• Nine candidates running for seats on TAA Council
• TAA sponsoring three new academic authoring workshops
• Sign up for the TAA Teleconference 'Royalty Q&A'
• Get $5 off your TAA membership renewal dues
• Update your Member Information with new online Member Update Form
• TAA re-posts results of 1991, 1999 Author-Publisher Relations Surveys
• Call for nominations to TAA Council
• TAA welcomes new members
• TAA members donate funds to provide gift memberships
• TAA thanks Sustaining and Contributing Members
• Publishers file suit against Georgia State University for copyright infringement
• Florida 'Textbook Affordability Bill' includes language regarding comp copy sales
• Amazon announces all POD books sold on site must use own POD house

Nine candidates running for seats on TAA Council

Nine candidates are running for five open positions on the TAA Council. One of the open positions is a one-year term as a Council member that will be vacant if current Council member Don Collins is elected Vice President/President-Elect. Other open positions include two officer positions, Vice President/President-Elect and Treasurer, and three Council seats. Terms begin July 1, 2008. Officers serve two-year terms and Council members serve three-year terms. Ballots will be mailed to members this week. They must be postmarked by April 15 to ensure counting. 

Long-time member and TAA Council member Don Collins, a mathematics textbook author and former managing editor at several major publishers, is running uncontested for TAA Vice President/President-Elect, a two-year term. Collins said his background as a former managing editor and textbook author will bring a unique perspective to the position.

Paul Rosenzweig, also a long-time TAA member and Council member, is running uncontested for Treasurer. Rosenzweig is president of (ca) RRS, Inc., a company that represents authors who wish to confirm the accuracy of their royalty statements. As Treasurer, he said, he "hopes to assist in bringing more current information to Council and the Executive Committee, to facilitate their continuing programs for the benefit of TAA's membership."

Seven other TAA members are running for three open Council seats. They are:

• John J. Edgell, Jr.
• Tara Gray
• Jan Lyons
• Fred Kleiner
• Nick J. Sciullo
• Barbara Waxer
• Frank Wilson

2008 TAA Council Nominees

TAA Vice President/President-Elect

Don Collins

Don Collins graduated from West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M University) with a BS degree in mathematics. He taught middle school/junior high mathematics in Texas and Illinois. After earning an MA in mathematics from Boston College, he entered the publishing industry working his way from editorial trainee up to managing editor. Some texts brought out under his direction are still industry leaders.

As his children were finishing college, he left publishing to pursue a doctorate, which he earned at the University of Houston. He taught mathematics and mathematics education courses at The Ohio State University, Sam Houston State, Texas Tech, before settling at Western Kentucky University. Along the way, he co-authored then authored seven textbooks. He is currently a visiting professor at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Position Statement:

I am extremely flattered that the TAA Elections Committee has nominated me for the position of TAA Vice President/President Elect. I believe that I am qualified to serve in this capacity having won two contested elections to the TAA Council in the past. During those terms I have learned the workings of the Council. But beyond that, I can bring some unique experience to the position of TAA President/President-Elect: I know publishing. I spent more than 21 years in the publishing industry as a managing editor. I have negotiated contracts and fought for my author's rights. After leaving publishing, I began a new career in academia and became a co-author and then author of seven textbooks. As Vice President/ President Elect, I believe that I can bring that unique perspective to the association.

Treasurer

Paul Rosenzweig

Paul Rosenzweig joined The Psychological Corporation in 1959 as Controller, supervising the accounting and financial operations, as the company grew in its publishing and consulting activities. In 1974 he was asked by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. to assume the title of Director of Subsidiary Accounting, charged with responsibility for acquisitions and new business startups. The group included an audiovisual publisher, consumer magazine, newsletter publisher, a professional training and reference publisher, and a management consulting and outplacement counseling firm.

