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May
2001
E-books
sales way short of goals
SAN FRANCISCO,
California, May 1, 2001 -- E-books aren't yet selling anywhere
near projections, said Henry Yuen, chief executive of the company
that markets e-books. Since fall, Gemstar, the industry leader,
has sold only 60,000 units, Yuen told an investors' conference.
Gemstar now offers 4,000 titles with its REB1100 and REB1200 e-book
devices.
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of page for all news
Feds
OK Reed to acquire Harcourt
WASHINGTON,
May 8, 2001 --The U.S. Justice Department antitrust division
cleared Reed Elsevier's pending acquisition of Harcourt. A remaining
hurdle is British approval, which is expected within a month.
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Speaker:
When students give too much credence to text
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 9, 2001 -- Plant ecology author Michael Barbour
will discuss the negative aspects of teaching from one's own book
and what's needed to correct those problems. Barbour, who teaches
at the University of California-Davis, said of those negative
aspects can include repeating book material during lectures; contradicting
"facts" that were true at the time a book was written but not
anymore. He also will take up being inhibited from developing
new sources for lecture material and the temptation by students
to attribute more authority to the course textbook than it deserves.
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February
sales sluggish
WASHINGTON,
May 9, 2001 -- El-hi sales in February edged ahead of a year
earlier, but other genres in which most text and academic authors
write were off, some substantially, according to the Association
of American Publishers. As extrapolated from 81 reporting publishing
houses, el-hi sales were ahead more than 3 percent:
| El-hi |
3.4 percent |
| University
press (hardcover) |
-4.3
percent |
| College |
-43.7
percent |
| University
press (paperback) |
-6.2 percent |
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R.I.P.
Heinze Götze
Heinze
Götze, a managing partner who helped build Springer-Verlag
into a leading science house, died at work in Heidelberg, Germany,
on March 2. He was 88.
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Wiley,
LabBook enter alliance
MCLEAN,
Virginia, May 10, 2001 -- Publisher John Wiley and software
provider LabBook announced a joint arrangement for content delivery.
The deal includes the Wiley online journal service Interscience
and Current Protocols lab manuals. Updates to Wiley products will
be included within LabBook's data integration and visualization
software environment.
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Wiley:
Authors like e-statements, direct deposit
NEW YORK,
May 11, 2001 -- The Wiley experiment with online royalty statements
and direct deposit of royalty checks has been "a huge success,"
said Jack Carieri, director of financial services. Although declining
to say how many authors were chosen for the experiment, Carieri
said "a lot have enrolled." Authors are "delighted," he said.
Among author comments has been that it is an enormous improvement
in author relations, Carieri said. Random calls to TAA members
who publish with Wiley found few have chosen to participate. Robert
H. Doremus, author Glass Science, in its second edition,
is "perfectly satisfied with paper statements." TAA President
Peggy Stanfield, another Wiley author, hasn't accessed statements
online either. Ecology author Dan Botkin said he likes the idea
but has used it yet. "I do plan to." Bill Callister, an engineering
author at the University of Utah, opted not to participate in
the experiment. Hard copies of royalties and statements are fine,
he said.
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Prof
sees plusses with own text
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 12, 2001 --Multi-text stats author Roger Kirk said
using his own texts in lecture courses makes him feel freer to
try out new ways of presenting complex concepts. "When I used
other authors' books, I tended to follow the presentation in the
book," he said. "Now, I look for better ways to present material."
An obvious motivation, said Kirk, who teaches at Baylor University,
is to discover things that work and incorporate them into future
editions of his books. "This freedom to experiment has benefits
for me and my students: my lectures stay fresh year after year
and my books improve with each edition." Kirk will be one of five
panelists on a Text and Academic Author convention panel, "Teaching
From Our Own Texts."
