Join us for the 2007 TAA Conference at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo in downtown Buffalo, NY, June 22-23

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Preliminary Conference Schedule now available
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Book Raffle
IIL Publishing, New York will raffle four books at the 2007 TAA Conference
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Coming to Buffalo? Put these two books on your reading list
City of Light by Lauren Belfer
Trip to Niagara Falls by Geronimo Stilton (Scholastic)
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Mentoring Sessions
Several veteran authors have agreed to serve as mentors at the conference. Attendees will be able to sign up at the conference registration desk for 15-minute sessions with a mentor. A list of mentors will be available soon.

Roundtable Discussions Luncheon
Saturday, June 23
12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Choose from 10 different moderated roundtable discussions related to textbook and academic authoring.
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Dinner at The Anchor Bar
Thursday, June 21, 6 p.m.
The restaurant where Buffalo-style wings were invented
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Buffalo, NY Waterfront Tour
Friday, June 22, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Take a guided tour of the Buffalo waterfront
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Karpeles Manuscript Musuem and Library Tour
Friday, June 22, 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.
View Walt Disney illustrations and documents, among others
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Social Networking Event: A Chartered 3-hour Dinner Cruise Aboard the Grand Lady
Friday, June 22, 6:45 p.m. to 10 p.m.
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Four-hour Guided Tour to Niagara Falls (American side)
Saturday, June 23, 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tour full.
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Free one-on-one sessions with an authoring attorney or literary agent
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Click here for information from the 2006 TAA Convention:

• Articles
• Convention Q&A
• Convention Materials
• Photo Gallery

Archive of past conventions

A Play of Words: Acting Out Contract Negotiations
Dramatis Personae: Jan Kardys (The Publisher); Michael Lennie (The Author); Christopher Kenneally (The Narrator)

Saturday, June 23
9:15 - 10:15 a.m.
Preliminary conference schedule

When it comes to book contracts, negotiations are all business. Just this once, though, we will let it be all play. In a format similar to a mock trial, veteran publishing contract negotiators Jan Kardys and Michael Lennie will re-enact key stages in the development of a textbook contract by drawing on their real-life experiences representing leading authors and publishers. In a dramatic dialogue, Kardys and Lennie will illustrate the important contract clauses that every textbook author must know, whether they are veterans or selling a first book. Areas of special emphasis will include a detailed explanation of typical subsidiary rights; royalties; and successful collaboration agreements. Attendees will receive valuable handouts, including samples of original documents, such as a reversion of rights checklist; a reversion of right request letter; a reversion of rights agreement; and a permissions agreement and permissions checklist. Author/journalist Christopher Kenneally will play the role of the narrator, providing introductory notes to each "episode."

Participants will learn:

• The different types of contracts that publishers typically offer
• Business savvy moves to pre-empt unfavorable contract clauses and terms
• When it's time to negotiate, and when it's time to sign a contract
• Principles and problems -- diving "what's right" from "what's acceptable" and living with the split
• Communicating with editors and publishers' representatives to achieve the best possible outcome.

About the Presenters:

Jan L. Kardys has over 20 years' diversified publishing experience for eight major publishing corporations. She was the Director of Contracts at Warner Books/Little Brown and Co., Director of Contracts at Macmillan Publishing Co. and Contracts Director at Prentice Hall/Simon and Schuster. Ms. Kardys has also worked at Harcourt Brace Javanovich, Doubleday, Scholastic, Lippincott & Crowell, Publishers and St. Martin's Press in editorial, subsidiary rights and production.

Michael Lennie has negotiated hundreds of major contracts for both established and first-time authors, in all genres. He regularly speaks at workshops and conferences around the country on publishing legal issues. As National Advisor to the Text and Academic Authors Association, he regularly advises professionals on how to protect their work and their careers.

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