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September
26, 2006
Learn how to
create, publish podcasts for educational use
The Copyright Clearance
Center (CCC) is offering a free "Beyond the Book" conference call discussion
Thursday, September 28 at 2 p.m. Eastern, on how to create and publish
podcasts for educational use.
The conference
call discussion, "Podcasting: The Content Creation Revolution," will
be led by Rob Simon, a media and marketing entrepreneur, and founder
and president and CEO of Burst Marketing (www.burstmarketing.com),
which specializes in creating and publishing podcasts. A published author
and humorist, Simon recently appeared on a BookExpo America panel about
the rise of podcasting in the book publishing business.
"Podcasting is
one of the hottest trends in communication and technology today," said
Christopher Kenneally, director of author and creator relations for
CCC. "A word coined from merging 'broadcasting' with 'iPods' - portable
devices for downloading audio files, including spoken word as well as
music - podcasting is not yet entirely mainstream, though millions already
listen to hundreds of different programs available for free on the Web."
At a growing number
of colleges, professors who already have blogs, where they post online
commentary on their favorite topics or academic specialties, are now
adding podcasts to reach even larger audiences. Classroom lectures are
also being made available as podcasts.
Book authors, columnists,
instructors, professors and freelancers can all use podcasting to further
their reach, increase understanding of their works, and supplement their
existing content.
Space for this
program is limited! E-mail CCC at beyondthebook@copyright.com,
or call toll-free at 1-800-982-3887 ext. 2420. Be sure to include your
name and e-mail address.
The first 50 registrants
will receive e-mail confirmation with instructions on dialing in to
this toll-free conference call discussion.
Visit CCC online at
www.beyondthebook.com
for more information about all of their "Beyond the Book" programs.
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Professor accused
of plagiarism reinstated
A University of
Arkansas at Fort Smith accounting professor whose job was terminated
amid accusations of plagiarism by the university's chancellor, Joel
Stubblefield, was found not guilty of those charges. Diana Payne was
awarded compensatory damages and lost wages and benefits, attorney's
fees and costs to be paid by the university. The ruling, handed down
by Judge Beverly Stites Jones, U.S. Magistrate for the Western district
of Arkansas and affirmed by U.S. District Judge Robert T. Dawson, reinstates
Payne to her former position and responsibilities.
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Make
your writing shorter, sharper, stronger
Broadcast writing
coach Mervin Block, author of "Writing Broadcast News--Shorter, Sharper,
Stronger," dissects Katie Couric's word choices during her first weeks
as anchor and managing editor of "CBS Evening News." Block's column
has some good lessons in it for other writers on how to make their writing
"shorter, sharper and stronger." See the full column on Block's website:
http://www.mervinblock.com/couric.html
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News,
Notes from Richard T. Hull,
Executive Director
TAA to branch out in new directions
At its annual meeting
the TAA Council endorsed a number of changes that are designed to widen
the appeal of the organization to all of its members, not just textbook
authors. My column in this issue reports on those changes, to alert
you to what this year holds in store and to encourage you to renew your
membership and not let it lapse.
TAA Executive
Director Richard Hull said that in the coming year, TAA plans to
widen the appeal of the organization to all of its members, not
just textbook authors, to truly become the Text and Academic Authors
Association. |
First, TAA is adding
a companion, follow-up workshop to Tara Gray's well-received "Publish
and Flourish." Developed by Robert Ginsberg, teacher, author, editor,
this workshop gives an intensive look at academic writing from the point
of view of an editor, who is also an author and teacher. Ginsberg's
workshop addresses such questions as: publishing as an extension of
teaching; publishing as research; finding publishers for your scholarly
book or textbook; finding scholarly journals appropriate for your work;
the formats of journal publishing: articles, reports, reviews, special
issues; writing as communicating; recognizing bad style in the writing
of others and in your writing; unclogging your reference system; turning
a scholarly conference into an edited book; dealing with issues of copyright,
fair use, quotation, paraphrase, permissions, translation, public domain,
out of print; the art of editing: the editor as the author's best friend
and the advocate for readers. Please see Ginsberg's workshop outline
and credentials elsewhere in this issue.