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Reed
weathering economic downturn
LONDON,
May 12, 2001 -- The chief executive of England-based Reed
Elsevier said the company will be only slightly affected by the
U.S. economic slowdown. In a report to shareholders, Crispin Davis
said 80 percent of the comany's business is unaffected or minimally
affected. There will be a slight dent in business-to-business
services, Davis said. Profit growth in 2002 will exceed 10 percent,
he said. He scotched rumors that the company is seeking a buyer
for Harcourt, the U.S. house whose acqusitiuon hy Reed is expected
to receive final goverment approval in Britain shortly. Reed is
still in an acquisition mode, Davis said.
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NASDAQ
delists Educational Insights
NEW YORK,
May 13, 2001 -- School publisher Educational Insights was
delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange because its stock has
failed to maintain a $1 a share bid price. The company, based
in Carson, California, suffered a $11.5 million drop in sales
volume, more than a third, this year.
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Handling
manuscript reviews
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 14, 2001 Photojournalism author Chris Harris said
it is hard to know whether you should use manuscript reviewers'
suggestions or take a stand for how you did it in the first place.
Harris, of Middle Tennessee State University, will discuss the
method of reviews, types of background provided by reviewers,
and what to do about comments, during the Text and Academic Authors
convention panel, "The Reviewing Process: Dealing With Conflicting
Requests." He will also answer common questions about the reviewing
process, such as: What about the relationship between your editor
and the reviews submitted? How many reviews need to be made? Will
the reviews interfere with your writing? How do editors value
reviews? Is it really much ado about nothing?
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Lippincott
debts new medical web site
NEW YORK,
May 14, 2001 -- Europe-based Wolters Kluwer launched a second
professional medical site, lwwmedicine.com,
through its Lippincott Williams & Wilkins medical publishing subsidiary.
The site's centerpiece is the 30th edition of the Washington
Manual of Medical Therapeutics, standard reference. Other
Lippincott texts will be added.
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MD
Consult signs 200,000th subscriber
ST. LOUIS,
Missouri, March 15, 2001 -- Publisher Harcourt's online clinical
service MD Consult for physicians signed on its 200,000th client.
MD Consult serves about 1,000 hopsitals and 80 percent of the
nation's medical schools The viewer count in January was 7 million,
up from 4 million a year earlier, the comany said.
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Indexer
to share tricks of trade
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 15, 2001 Professional indexer Kay Banning said
an indexer's relationship with the author or editor can enhance
the final product. Banning, who has been indexing college textbooks
for 10 years, will serve on the Text and Academic Authors convention
panel, "Indexing: Do Your Own or Hire a Pro?" She will outline
the indexing process, giving an insider's look at what a professional
indexer is trained to do. Her presentation will cover double postings,
cross references, and the us of multiple access points within
the index. She will also give tips on how to work with an indexer
to the best advantage, covering such things as sensitive subject
areas or terminology and format of the index. Handouts will be
provided with information for authors who choose to hire an indexer
and those who want to write their own. The handouts will include
information on specialized indexing software, the American Society
of Indexers as resource for finding answers and an index evaluation
checklist.
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Writer's
block? TAA speaker has tips
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 15, 2001 -- A post-internship resident in the University
of Texas at San Antonio's Counseling Services Unit, Drema Albin,
will discuss ways to identify and overcome writer's block in a
Text and Academic Authors convention presentation. Albin will
give an interactive talk focusing on the exploration of the "horror"
of writer's block: "What is this affliction, and, more importantly,
how does one overcome this dreaded state?" Topics she will cover
include:
- Exploring
the wisdom of not writing.
- Identifying
"creative thinking" versus procrastination and distraction.
- Developing
a strategy for approaching writing.
- Creating
a portfolio of writing exercises.
Albin said
she will challenge participants to discover for themselves what
environmental variables under their own control help them to write
and prevent them from writing.