In 1979 he became Vice President and Treasurer of Academic Press, Inc., a multinational publisher and distributor of technical books and scholarly journals, with revenues of $100 million. In 1986 he became affiliated with Moseley Associates, Inc., (management consultants to the publishing industry) conducting valuation, litigation support, acquisition and divestiture assignments. In 1990, he started Royalty Review Service, Inc., representing authors who wish to confirm the accuracy of their royalty statements. He continued as a consultant to successor firms from 1999 through 2007, and now practices in the same field as President of (ca) RRS, Inc. Paul was Chairman of the Publishing and Printing Accounting Committee of the NY State Society of CPAs from 1988 to 1990, and served on the Society's Litigation Support committee. He serves on Council of TAA and is also a member of The Authors Guild.

Position Statement:

After two separated terms on Council, I recognized the pivotal role of Treasurer, which has been most ably served by Michael Sullivan (as Treasurer and interim Treasurer), needed a more permanent servant.

I joined TAA about 15 years ago, after accepting an invitation to speak at a convention in Las Vegas. Since then, I have also spoken at a number of other TAA conventions on my two favorite topics, taxes and royalties. I founded Royalty Review Service, Inc. in 1990 to assist authors in understanding their royalty statements and help recover previously underpaid amounts. As a CPA who had worked in the industry for over 40 years, I believed then, as I do now, that I could help "level the playing field" in the constant vagaries of royalty statement content, presentation and calculation.

As Treasurer, I hope to assist in bringing more current information to Council and the Executive Committee, to facilitate their continuing programs for the benefit of TAA's membership.

Council Positions

John J. Edgell, Jr.

John J. Edgell, Jr. received his B.S in mathematics and physics from Lamar University in 1959, his M.A. in mathematics and physics from Sam Houston State University in 1964, and his Ph.D. in mathematics education from the University of Texas at Austin in 1973. He taught mathematics in a pilot school for the National Science Foundation funded SMSG-Stanford University project from 1959 to 1964. He received a National Science Foundation scholarship to study advanced mathematics and physics and teach full-time at the host university from 1964-1966. He has been a mathematics and mathematics education professor at Texas State University-San Marcos since 1966.

John researches, writes, and presents papers and has published several original mathematics papers. For the past 25 years, he has conducted academic year formative field research on accessibility of selected mathematical ideas to classes of public school students from a constructionist perspective. This research has resulted in presentation of many papers and publications of many original mathematics-educational papers. John continues to be a prolific author in having written, presented, and published most of 32 papers in the last 36 months.

Position Statement:

Initially, I humbly refused to allow my name to be nominated for the role of a Council member of TAA. After some urging and reflective thinking I re-considered. I have a long professional career, since 1959, in sharing academic and pedagogical ideas with others in schools, universities, research projects, and professional societal settings, including many publications. Many societal settings have been international, national, regional and state level organizations. As I learn I continue to be intensely interested in sharing with others. During the last 36 months I have written and presented 32 papers, most of which have been published. A review of these papers reveals distinctive unique presentation characteristics. I suggest that one reviews such. One source which features nine of my recent papers is the kcatm.org website. I believe that with my academic background and experience in writing that I can be a substantial resource for other authors.

Tara Gray

Tara Gray serves as Director of the Teaching Academy and Associate Professor of criminal justice at New Mexico State University, where she has published three books and many articles. Tara has served on the TAA Council since 2002 when she chaired the TAA Conference. She has presented the TAA workshop "Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Scholar" all over the country for more than 3,000 workshop participants. This workshop has recruited hundreds of members for TAA. For more information about Tara or her workshops, see www.taragray.com

Position Statement:

I advocate a renewed emphasis on the dual goals of recruitment and retention. We are doing an excellent job with recruitment. We are working to improve retention by better serving academic authors who publish mainly in journals by broadening the scope of our conference, newsletter, news alerts, and workshops. Continuing to better serve both text and academic authors is my mission as your Council Member.

Fred Kleiner

Fred Kleiner is Professor of Art History and Archaeology and Chair of the Art History Department of Boston University, where he has taught since 1978. Prior to that, he was an assistant professor at the University of Virginia. Fred has won Boston University's Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as the College Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising. The author of more than a hundred articles, reviews, and monographs on Greek and Roman art, architecture, and numismatics, Fred's research has been supported by the American Council of Learned Societies, American Philosophical Society, and John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He is also the author of the 2007 Texty Award-winning A History of Roman Art and co-author of the 2001 Texty and McGuffey Award-winning Art through the Ages. From 1985 to 1998, he served as Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Archaeology.