Second, TAA will
be surveying the membership this fall on a number of issues, trying
to find out what services members want that TAA can provide. We are
considering increasing the number of newsletter issues to 12 per year,
with an emphasis on the how-tos of academic writing, a monthly notable
author column, and commissioned articles by members on writing topics
in their own disciplines. We have been asked by the Council to rejuvenate
TAA's refereed online journal for longer articles on academic writing.
And we are considering an expanded, two track conference next year,
with one track devoted to the traditional topics and issues of textbook
writing and the other track devoted to other forms of academic writing:
journal articles, scholarly books, collections arising from conferences,
and grants. The conference will be at a more convenient time and located
near a major concentration of members, and it will have some interesting
additional activities, such as a reception in a publishing house or
a banquet on board a riverboat.
Third, TAA is considering
adding to its Texty and McGuffey awards a new range of awards. Given
by genre, they will award the most frequently cited article published
in the previous year in each genre by a member, and the most frequently
cited scholarly book published within two years in each genre by a member.
As with the Texty and McGuffey awards, these awards will recognize outstanding
contributions by members in other areas of academic writing.
These and other changes
are intended to complete the conversion of TAA from its original name
and identity as Textbook Authors Association to Text and Academic Authors
Association that was begun in 1993. One of my chief charges when I was
hired was to increase member renewals and retention. It has become increasingly
clear to me that, despite the historical origins and mission of the original
TAA, we need to attend to the needs and interests of members who are not
yet at the stage of their academic careers when textbook authoring is
an appropriate and attractive challenge. So many of our members who come
into the organization through Tara's workshops are at earlier stages of
their careers, some just learning the craft of academic authorship, that
spreading the focus of the Association to address the demands made upon
them for journal articles, scholarly books, and grant writing seems an
entirely proper thing for the Association to do.
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Members needed
to serve on 2007 conference committee
TAA is seeking members
interested in serving on its 2007 TAA Conference Committee, which will
help plan the 2007 Conference in Buffalo/Niagara Falls, NY June 22-23.
The Committee will be broken into several sub-committees, including
Academic Track; Textbook Track; Social Networking Event; Friday Luncheon
Awards Banquet; Saturday Luncheon Roundtable Discussions; PR/Marketing;
Conference Materials; Publishing Company Tour; and Keynote Speaker(s).
If you're interested in serving on the committee, contact TAA Associate
Executive Director Kim Pawlak at kmpawlak@centurytel.net
or (608) 687-3106. Please indicate which sub-committee you would be
interested in.
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TAA to offer
new workshop on creating camera-ready copy
Freelance book
editor Elizabeth D. Boepple will present her workshop, "Creating Camera-Ready
Copy: The Process Demystified," as part of TAA's expanded Text and Academic
Authoring Workshop Series.
Elizabeth
D. Boepple
freelance book
editor to offer new TAA workshop |
Boepple's six-hour
workshop describes the steps involved in creating camera-ready copy
for publication. Working from sample materials they bring to the workshop,
attendees will have the opportunity to apply editing and production
skills using Microsoft Word and Excel, Adobe Acrobat, and Paint Shop
Pro, as an illustration of how to work with graphics.
"Publishers working
from camera-ready copy print using a photo-offset process directly from
the camera-ready copy you supply," she said. "What you see when you
submit is exactly what you will see in print. As the sole preparer of
your book, you have taken on the role of typesetter, page maker, illustrator,
proofreader, and the quality-control expert. Each function is critical
to the outcome. Whether you plan to create camera-ready copy for publication,
or you plan to hire a professional preparer, or your publisher generates
the final copy, knowing what the process involves and how to complete
the steps in that process can save you time, money, and frustration."
Boepple will also
discuss printer metrics, explaining why what you print may result in
a different print area measurement from that obtained by your printer,
and how to ensure consistency across platforms. Workshop participants
will receive lists of relevant resources for editing and manuscript
production, and a check-off list of tasks for "scrubbing" text before
it goes to a proofreader.