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First
quarter el-hi sales up 12%-plus
WASHINGTON,
May 16, 2001 -- El-hi sales ran 5.8 percent of a year earlier
in the first three months of 2001. For the month of March itself,
as extrapolated from 77 reporting publishing houses, el-hi sales
were up 12.3 percent compared to a year earlier: Sales in other
genres in which most text and academic authors write:
| El-hi |
5.8 percent |
| University
press (hardcover) |
3.9
percent |
| University
press (paperback) |
-2.8
percent |
| College
|
-6.2
percent |
| Professional
|
-15.2
percent |
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Math
author chosen as TAA president-elect
ST. PETERSBRG,
Florida, May 17, 2001 -- A veteran Text and Academic Authors
officer, math author Michael Sullivan, was elected vice president
of the association for the coming year. Sullivan's election makes
him president-elect to succeed nutrition author Peggy Stanfield
next spring. He concurrently will serve out a term as treasurer.
Earlier Sullivan was a member of the TAA Council, the association's
governing board. Sullivan writes math materials at all levels.
Most of his books are with Prentice Hall. Copyright and publishing
lawyer Steve Gillen was re-elected to the TAA Council, and math
and science author Terry Wesner was elected to theCouncil for
the first time. The tally:
Vice president
and president-elect:
Michael Sullivan
(math), 85
John Thill (business), 6
TAA Council
(two three-year terms open):
Steve Gillen
(law), 56
Terry Wesner (science and math), 46
Paul Siegel (communications), 43
Y.H. Hui (science), 31
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Laura
Bush can't make TAA meeting
WASHINGTON,
May 18, 2001 -- First Lady Laura Bush declined an invitation
to be the keynote speaker for Text and Academic Authors national
convention in San Antonio. Ron Pynn, the association's executive
director, said the response made polite reference to other commitments.
The TAA Council had thought the convention would be an attractive
forum for the First Lady to discuss her interests in education,
especially because the meeting will be in her home state.
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Scholastic
unveils web reading programs
NEW ORLEANS,
Louisiana, May 19, 2001 --Although textbook publisher Scholastic
is discontinuing its basal reading series Literacy Place, it is
launching new web-based reading assessment program. The company
unveiled its new iReAch program at the International Reading Association
convention. The program is designed to build Grades 2-8 reading
comprehension skills and vocabulary. Scholastic also unveiled
a six-week web summer program for at-risk readers.
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Ever
consider "breathing space" in your text writing?
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 19, 2001 -- Communication law author Paul Siegel
will show how he explicated two famous metaphors from the landmark
libel case, New York Times v. Sullivan -- the concepts
of "breathing space" and the "chilling effect" -- in his text
in a fun, visual way during the Text and Academic Authors convention
panel "Keeping it Simple Isn't Stupid: Writing for Student Audiences."
Siegel, who teaches at Gallaudet University, is author of Communication
Law in America.
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Librarians
defend trimming collections
WASHINGTON,
May 19, 2001 -- The Association of Research Libraries charged
author Nicholson Baker with "purposeful misrepresentation" in
his book, Double Fold, which criticizes librarians with
overzealous weeding out of collections. The book had received
favorable notice in the New York Review of Books, which
prompted the research libraries group to draft a response. Duane
Webster, executive director of the libraries association, said
librarians can't preserve everything. Their jobs involve face
tough choices, Webster said. The association's president, Shirley
Baker, objected to Baker's thesis that libraries are "guillotinizing"
collections, cutting up paper components of collections to convert
them to microform and electronic scanning. Those practices, she
said, are not longer common.
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Scholastic
unveils web reading programs
NEW ORLEANS,
Louisiana, May 19, 2001 --Although textbook publisher Scholastic
is discontinuing its basal reading series Literacy Place, it is
launching new web-based reading assessment program. The company
unveiled its new iReAch program at the International Reading Association
convention. The program is designed to build Grades 2-8 reading
comprehension skills and vocabulary. Scholastic also unveiled
a six-week web summer program for at-risk readers.
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Ethicist
to authors: How much is too much?
