awarded a $265 TAA Publication Grant to cover the cost of obtaining assistance in preparing her manuscript for publication. Read more
TAA Council approves $50,000 grant to TAAF
In response to landing a $5,000 grant from the Florida Governor's Summer Program, the TAA Council approved a $50,000 grant to support the TAA Foundation in its applications for grants in 2009-2010. Learn more about TAAF's Governor's Summer Program: Click here
TAA Ethics Guidelines revised
At its June 25, 2009 meeting, the TAA Council approved revisions to the TAA Ethics Guidelines that better reflect the academic, non-textbook side of the organization. The revisions include changes to reflect the diversity of readers in content, illustrations and exercises; to present in textbooks the moral issues of a field; to permit authors to remove their names from publications; to prevent authors from reselling or recommending resale of textbook examination copies; to avoid potential author conflicts of interest in competitions.
View the revised TAA Ethics Guidelines: Click here
Six Texty, McGuffey winners attend Awards Ceremony
Six winners of 2009 TAA Textbook Excellence Awards and McGuffey Longevity Awards were present at the 2009 TAA Conference Awards Ceremony Luncheon to accept their awards, a leather bookmark bearing the Texty or McGuffey Award logo and the recipients' name and year. View photos of winners here
TAA thanks Contributing Member
TAA thanks Contributing Member Donald C. Ahrens.
TAA thanks Sustaining Member
TAA thanks Sustaining Member Jay L. Devore.
Busy TAA People: Mary Kay Switzer
Mary Kay Switzer's play, "Dragon Tails" is being performed July 14 and August 24 by the Inland Empire Cultural Alliance new group, the Alliance Readers' Theatre Ensemble.
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Tech Bit: Collaborate with anyone, anywhere
By Gregg Marshall
I believe Ray Ozzie should be named the father of collaboration. Way back he created Lotus Notes, probably the first successful server based collaboration platform. Then he created Groove, a peer to peer collaboration system that doesn't require any servers. He's currently Chief Software Architect at Microsoft.
What's so special about Groove? Jon Udell put it this way back in 2000:
Groove, enables groups of collaborators to form in a decentralized, ad-hoc, administrator-less fashion, within or across corporate or other firewall/NAT-governed realms. Groove is a peer-empowering form of groupware. These spaces collect all the documents, messages, and applications ("tools") related to a group activity. Everything replicates to each member's computer.
But at $225 a user, jumping in to Groove for an ad-hoc project probably will keep the members collaborating via email.
There is an alternative that is free-Collanos Workplace (http://www.collanos.com/).
Using Collanos is really quite easy. You install it on your computer. You create a workspace for a project. You invite other people to participate (they get a link to download the software onto their computer).
You put files into the shared workspace, when the other people are on-line they get copies. If anyone makes a change, everyone else gets that updated version. The shared files can be just about anything. Plus you can keep a series of discussions, all nicely archived on everyone's computer.
Think of how you might be collaborating with people outside your company-other sales people, peer networking groups, etc. The price is right, download it and start experimenting.
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
Disclaimer: TAA has not tested and neither endorses nor opposes any product or procedure recommended in this article or ones referenced in any TAA publications, teleconferences, or workshops. |
Listen to recordings of 2009 TAA Teleconferences
TAA members can now listen to the following 2009 TAA Teleconference recordings:
- Taxes and Authors - What You Should Know
- Royalties: Are You Unknowingly Losing Money?
- Writing and Editing Effectively Using 'Fast Writing' and 'Slow Editing'
- Negotiation of Author-Publisher Contracts for the Experienced Author, Part One & Two
- Grants Gamesmanship
- Is Textbook Writing for You?
- You Want to Write a Textbook? Here's How to Do It!
- How to Apply Mainstream Book Publicity Strategies to Academia
Listen to the recordings here
You will need your member username and password to access the recordings. Please email kim.pawlak@taaonline.net if you don't have a username and password.
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TAA Gift Memberships
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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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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DISCLAIMER: TAA has not tested and neither endorses nor opposes any product or procedure recommended in this article or ones referenced in any TAA publications, teleconferences, or workshops.
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