Position Statement:

"I joined TAA a decade ago as soon as I learned about the organization and am deeply grateful to all those who have worked so hard for so long to make TAA the unique and important voice it is in educational and academic publishing. As the author of two best-selling textbooks honored with Texty and McGuffey prizes, two scholarly monographs, and scores of peer-reviewed articles, as well as having been the long-time editor of a major journal and department chair with fundraising experience, I think I can make a contribution to TAA in several areas, including both its academic and textbook tracks. It would be a privilege to serve on the Council of an organization I respect so much."

Jan Lyons

Jan Lyons is an adjunct professor in Integrated Risk Management at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She holds degrees in Economics and Systems Engineering from The College of William and Mary, Clemson University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She recently completed her first textbook, Risk Management for Technical Professionals, to fill a void in available Systems Engineering publications.

Prior to joining SMU, Dr. Lyons worked in varying capacities in Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Risk Management with Lockheed Martin, Martin Marietta Energy Systems and General Dynamics. She led efforts in financial risk oversight, business systems implementation, software program management, and mathematical modeling research and development.

Position statement:

As my contemporaries and I leave the corporate world to pursue second careers based on our convictions and passions, associations such as TAA are invaluable as resources for information sharing and mentoring.

As a non-profit board member, I've seen how some non-profits, lacking a clear measure of success, struggle to determine what adds value to the membership and statue to the association. Of concern to me is the risks non-profits assume (often due to a historical focus) without a full appreciation of the gamble being taken or consideration of risk-reducing alternatives. To survive, even non-profits must continuously readjust to rapidly changing consumer expectations and new business models.

I've been pleased to see how TAA has embraced new technologies and new approaches to serving its membership and has stayed abreast of changes in the publishing industry. My goal on the Council would be to continue to enhance TAA's longevity, ensuring that the association remains viable and available as both an advocate and a resource for text and academic authors for years to come.

Nick J. Sciullo received his B.A. from the University of Richmond and his J.D. from West Virginia University. His work has appeared in several law reviews and is forthcoming in the Seton Hall Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law. He has also authored passages for the Oxford University Press's Encyclopedia of African-American History, forthcoming in January 2009. Nick has spoken at several academic conferences in the United States and England. His research interests include critical theory, rhetorical theory, race, postmodernism, and gender. His professional life includes work in government affairs, consulting, writing, and coaching debate at the college and high school levels. Nick is a frequent contributor to The Academic Author.  He lives and works in Alexandria, Virginia and in his spare time enjoys visiting the DC Metro Area's many historical attractions, reading, and writing new scholarly articles.

Position statement:

The Text and Academic Authors Association serves a vital role educating authors and protecting their interests. I believe in preserving the rights of authors to protect their idea and profit from their hard work. I believe in actively promoting the work of our members to encourage higher readership. The TAA should advocate strongly for its mission by encouraging members to advocate for TAA priorities by contacting decision-makers, using the power of the press, and encouraging membership amongst their colleagues. Lastly, I support encouraging cooperation and communication amongst members to promote a higher level of scholarly writing, interdisciplinary writing, and professional development.

Barbara Waxer

Barbara Waxer is a freelance author and developmental editor of computer software and Internet intellectual property textbooks for the academic and trades markets. Her clients include Cengage /Course Technology and Delmar Learning, Microsoft Press, Perspection Press, Pearson-Prentice Hall, and Sybex Press. Her 2006 text, Internet Surf and Turf: The Essential Guide to Copyright, Fair Use, and Finding Media, published by Cengage Course Technology, won the Text and Academic Authors Association "Texty" Award and the New England Book Show Award. Barbara also teaches Copyright and Digital Media at Santa Fe Community College and provides training in that topic to college faculty and student bodies around the country. Her current book, Adobe Photoshop Elements, will be published by Course Technology later this year.

Position Statement:

I am a passionate advocate of technology in creating, marketing, and expanding the media outlets for textbooks. As both an instructor and software textbook author in higher education, I am aware of the conflicting goals that can define the text adoption process.