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 20, 2001 -- In a report at Text and Academic Authors
national convention, ethicist Jay Black will discuss findings
from a recent national "ethics audit" of mass communication professors.
Among issues were using university resources for writing, sharing
credit and income, and assigning one's own books to classes. "I'll
be breaking down some of these issues by gender, academic seniority,
professional background, and whether the respondents teach ethics
courses," said Black, who is at the University of South Florida-St.
Petersburg. "I'll also compare our findings with studies done
in some other fields, such as psychology." The data, he said,
"show some interesting patterns."
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Convention
registrants ahead of year ago
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, May 20, 2001 -- Preliminary registration data show
56 Text and Academic Authors members signed up for the association's
June 8-9 convention in San Antonio, Texas. "It's running a bit
ahead of last year at this time," said Janet Tucker, TAA's executive
manager.
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Study:
Not much color, ethnic diversity among text authors
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 21, 2001 Communication law author Paul Siegel of
Gallaudet University will report on an informal listserv survey
he conducted in his field about the diversity of textbook authorship
during the Text and Academic Authors convention panel, "The Incredible
Whiteness of Textbook Authorship." Said Siegel: "Listserve respondents
said that the non-caucasian text authors in the field of communication
most often try to carve out an intercultural 'niche' for the book
by calling it, for example, Public Speaking in a Diverse World."
Is that enough? he asks.
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Convention
web registration catching on
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, May 21, 2001 -- One in 10 of the registration forms
for the San Antonio convention of Text and Academic Authors is
arriving at the association headquarters from the TAA web site,
Executive Manager Janet Tucker said. Members are able to print
out the regisration form from the site and mail it in.
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Master
of co-authoring to share experience
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 21, 2001 If anybody know about co-authoring, it's
Kĺren Hess. She has co-authored nearly 30 college texts, tradebooks
and biographies in such diverse subjects as medicine, engineering,
art, financial planning, team building, private security and criminal
justice. She has worked with 17 co-authors, some family, even
strangers. In a Text and Academic Authors convention panel, "The
Pleasures and Woes of Co-Authorship," Hess will discuss how to
determine whether you need a co-author and how to find one, whether
you need a contract or an agreement letter, how to determine whose
name goes first on the book, how to divide the labor; how to split
the royalty, and how to share expenses.
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Wiley
plans Australian expansion
NEW YORK,
May 21, 2001 -- New York publisher John Wiley's Australian
unit plans to buy Wrightbooks, an Australian publisher of personal
investment titles, Wiley announced. Wright publishes has a backlist
of 120 titles and brings out about 50 new ones a year.
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Barnes
& Noble vision: Supplant publishers
NEW YORK,
May 21, 2001 -- The chief executive at bookseller Barnes &
Noble, Steve Riggio, said B&N is gearing up to replace publishers.
In an interview on Authorlink.com, Riggio said: "Book publishers
have been the middlemen between writers and booksellers for too
long," Riggio said. "In the digital world, the publisher adds
little value. ItŐs easier for Barnes & Noble Digital to deal directly
with writers." While Riggio was focusing on trade books, Barnes
& Noble has a substantial investment in both the textbook retailing
and second-hand markets.
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On
keeping texts fresh, simple
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 22, 2001 -- Communication studies author Dwight
DeWerth-Pallmeyer said he keeps materials in his advanced graduate-level
text, The Audience in the News, fresh by using the web
on a regular basis to augment his writing. DeWerth-Pallmeyer,
director of communication studies at Widener University, will
discuss his experiences along with two other panelists during
the Text and Academic Authors convention panel, "Keeping It Simple
Isn't Stupid: Writing for Student Audiences."
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Questia
drops half of workforce
HOUSTON,
Texas, May 22, 2001 -- The new online research company geared
for college students, Questia Media, laid off 139 employees --
almost half its workforce. Vice President Linda Cunningham said
the reduction was to address the coming summer period, when few
new college students are expected to subscribe. Also, she noted,
this is a period of tight venture capital. Questia had $130 million
in startup capital, much of which went into advertising a free
trial. Cunningham said new paid subscribers since the trial number
5,000.