The workshop will
also include a short discussion of the elements of concise academic
writing, sound academic argument, and the eloquence gained from respecting
grammar.
Boepple earned
a BA in Psychology (1971), and an MEd (1974) and PhD in Educational
Psychology (1977) from State University of New York at Buffalo She currently
works as a freelance book editor and provides book production services
as well as website design and management.
She published Sui
Generis in 2005. For Ethical Issues in the New Reproductive Technologies
(ed. Hull, 2004, 2005), she did research, created a hyperlinked glossary,
prepared camera-ready copy and created electronic versions. She currently
works on Presidential Addresses of the American Philosophical Association
(eleven vol., ed. Hull, 2004 ff.), for which she researches biographies,
prepares photographs, indexes, and prepares the camera-ready copy. For
Encounters in My Travels (Harris, 2005), in addition to creating camera-ready
copy, Boepple composed study questions and a bibliography for further
reading. She has also done editing, indexing, and creation of camera-ready
copy for fourteen other volumes.
Her workshop joins
Tara Gray's "Publish & Flourish: Become a Prolific Author" workshop,
Dr. Robert Ginsberg's "Publishing Workshops for Faculty Authors" workshop
series, and several other workshops presented by various TAA authoring
experts, including "Authoring a Text or Professional Book," Writing a
Winning Book Proposal," and "Successful Journal Writing."
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Search the TAA
site
TAA recently added
a Google-powered internal search engine to its website. Put in your
search terms (e.g. textbooks, journals, grant writing, etc.) and relevant
pages on the TAA website that contain those terms will be shown on Google.
Go to the TAA home page to begin your search.
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BTAA People:
Jean Lukesh
TAA member Jean
Lukesh's history textbook, The Nebraska Adventure, has been selected
as the 2006 Nebraska Book Award winner for the Children/Young Adult
category. The Nebraska Book Awards will be presented at the Nebraska
Book Festival on Saturday, October 7, at Nebraska Wesleyan University
in Lincoln. Lukesh's book won a Textbook Excellence Award (Texty) from
TAA in 2005. "This textbook has really been a winner for me, and winning
the TAA Texty Award started this whole domino effect," said Lukesh,
in an e-mail to TAA. "I can't thank TAA enough."
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Gift Memberships
TAA member William
D. Callister, Jr. gave a gift membership to Tung Hsu. TAA member Christopher
Kenneally gave a gift membership to James Monacco. TAA member Ronald
C. Roat gave a gift membership to Tamara Wandel and Wade E. Butler.
Thanks William, Chris and Ronald! Welcome Tung, James, Tamara and Wade!
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TAA
welcomes new members
Karen Berrier, Jennifer
Bjornstad, Alan Bloom, Joseph Blognar, Janet M. Brown, Wade E. Butler,
Bradley Fahlman, Lynn Fernandez, Allsion Ganze, Delphina Gillispie,
Rick Gillman, John Harrison, George C. Heider, Tung Hsu, Angela D. Jackson,
Ruth Johnston, Joel P. Lehmann, James Monacco, Bonita Neff, Haein Park,
Carole A. Pepa, Cynthia Rutz, Nola Schmidt, Paul W. Tougaw, Tamara Wandel,
William H. Weare, Jr., Andrew White, Lissa J. Yogan.
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New TAA website
navigational tool
Members having trouble
navigating the TAA website may find the association's new FAQ, which
provides answers to the most frequently asked questions about the TAA
website, useful. "Frequently Asked Questions about the TAA website"
answers such questions as what is the difference between Industry News
and TAA Notes; how to access the archives; what a TAA weblog is and
their purpose; and how the TAA website can be a resource to textbook
and other academic authors. Read
the FAQ here.
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Check
out 2006 TAA Post-Convention site
Download convention
handouts and PowerPoint presentations, view the convention photo gallery
and read more about this year's convention sessions here.
Keep checking back for more content.
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Renew your membership
online!
TAA has just launched
a new online member form that will allow members to renew online using
a secure server. The form can also be used by new members. Check it
out in the TAA Member Center here.
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