With a 20-year background in nonprofit management, I am familiar with the strategic expertise and resources necessary for growing an organization and expanding areas of interest for its interested publics.

If I am elected to serve the TAA Council, I hope to:

• Advance TAA initiatives to establish its permanency as an industry organization
• Expand resources and opportunities for authoring and academic newcomers
• Help expand and establish the Texty as a definitive, sought-after award
• Provide outreach to new communities, particularly to those technologically savvy.

Frank Wilson

Frank Wilson received his B.S. and M.S. in mathematics from Brigham Young University. He entered the Air Force as an officer in 1994. During his six years of service in the Air Force, he was stationed in Louisiana, Arizona, and Colorado. His last assignment was teaching cadets mathematics at the US Air Force Academy.

In 2000, he departed the Air Force and accepted a fulltime teaching position at Green River Community College in Auburn, WA. In 2005, he accepted his current position as residential faculty at Chandler Gilbert Community College. In 2007, Frank received a TEXTY award for his book Finite Mathematics and Applied Calculus. On the lighter side, Frank's children's picture book, Measure Up! A Bug Contest (2003), was a hit among kids and their parents. Frank fourth textbook, Applied Calculus, will be published in 2008. Three other textbooks are in development and will be published in 2010.

Position Statement

As an aspiring author in 2001, I discovered TAA while searching for insight online. The advice on contract negotiations on the website was invaluable and helped me negotiate my first contract. I officially joined TAA in 2006 and attended my first conference in 2007.

I believe TAA is a wonderful support network for aspiring authors as well as established authors. By bringing together our collective wisdom, we are better able to forward our profession as academic and textbook authors. I look forward to serving the members of TAA as a member of the TAA Council.

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TAA sponsoring three new academic authoring workshops

Drs. William Waters and Sonja Foss

TAA is sponsoring three new academic authoring workshops by Dr. Sonja Foss, a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado, and Dr. William Waters, coordinator of composition, director of the Writing Center, and an assistant professor in the English Department at Northwest Missouri State University: "Destination Dissertation: Practical Strategies for Writing the Thesis or Dissertation"; "Sharing Results: Crafting an Article"; and "Individual Coaching to Facilitate Writing Progress".

Designed for master's and doctoral students, "Destination Dissertation" facilitates participants' progress on the journey that is the dissertation or thesis. "Writing a dissertation or thesis is presented as taking a trip—you are on vacation from normal routine for a fixed amount of time, you discover exciting things and develop new skills, and you know you'll be able to deal with whatever comes your way," says Foss. "The workshop focuses on those places where you tend to get delayed on your dissertation or thesis journey and provides practical and concrete processes for managing potential difficulties with ease," says Waters.

The topics covered in the workshop include: Preparing to go: Conceptualizing the dissertation as a trip and learning what qualities to pack to make the journey a more efficient and enjoyable one; Planning the trip: Discovering the topic through a conceptual conversation that leads to the development of a pre-proposal; Advice from other travelers: Learning how to manage all that literature and develop a conceptual schema for the literature review through efficient coding and categorizing; Things to see and do: Coding data efficiently and developing an original and sophisticated explanatory schema from the data; Useful phrases: Using fast writing and slow revising to make the writing and editing processes efficient and effective; Avoiding delays and annoyances: Avoiding the incomplete-scholar roles that prevent progress on the thesis or dissertation—roles such as the housekeeper, model employee, patient, and proxy critic. The workshop can be two or three hours.

The second workshop, "Sharing Results: Crafting an Article", is a two- to three-hour workshop for professors who want to learn strategies for effectively crafting articles. This workshop provides participants with an understanding of concrete, practical steps that produce a high-quality article efficiently. Both new and seasoned scholars will benefit from the innovative strategies presented. The topics covered in the workshop include: Conceptualizing a project; Locating possible journals to target; Analyzing and "measuring" a target journal; Coding literature and developing a conceptual schema for the literature review; Coding data and developing an original schema or theory; Fast writing and slow revising; Writing collaboratively; Common errors to avoid; Revising and resubmitting; Enacting the scholar role instead of incomplete-scholar roles.