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Thomson
now a University of Phoenix provider
TORONTO,
May 22, 2001 -- Thomson Learning signed a non-exclusive agreement
with Apollo Group, which operates the University of Phoenix, to
develop web-based course materials in business, hard sciences,
information systems and social sciences. Apollo is moving all
its course materials, including textbooks, to electronic platforms.
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Speaker:
Self-publishing for niches
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 22, 2001 -- Some useful books are passed over by
big houses because the market is too small, in which case it might
be better for authors to consider publishing the book under their
own imprint, says languages author Tom Lathrop of the University
of Delaware. At the Text and Academic Authors convention, Lathrop
will discuss how authors can launch a publishing business of their
own. He's done it himself. Lathrop will be on the panel "The Entrepreneurial
Spirit and Publishing." Lathrop will cover handling the legalities,
finding a printer and publicizing the book. He will also tell
how new technologies have revolutionized this area of publishing.
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"Done
Gone" injunction removed on appeal
ATLANTA,
Georgia, May 21, 2001 -- A three-judge federal appeals panel
lifted an injunction against the Houghton Mifflin-published The
Wind Done Gone on First Amendment grounds. The ruling overturned
a ban from a lower court, which had agreed with the heirs of Margaret
Mitchell that the new book violated their copyright by drawing
heavily on the theme of Gone With the Wind. The heirs vowed
to appeal, but the new ruling clears the way for Houghton to resume
selling the book. The new book, by Alice Randall, takes place
on a plantation that the slaves call "Tata," as opposed to "Tara"
in the original. Houghton and Randall defended the new book as
a parody as old from the point of view of Cynara, the slave who
is a half-sister of Scarlett O'Hara, the Southern belle who is
Mitchell's main character. Generally parodies are allowed under
copyright law.
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E-texts
number 850 for fall
WASHINGTON,
May 25, 2001 -- This fall 850 textbook titles will be available
from major publishers in digital formats -- in addition to traditional
ink on paper, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
The Chronicle's tally found nine to 10 times more e-texts
from Harcourt, Houghton, McGraw, Pearson and Thomson coming out
than last fall . Sales, however, are not expected to be strong
as publishers continue to feel their way into electronic publishing.
At some point, though, e-texts will begin soaring, according to
a Forrester Research projection. Forrester says e-texts will be
a $1.3 billion market by 2003. That would be 14 percent of the
market.
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Questia
is upbeat for fall
HOUSTON,
Texas, May 26, 2001 -- Web research company Questia Media,
which was launched flamboyantly in January, is adding journals
and other resoures to the site despite a major staff cutback,
Vice President Linda Cunningham said. The cutback, she said, is
to conserve resources during the slack summer months when new
subscriptions from college students, the company's target customers,
will slacken. Cunningham said the company is focuing now on marketing
for fall and making the site more intuitive.
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VNU
selling textbook units
LONDON,
May 26, 2001 -- Amsterdam-based VNU plans to sell its educational
publishing and magazine operations to Britain investment bankers
3i Group Plc. VNU needs the revenue to pay off debt incurred from
the $2.3 billion purchase of U.S.-based ACNielson, a marketing
research firm.
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Lawyer:
Co-authoring can go awry
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 26, 2001 -- Authoring attorney Steve Gillen said
the most bitter disputes he has been involved in are collaborations
between coauthors that have gone "horribly astray." Gillen, who
specializes in publishing, entertainment and computer law, has
experience drafting collaboration agreements and counseling authors
who are being matched with co-authors by their publisher. He will
participate in a Text and Academic Authors convention panel, "The
Pleasures and Woes of Co-Authorship," where he will cover what
can go wrong in co-author relationships, and how authors can memorialize
the collaboration while the parties are on good terms with one
another so that they "don't wind up with a work product no one
can use."
