Member Resource Center - Start Here

Welcome to the TAA Authoring Community! You have taken an important first step to boosting your writing and publishing success! We've created this Member Resource Center to help you take full advantage of the variety of resources TAA has to offer.

Get Started

Login to access members-only content. The login section is in the top right corner of the website. Your username is the email address you entered when you joined. If you don't remember your password, you can use the "Forgot Password" link in the login area or contact [email protected] and she would be happy to assist you. You can also chat live with a TAA staff member.

Upload your profile photo to help other members get to know you. Your photo appears in the Member Directory.

Read the New Member FAQ to find answers to frequently asked questions about TAA membership.

Looking for resources specifically for textbook writers? Click here

Looking for resources specifically for academic writers? Click here

Get Connected

Search the Member Directory for members with similar interests or within your geographic region.

Post a message on the Online Bulletin Board where you can post messages seeking coauthors or mentors, offering publishing opportunities and more.

Join us for monthly TAA Conversation Circles at 1-2 p.m. ET on the last Wednesday of the month to discuss a variety of topics with other textbook or academic authors. 

Join the conversations on TAA's social media sites: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Member Spotlight Program. We would love to highlight you and your accomplishments! Learn more

Get Informed

Register for an upcoming webinar. These live, interactive sessions connect you to experts discussing a variety of topics designed especially for textbook and academic authors.

Watch presentations on demand. Browse recorded webinars by topic, including textbook writing, academic writing, contracts & royalties, academic editing, copyright, marketing, ebooks & open access, social media for academics, and more.

Browse a growing list of downloadable templates, worksheets, checklists and samples gathered from experienced textbook and academic authors and industry professionals to assist you with your own writing.

Download free ebooks. Browse this growing library of free ebooks, including Social Media 101: Tips for Academic Writers, Writing and Publishing Academic Journal Articles, and Tips for Successful Coauthoring.

Watch a 5-10 minute how-to video on scholarly writing, time management, productivity, publishing, online presenting, and more, and then get back to your writing project with new inspiration and insight! 

Visit the TAA Blog, Abstract, for the latest news and how-to's on textbook and academic authoring.

Writing Programs

Sign up for the TAA Writing Gym, a 6-week work-out-on-your-own gym time that serves as your writing accountability partner as you work to achieve your writing goals.

Sign up for a Month of Motivation. Accomplish your academic writing goals by focusing on two areas of academic writing that many authors tend to struggle with - isolation and accountability.

Enroll in the Textbook Writing Course. Get support on writing your first textbook with this new online course, Writing and Developing Your College Textbook. Writing and crafting a textbook and attending to authoring tasks is a time-consuming, complex—some would say monumental—project, even harrowing at times. Whether you are writing a textbook for a traditional publisher, self-publishing, or writing an open-access textbook, this course covers everything you need to be successful.

Books

Guide to Making Time to Write: 100+ Time & Productivity Management Tips for Textbook and Academic Authors
Making time to write–and doing it productively–can be challenging. So, to help you succeed, we’ve collected 100+ successful tips and strategies–and a lot of inspiration–from authors who have made the time and made it work. In this Guide to Making Time to Write, you will find just what you need to boost your productivity, adjust your routine, and focus on your writing efforts once and for all. Isn’t it time for you to make the time to write?

Guide to Rights Clearance & Permissions in Scholarly, Educational, and Trade Publishing
Learn what you need to know to avoid and manage copyright infringement claims that arise from the publication of your book, article, or media project. In this book, intellectual property attorney Stephen E. Gillen covers the unique rights clearance and permission issues related to writing scholarly works. 

Writing and Developing Your College Textbook: A Comprehensive Guide
This updated and expanded third edition will empower you to undertake textbook development by guiding you through the nuts and bolts of the development process, and providing essential background information on the changing higher education publishing industry, as well as how to choose a publisher, write a textbook proposal, negotiate a publishing contract, and establish good author-publisher relations. 

Guide to Textbook Publishing Contracts
In this step-by-step guide by Stephen Gillen, a Partner at Wood Herron & Evans, you will learn the key provisions of a typical textbook contract and how to determine what's important to you so that you can enter into the contract negotiation process better informed. Get the "typical", "better" and "better still" options you can consider when making decisions about what to negotiate. 

Advocacy

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Resources
View materials TAA's DEI Committee has developed, or information about fellow TAA members' experience and advice, regarding how you can apply DEI principles to your own writing, and steps you can take to improve DEI for your own and/or fellow authors' writing projects.

Read the TAA Code of Ethics and TAA's Position Statement on the Academic Value of Textbooks

Get Involved

Write a guest post for the TAA Blog. We welcome your tips, strategies and advice on textbook and academic authoring and publishing. Already have a blog of your own? Send us a link to a post you feel would fit our audience and we may feature it on our blog. Please review our Guest Post Guidelines.

Present a webinar to your fellow TAA Members. Share your expertise on writing, contracts, royalties, taxes, copyright, time management and more. If you're interested in presenting a webinar, contact Kim Pawlak, Executive Director, at (507) 459-1363 or [email protected]

Submit a listing for the Professional Directory. Categories include: academic writing & productivity coaches, accountants & tax advisors, editors, indexers, intellectual property attorneys, literary agents & author consultants, and textbook illustrators. To be considered for inclusion, please complete this Professional Directory Form.

Volunteer to serve on the TAA Council, the association's governing board. Elections are held in March. Meet the current TAA Council.

Share Your Story

We invite you to share how TAA membership has helped you boost your writing & publishing success. Email your testimonial along with your name, title, college/university/company (if applicable), and/or whether you are a textbook author and in what field, and/or your writing field, to [email protected]

Read what other members have to say about their TAA membership.

For additional support or if you have any questions not answered above, chat live with a TAA staff member, or contact us directly at [email protected]