The third workshop, "Individual Coaching to Facilitate Writing Progress", provides participants personalized, individual time with Foss and Waters. In individual conferences, they work individually with graduate students or faculty members to facilitate their progress on their writing project. "These sessions take the form of intensive conversations about your project in which you will feel both supported and challenged as you talk through whatever aspect of your thesis, dissertation, book, or article is preventing you from completing your project," says Foss. "Participants discover that our friendly and supportive questions lead to profound insights that transfer into realistic expectations, clear goals, and useful strategies," says Waters. While coaching sessions deal with individual problems, typical topics that are covered in the coaching sessions include conceptualizing a project; assessing a project to be sure you have a doable research design; coding literature so you can manage massive amounts of literature efficiently; developing an original and sophisticated theory from your data; overcoming writing blocks; managing your time effectively; and developing strategies for writing regularly. This workshop offers one or multiple days of coaching sessions to faculty or graduate students. Individual sessions can be 60, 90, or 120 minutes each.

Foss is a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research and teaching interests are in contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism, feminist perspectives on communication, the incorporation of marginalized voices into rhetorical theory and practice, and visual rhetoric. She is the author or coauthor of the books Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation, Rhetorical Criticism, Contemporary Perspectives on Rhetoric, Inviting Transformation, Feminist Rhetorical Theories, and Women Speak. Her essays in communication journals have dealt with topics such as invitational rhetoric, agency in the film Run Lola Run, feminine spectatorship in Garrison Keillor's monologues, visual argumentation, and body art. Dr. Foss earned her Ph.D. in communication studies from Northwestern University and previously taught at Ohio State University, the University of Oregon, the University of Denver, Virginia Tech, and Norfolk State University.

Waters is coordinator of composition, director of the Writing Center, and an assistant professor in the English Department at Northwest Missouri State University. His research and teaching interests are in writing theory and practice, the history of the English language, linguistics, and modern grammar. He is the coauthor of Destination Dissertation: A Traveler's Guide to a Done Dissertation and was the managing editor of La Puerta: A Doorway into the Academy. He also has published several poems in national journals. Dr. Waters earned his Ph.D. in language and linguistics from the University of New Mexico and previously taught at the University of Maine; University College in Galway, Ireland; and Cheongbuk National University in Korea.

TAA sponsors these and other workshops by covering the cost of the presenters' domestic travel expenses (including air, ground transportation, lodging, food, etc.). The host institution pays the speaker's fee. The speaker's fee depends on the length of time, the content and the number of participants of each workshop. To schedule one of Foss or Waters' workshops, contact Foss at Sonja.Foss@cudenver.edu or (303) 556-5526.

For more information on these and other TAA-sponsored workshops, contact TAA at TextandAcademicAuthors@taaonline.net or (727) 563-0020 or click here for TAA workshops information.

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Publishers file suit against Georgia State University for copyright infringement

A group of publishers filed suit in federal court in April to stop widespread copyright infringement at Georgia State University (GSU). The complaint, filed by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and SAGE Publications and supported by the Association of American Publishers (AAP), charges that GSU officials are violating the law by systematically enabling professors to provide students with digital copies of copyrighted course readings published by the plaintiffs and numerous other publishers without those publishers' authorization. The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief to bring an end to such practices, but does not seek monetary damages.

The lawsuit asserts "pervasive, flagrant, and ongoing" unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials, despite attempts to reach an amicable and mutually acceptable solution without the need for litigation. GSU distributes the unauthorized materials through its electronic course reserves service, its Blackboard/WebCT Vista electronic course management system, and its departmental web pages and hyperlinked online syllabi available on websites and computer servers controlled by GSU. U.S. copyright law applies to digital course offerings as it does to paper offerings, and does not distinguish between different methods of distribution.

While many U.S. colleges and universities work with university presses and other publishers to ensure their uses of published materials are in accordance with U.S. copyright law, the lawsuit states that GSU has flatly rebuffed efforts to reach similar agreements.