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Guild:
iPublish deal terrible for authors
NEW YORK,
May 26, 2001 -- The Authors Guild issued an advisory for authors
to "steer clear" of AOL Time Warner's iPublish because it "presents
substantial legal risks and loss of literary rights for little
pay." The Guild said the iPublish contract requires writers to
surrender rights to any work they post on the web through iPublish
as well as their next work for advances as low as $25 or less.
By posting their work, writers automatically agree to iPublish's
terms without signing any documents. The Guild said that the contract
gives Time Warner an "exclusive option to publish the work in
print form." Also, the Guild said, the contract is "carefully
crafted to assure that the author won't receive more than $5,000
as an advance and won't be able to effectively negotiate a competing
bid from another publisher."
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Author:
Writing simply is an art
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 26, 2001 -- Chemistry author Karen Timberlake uses
a six-step writing plan to keep her writing simple. "Keeping textual
material simple is an art," she said. "I probably spend more time
on structuring my writing to keep it simple than I do writing."
Timberlake, a retired teacher, is the author of Chemistry:
An Introduction to General, Organic and Biological Chemistry,
in its seventh edition, and Media Update Working on Structures
of Life: General, Organic and Biological Chemistry. Timberlake
will join two other panelists on Text and Academic Authors convention
panel "Keeping it Simple Isn't Stupid: Writing for Student Audiences."
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Author:
Using own text liberating
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 26, 2001 -- Multi-text stats author Roger Kirk
said using his own texts in lecture courses makes him feel freer
to try out new ways of presenting complex concepts. "When I used
other authors' books, I tended to follow the presentation in the
book," he said. "Now, I look for better ways to present material."
An obvious motivation, said Kirk, who teaches at Baylor University,
is to discover things that work and incorporate them into future
editions of his books. "This freedom to experiment has benefits
for me and my students: My lectures stay fresh year after year
and my books improve with each edition." Kirk will be one of five
panelists on a Text and Academic Author convention panel, "Teaching
From Our Own Texts."
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IDEAL
adds 82 Harcourt heath journals
NEW YORK,
May 26, 2001 -- The IDEAL online journal library of Harcourt's
Worldwide STM Group added 82 more Harcourt Health Science journals
to its offerings. This expansion brings the total number of HHS
journals on IDEAL to 143. The new journals are from Churchill
Livingstone, Mosby and W.B. Saunders imprints. In all, IDEAL now
offers more than 300 journals and more than 200,000 journal articles.
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McGraw
acquires Torstar children's unit
TORONTO,
May 26, 2001 -- Canadian publisher Torstar confirmed rumors
that it will sell its Schaffer children's supplementary education
unit to McGraw-Hill. Terms were not announced. Schaffer, based
in Torrance, California, publishes elementary school and early
childhood teacher resource materials. The sale is expected to
close within the next two weeks. Meanwhile, other Tortar school
supplement units still up for sales include science publisher
Delta Education and software publisher Tom Snyder Productions.
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Editor
finding authors through TAA site
MINDEN,
Nevada, May 26, 2001 -- The advisory editor for the McGraw-Hill
series Teach Yourself the Fundamentals, Stan Gibilisco,
is pleased at the response to a notice on the TAA site's splash
page that he is seeking authors. "Several authors have sent in
queries as a result of your posting," Gibilisco said. "In fact,
I think your posting is responsible for all of the submissions
so far. Gibilisco is looking for authors for self-teaching titles
in algebra, analysis, biology, chemistry, earth science, geometry
and statistics.
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iPublish
bounces back against Author Guild
NEW YORK,
May 27, 2001 -- The editorial director at iPublish, Claire
Zion, said that an Authors Guild alert to writers to avoid uploading
works through iPublish was "a disservice to writers everywhere"
Zion called the Guild alert misleading and inflammatory. In defense
of iPublish, which is owned by AOL Time Warner, Zion said: "AOL
Time Warner has made a significant investment and taken a real
risk to create a new way for disenfranchised authors to get published.
