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It Works for Me: Becoming a Publishing Scholar/Researcher, Shared Tips for the Classroom Professional is an easily read collection of practical tips for the future publishing scholar or researcher. The 122-page manual was put together with today’s busy professional in mind. That is, each chapter is short enough to be read between classes or meetings, on the commute to or from work, or while traveling to a conference. The book is divided into larger headings such as “Developing a Scholarly Frame of Mind,” “Creating Your Scholarly Plan,” “Overviews,” “Pre-Writing,” “Writing,” “Post-Writing,” “Other Scholarly Matters,” and “New Directions.” The numerous subheadings are written by different scholars in the field, thus giving the reader a well-rounded appeal into “becoming a publishing scholar/researcher.” In “Creating Your Scholarly Plan,” the authors share their own experience as they revisit such familiar themes as making a conscious move to become a scholar, setting a small goal, moving to larger goals, engaging in the actual process of writing “every day,” to finally learning “how to do market research.” By providing the reader with the authors’ own experiences within each subtheme, a novice scholar can be enlightened to come up with his or her own idea which, in turn, is what makes this volume helpful. The “Overviews” unit, consisting of smaller articles by different scholars inside and outside the field of publishing, is a particularly interesting part of the book. It is this valuable section that provides the reader or new scholar a complete overview of strategies for becoming a publishing scholar and researcher. This smorgasbord of tips and information ranges from writing for academic journals to maintaining scholarship in a teaching-focused institution to writing your first book to the most fascinating article in this section, “When Life Intervenes: How to be Academically Productive While Being Biologically Reproductive,” depicting tips for women who need to balance their writing with their families. The wealth of information found in these pages is as varied as the expertise depicted by the authors. The next three units of the book, also authored by researchers in the field, include pre-writing, writing and post-writing units, the specific steps necessary to accomplish a publication. Some of the subchapters in these units include: “Identifying Emerging Topics of Scholarly Interest in the Discipline,” How to Get Involved in Research,” Writing Book Chapters for Publications,” “A Timely Trifecta,” “Submitting a Manuscript…,” Turning Rejection Letters into Positive Advice,” etc. However, some of the most helpful chapters in these three sections include: “Differentiating Journals,” a chapter discussing how to select a journal, but more importantly, how to obtain formatting programs and examining the journal’s impact factor. Another useful article in the “writing” section, “A Research/Scholarly Paper Outline,” actually points out the sections needed in such articles with the similarities and differences between a student research paper and a scholarly work. A third article from the “post-writing” section, “Applying Wagnerian Opera Theory to Scholarship: It Isn’t Over Till…,” the author discusses her personal experience when an article was accepted with revisions; through her own mistakes, the reader learns what to do and what not to do when an article needs revision. “A manuscript isn’t published until it is published.” Under the “Other Scholarly Matters,” section, the authors add tips on collaboration and mentoring in writing. There are the top ten reasons to “collabowrite,” five strategies for successful co-authoring, steps to the benefits of virtual collaboration, successful international learning communities, writing and publications groups including adding students to the group, finding a mentor, and many other articles of high interest to the reader. The final section of the book, “New Directions,” focuses on the evolving publishing world. Sections here include how the field has been shifting, creating SOTL (the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning), a scholarship of service model explanation, publishing in other disciplines, and young adult literature as a publishing venture, among others. The only small problem found in this manual is that the reference pages following each article have not been standardized. Even though reference was made as “to preserve the authenticity of the articles” in the introduction to the book, it seems that by doing this, it fails to teach the new scholar one more important aspect of designing an edited professional edition of articles written by many authors. It Works for Me: Becoming a Publishing Scholar/Researcher. Shared Tips for the Classroom Professional grasps the interest of both new and seasoned writers, enlightens with a variety of real experiences in the field, and generates more questions from the reader left wanting more. It is not surprising if another volume is published in the future adding to the ever changing publishing world. ----------------------------
About the Reviewer
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Jose A. Carmona is the author of 7 books, including four textbooks, and many articles and book reviews found in journals and magazines in the U.S. His latest book, Language Teaching and Learning in ESL Education: Current Issues, Collaborations and Practice, was recently published by Kona Publishing and Media Group’s Higher Education Division. This professional book may also be used as a supplemental textbook in teacher training classes. Currently, he is teaching in the English for Academic Purposes program at Hillsborough Community College. He is currently working on seven additional books.