"University presses are integral to the academic environment, providing scholarly publications that fit the needs of students and professors and serving as a launch pad from which academic ideas influence debate in the public sphere," said Niko Pfund, vice-president of Oxford University Press. "Without copyright protections, it would be impossible for us to meet these needs and provide this service."

"Publishers must protect their interests and those of their authors when they believe that this spirit of cooperation--and the law itself--is being willfully and blatantly violated," said Pfund. "We take this action in sorrow, not in anger, as we consider universities, librarians, scholars, and presses to exist in the same, mutually supportive ecosystem, and believe librarians especially to be among our most important publishing partners."

"Of all places, we would expect universities to respect laws protecting intellectual property and to instill their students with such respect," said Frank Smith of Cambridge University Press. "One of the key values underpinning teaching and research in colleges and universities is the responsibility to credit academic work to its creator; and any attempt to take credit for work that is not your own is widely viewed as unacceptable. We think the majority of faculty would recognize that the same principles apply in respecting copyright law and the work of fellow authors and that these principles apply in the digital world, just as in the print world."

"Respect for copyright law is integral to the higher education process," said Patricia Schroeder, AAP president and CEO. "It provides the basis for publishing operations of university presses and scholarly societies, and makes possible the contributions of innumerable other authors and publishers to the educational process. Georgia State University's disregard for basic copyright protections undermines this very premise."

"AAP members and the publishing industry recognize the advantages of making course content available electronically for students, and offer licensing and permissions processes designed to allow such uses on a cost-effective basis," continued Schroeder. "We are simply asking Georgia State University to take the necessary measures to respect the law."

A copy of the complaint may be found on AAP's website, http://www.publishers.org.

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Florida 'Textbook Affordability Bill' includes language regarding comp copy sales

Due in part to the efforts of TAA and its members, Florida's HB603 "Textbook Affordability Bill" has been amended by Representative Anitere Flores to include language regarding the sale of complimentary copies. 

The bill was amended to include the following: "These materials may not be sold for any type of compensation if they are specifically marked as free samples not for resale."

"While this means that comp copies that are not specifically marked as 'free samples not for resale' can still be sold, on the whole, our effort to modify Florida's comp copy law was a reasonable success," said TAA Executive Director Richard Hull. "Now it is up to publishers to make sure comp copies are appropriately marked."

For more information on the bill and TAA member efforts: Click here

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Amazon announces all POD books sold on site must use own POD house

As of April 1, online book seller Amazon is requiring small publishers to sign a contract agreeing to print all print-on-demand (POD) books sold on Amazon's site by Amazon's own POD house, BookSurge.

The American Society of Journalists and Authors, the nation's trade association for freelance nonfiction writers, said in an April 4 press release that it is "disgusted" with Amazon's announcement.

"At first, Amazon representatives denied they were threatening small booksellers with having the 'buy it' buttons for their books turned off if they didn't sign on the dotted line," said ASJA. "Later this week, Amazon admitted the move, as reported in Writer's Weekly and The Wall Street Journal. The contract being offered to print-on-demand publishers, which ASJA officers have seen, also includes a confidentiality clause forbidding disclosure of not just specific contract terms, as is typical, but any discussion at all. Thus, small publishers who have signed the contract may not say so, much less reveal the pressure they were under."

In addition to the POD requirement, said the ASJA, Amazon is punishing publishers who sell their books at a discount from cover price directly on their publisher websites by taking that discounted price as the book's "cover price" and then applying their own discounts accordingly.

"We applauded when Jeff Bezos and Amazon gave small publishers and even writers who self-published a way to get their books before the public," observed ASJA President Russell Wild. "With these grabby, strong-arm tactics, Amazon negates all that -- and the years of goodwill it has built up with writers, who ultimately will bear the brunt of any price increases in the printing of independently published books."

ASJA joins PMA, the independent book publishers association, which also has spoken out against Amazon's move to forcibly get business for its own BookSurge subsidiary.  ASJA said it also will urge the Washington state attorney general's office to investigate whether Amazon's move constitutes restraint of trade or otherwise violates anti-trust laws. 

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