These are authors who can't get a publisher to read their work
because they don't have an agent. They can't get an agent because
they don't have any connections. They can't even get into the
Authors Guild because they aren't previously published." Zion
called the iPublish contract "fair and highly favorable for the
unpublished writers we are committed to nurturing."
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Speakers:
On writing test banks
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 27, 2001 -- Two experts from Harcourt Brace, Betsy
Case, program consultant, and Rosalie Jordan, senior director
of large-scale assessments, will focus their Text and Academic
Authors convention presentation, "Creating Test Banks," on the
following areas:
- The importance
of writing quality test items.
- Basic steps
in developing quality test items.
- General
do's and don'ts.
- Guidelines
for specific item types and specific types of text.
- A process
for creating questions worth answering.
- The final
quality check -- what the data tells you.
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Report:
Vivendi eyeing Houghton Mifflin
NEW YORK,
May 27, 2001 -- France-based Vivendi Universal is in preliminary
talks to acquire U.S. textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin, the
Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper cited sources
familiar with the talks. An offer of $1.7 billion is on the table,
the Journal said. A sale has been anticipated, sending
Houghton stock up more than 20 pecent in the last month. A Vivendi
spokesperson said: "We deny having formulated an offer." Until
recently Vivendi specialized in water utilities but has expanded
like gangbusters into the media. Acquisitions have included the
Universal-MCA movie and record empire in the United States. In
Europe, Vivendi is a major educational publisher.
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TAA
agenda input sought
ST. PETERSBURG,
Florida, May 27, 2001
-- A last call for agenda items for the TAA Council, the governing
board of Text and Academic Authors, was issued to members by Ron
Pynn, the association's executive director. The Council meets
June 7 ahead of the San DiegoTAA convention. On the agenda so
far: The 2002 convention in San Antonio, TAA's role in the Authors
Coalition, the association's new committee structure, membership
recruitment, new regional chapters, and future office space.
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Wesner:
Keep TAA site free to all
DEARBORN,
Michigan, May 28, 2001
-- Newly TAA Council member Terry Wesner favors keeping the Text
and Academic Authors web site "free to anyone interested in anything
to do with being an author." Wesner, a science and math author,
was weighing on Council dialogue on limiting access to parts of
site to members to encourage interlopers to join. As an alternative,
Wesner suggested tracking site visitors with cookies and following
up with e-mail invitations to join.
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McGraw's
chief earning $15.2 million
NEW YORK,
May 28, 2001 --
The chief executive at McGraw-Hill, Harry McGraw, earned $15.2
million in total compensation in 2000, the magazine Business Week
reported. Some $2.3 million was in payroll, the rest in long-term
benefits. McGraw was the highest-compensated U.S. book publishing
executive. The BW tally for leading media executives:
| Walt
Disney |
Michael
Eisner |
$12.3
million |
$60.5
million |
| Clear
Channel |
L.L.
Mays |
$4.0
million |
None
|
| Tribune
Company |
John
Madigan |
$3.8
million |
$14.8
million |
| Gannett |
D.H.
McCorkindale |
$2.6
million |
$4.3
million |
| McGraw-Hill |
H.W.
McGraw |
$2.3
million |
$12.9
million |
| New York
Times |
R.T.
Lewis |
$2.2
million |
$14.0
million |
| Dow Jones |
P.R.
Kann |
$2.6
million |
$4.3
million |
| Harcourt
General |
B.J.
Knez |
$1.8
million |
$1.6
million |
| Knight-Ridder |
P.A.
