Christine Hess Orthmann:
‘Accidental author’ sustains and builds the family business
by Leanne Silverman

“It was never my intention to make writing textbooks my career,” laughed Christine Hess Orthmann. Intentional or not, she has spent nearly 30 years doing just that. Orthmann has co-authored or been a major contributor to a multitude of texts, including Community Policing: Partnerships for Problem Solving (6th edition), Juvenile Justice (5th edition), and 2010 McGuffey winner Criminal Investigation (9th edition).

The family business
Growing up, Orthmann watched her mother, Kären Hess, write textbook after textbook; before graduating high school, she was contributing to student guides for those texts. She went on to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Minnesota (Twin Cities) and a Masters in Marine Biology and Coastal Zone Management from Nova Southeastern University (Dania, FL)—all while continuing to work part-time as a contributor to the many Hess textbooks and ancillary materials.

“I had a 9-to-5 job right out of school, as a sample control coordinator in a chem lab,” Orthmann said, “but I realized it wasn’t for me.” So she turned her attention full-time to textbooks, applying her research and writing skills to the many projects Hess had underway. Orthmann’s role has grown over time from contributor to primary author, allowing Hess the flexibility and time to pursue other interests.

Crafting successful textbooks
Orthmann cited three factors contributing to the success of their texts: strong pedagogy, clear writing, and co-authors, contributors, and reviewers with extensive subject-area expertise.

“Kären, with her background in education and instructional design, set these books up to nearly teach themselves,” noted Orthmann. Each book offers clear objectives and reiterates key terms and concepts to ensure that students understand the material.

A writing style based on Hess’s belief that “one should write to express, not to impress” aids student comprehension. Orthmann explained: “It’s not that we’re ‘talking down’ to students; we just don’t think readers need to muddle through lofty verbiage and spend more effort trying to decipher the language than in understanding the concepts and lessons the text is intended to teach.” It is a style that “the vast majority of adopters appreciate.”

Orthmann is a reserve officer with the Rosemount (MN) Police Department and completed her M.S. in Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati in August 2010—but she doesn’t consider herself an expert in the field. Co-authors with hands-on experience help flesh out the texts, addressing the gap between research and practice. Among her expert collaborators are Henry Lim Cho (a working police sergeant), Linda S. Miller (former executive director of the Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute), and Norman A. Carlson (former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons).

The books also benefit from selectively tapping the knowledge and expertise of professionals. For example, Criminal Investigation covers many specialty areas. Orthmann sought out “our own independent reviewers for certain chapters…. I contacted some guys down in the Port of Miami to review the section on cargo theft [and] a person who oversees computer security for a major national retailer [to] provide feedback for our chapter on cybercrime."

Writing requires managing deadlines
“I’m a procrastinator at heart,” admitted Orthmann when asked about her writing process. With a busy family to manage in addition to her writing career, Orthmann writes whenever she can; coffee and deadlines are vital. Breaking a project down into milestones with specific deliverable dates for each element means the work gets done consistently—and setting “fake due dates” with her editors ensures it gets done on time.

With nine textbooks in active revision cycles, Orthmann works on three revised editions every year. Her editors often want final manuscripts on all three at the same time. “That gets too complicated,” she said, so she staggers completion of each new edition. “We set our own deadlines to have one done in June, one in August, and one in December.” That way, she can focus on selecting the photographs for one project while updating the content for another rather than trying to update content on three different subjects at once.

“Truly fortunate”
“I am truly fortunate to have stepped into this usually smooth-running operation of textbook writing,” commented Orthmann. Calling her career “rather accidental,” Orthmann said it’s not one she would exchange. It “fits well with my lifestyle, and my personal and professional goals. It is, in a way, the ‘family business,’ and one that I hope I can sustain and build for decades to come,” she concluded.

Orthmann is a member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), the Text and Academic Authors Association (TAA), and the National Criminal Justice Honor Society (Alpha Phi Sigma). She lives in Rosemount, MN, with her husband, two children, and the family dog.

Leanne Silverman hung her shingle as a freelance writer and editor in Denver, CO after leaving a 12-year career in academic publishing.