Kevin T. Patton:
Work on 'small publishing projects' grew into textbook contract
By Kim Seidel

Author and teacher Kevin T. Patton has an interesting background as a zookeeper, wildlife rehabilitator and researcher and wild animal trainer. His experiences served to enhance the love he holds for teaching and writing.

"I slowly transitioned over a period of years to more and more teaching and less and less direct work with animals," Patton says. "That's because I found that my passion is animals but my deeper passion is teaching."

A professor of life science at St. Charles Community College in St. Peters, Mo., Patton discovered writing as another way to teach. He's been writing student textbooks for 21 years.

"Writing materials for students is a way to extend my teaching," says Patton, a founding faculty member when the college began in 1987. "I extend it not only for my own students by reaching outside their time with me, but I also extend my teaching to students around the world - students I'll never even meet."

Patton says he began writing for students as a high school teacher in 1981 with simple handouts and lab exercises that clarified key points and helped them to clear up their own thinking about important concepts. "I found that I enjoyed it, and it worked well for students. So, I wanted to take it further, with the eventual goal of working on a textbook," he says.

Patton achieved his goal - not just with one textbook, but with several of them he co-authored with his mentor and friend, Gary A. Thibodeau. It wasn't a straight path to successfully being published, however. After he realized how much he enjoyed writing for students, Patton began to develop his own lab manual.

"This manual was eventually published by a custom publisher for use at my own school (St. Mary's College in 1986)," Patton says. "I was then recruited by a major publisher to write a lab manual for them, but it didn't work out."

He didn't let that deter his goal to write and publish a textbook. He spoke with his Mosby Publishing representative, who put him in touch with their editorial team.

"They began by giving me all kinds of small projects to do, mostly writing manuals and other ancillaries," Patton says. "It worked out so well that they started offering me textbook projects as well. Some involved bringing me on existing projects to assist or take over from previous authors and some were developed by me. Now that this ball has begun rolling, I can't seem to stop it. But really, I don't want to stop it just yet."

Patton says it's important in becoming a textbook author to willingly work on "little projects" for a publishing company as he did. "This demonstrates that you are a valuable author and are ready to move ahead," he says. "It also allows you to learn how different the process is than you imagined - and gain valuable skills in organizing your work flow and dealing with editors. And if you find that you don't enjoy it after all, then bow out gracefully while you still can - but do bow out."

Patton has a long personal history with one of the textbooks he's currently revising. He used the successful Anthony's Textbook of Anatomy and Physiology first as a student and then later as a teacher. Eventually, he helped to revise later editions and now it's become "his book." It won the TAA McGuffey award in 1994, on the 50th anniversary of its initial publication.

Patton credits his teaching experiences for his success as a textbook author. "Of course, academic training gets you ready for it," Patton says. "But, in my discipline of human biology, it can only set the stage for later work, because the actual content and concepts change rapidly."

He earned his bachelor's degree in biology, specializing in zoology and behavior, from St. Louis University in 1980. He then went on to earn a master's degree in environmental studies/environmental physiology in 1984 from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Finally, he earned his doctorate of philosophy in biology, specializing in vertebrate anatomy, physiology and behavior, from Union Institute, Cincinnati, in 1987.

"At the core, it is my teaching experience - my interaction with students - that informs every single thing I do as a textbook author," Patton says.

Through Saint Mary's College, he hosts worldwide travel expeditions for students and community members to many places, including China, Tibet, Belize, Ireland, the Amazon and Andes, Australia, Africa, and Europe.

He has attempted to view his study tours as "a way to get from writing and classroom teaching to keep me balanced." Yet, he has found his writings have become an important part of these tours for students. "I prepare materials for study tour participants so that they are ready for the trip, safe while they're there, and have some guidance as to how to maximize their experience," Patton says. "Writing is just part of my approach to teaching and learning - whether in the science lab or in the jungle."

He has sought to bring balance to his writing life as well. "I used to think that I could only write when I set aside whole days for it," Patton says. "I don't teach on Fridays, so Fridays, weekends and holidays became my writing times. But, I like to have a life outside of writing, too."

His outside interests include wildlife photography, hiking, birding and community theatre. He and his wife, Jenny, have three children and two cats. Patton took some advice from a TAA article on how to be a "more prolific" author.

"I began chopping my writing time into smaller bits to fit into other days of the week," Patton says. "Although I didn't become more 'prolific,' I maintained my rate of work, while arranging my schedule to have more whole days just for fun. Now I have set times throughout the week that I write. I find that if I stick to that schedule, I can get a lot done."

He also took some writing advice from Thibodeau and other authors he heard during a panel discussion at a TAA conference: It's important to establish a space just for writing. He keeps his office organized so it's most efficient as well.

"I like to write at home in a special place just for that purpose," Patton says. "I recently remodeled and expanded my home office area and now it's even more comfortable than before. I put a lot of effort into making my space comfortable for me, and I think it really helps me to enjoy the writing process even more."

Patton provided some tips/advice on becoming a textbook author, writing a textbook:

• If you want to write a book then move forward on it. "A lot of professors get the idea of doing it; few really do," he says.View writing textbooks as a way to teach many other people, besides your own students.Write for students, not for professors. "And definitely not as if it's a journal article," he says. "I fear that many academics can't write anything easily readable anymore, especially in technical fields. Use your language to slowly include the readers in the discipline, not to scare them away by impressing them with your convoluted style."
• Keep working steadily and don't let the work pile up on you. "Treat everyone else involved in your project with respect, as your valued peer," he says. "Embrace revisions because they force you to keep abreast of your field."

— Kim Seidel is a freelance writer based in Onalaska, Wis.