Ridder |
$1.4
million |
$1.9
million |
| Scripps
|
Bill
Burleigh |
$1.1
million |
$1.9
million |
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Author:
Why I don't do my own index
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 28, 2001
-- Criminal-justice author Tara Gray will tell why she doesn't
do her own indexing as a panelist on the "Indexing: Do Your Own
Or Hire A Pro" convention presentation sponsored by the Text and
Academic Authors Association. "I think authors who know what they
are doing can do a better job, or improve on the efforts of the
pros when they are done -- which is my approach," said Gray. She
sees textbook writing as a poor money maker for her so far, so,
she said, "why do more that I don't enjoy at low rates of pay?"
Other panelists include freelance indexer Kay Banning, who will
teach some tricks of the trade, and media law author Paul Siegel,
who created his own index.
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San
Diego chapter sets organizational meeting
SAN DIEGO,
California, May 28, 2001
-- Returns are still coming in from a mailing to faculty two major
colleges about forming a Text and Academic Authors chapter in
San Diego, said veteran TAA member Michael Lennie. So far 20 people
have indicated they would like to participate, Lennie said. Asked
if they would prefer breakfast, lunch or dinner meetings, most
said dinner. Lennie, an author agent and lawyer, said hopes the
first meeting will be just before TAA's national meeting in San
Antonio.
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Saxon
chief Frank Wang tells odyssey of maverick math author
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 28, 2001
-- President and chief executive of Saxon Publishers, Frank Wang,
will tell the story of math author John Saxon, a total business
amateur, who self-published his first textbook and set the wheels
in motion for the building of a major publishing company, during
his portion of the Text and Academic Authors convention presentation,
"The Entrepreneurial Spirit and Publishing." Wang, who began as
Saxon's 16-year-old helper, is now, 20 years later, head of a
textbook publishing company that has more than $70 million in
sales annually.
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Alabama
scholar appointed TAA treasurer
TWIN FALLS,
Idaho, May 27, 2001
-- A scholar who has focused on learning materials, John Wakefield,
was appointed interim treasurer of Text and Academic Authors,
Wakefield will fill out the term of Michael Sullivan, who was
elected vice president, said the association's president, Peggy
Stanfield, who made the appointment. Wakefield is a professor
of education at the University of North Alabama. He is a long-time
TAA member and past convention contributor. Wakefield assumes
responsibilities at the TAA Council meeting June 7 ahead of the
association's national convention.
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Researcher
on journal contracts: Just how unfriendly are they?
SAN ANTONIO,
Texas, May 28, 2001
-- Former journal editor and Text and Academic Authors past president
Gerald Stone will hit the high points of his research journal
author contracts during the TAA convention presentation, "Journal
Authorship: Slave Labor or Worse?" The article is the lead in
TAA's new Journal of Academic Authoring. Stone will focus
on what the study found about the current state of academic author
contracts -- perhaps 10 points from the research. "I will then
give the implications for academic authors and suggest what TAA
might propose as a model contract for journal authors," said Stone.
He will leave five to seven minutes at the end of his presentation
for a Q&A.
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New
math site linked to textbooks
NEW YORK,
May 28, 2001
-- Texas Instruments launched a subscription web service for math
teachers, Algebra Online, with learning materials tied to textbooks
from publishers Glencoe/McGraw-Hill; Holt, Rinehart & Winston;
Key Curriculum; and McDougal Littell. The site features lessons
tied to textbooks and standards-based activities.
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TAA
unveils online scholarly authoring journal
CARBONDALE,
Illinois, May 30, 2001
-- A new medium for scholarship, the Journal of Text and Academic
Authoring, was unveiled online with a major research article
on journal contracts. Former TAA President Gerald Stone, a former
journal editor, wrote the lead article, which is drawn from a
massive study he conducted on authoring contracts used by scholarly
journals. The new journal, sponsored by Text and Academic Authors
and edited by TAA Council member Donna Besser, has been two years
in the making. Besser, herself the winner of numerous TAA scholarship
grants, said the journal fills a void in academic publishing.
She invited submissions for double-blind reviewing. The journal's
editorial board began with 11 scholars and is growing, she said.
Eventually the book review section currently on the TAA site will
be moved to the journal, Besser said.
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