Author wins award for Best Educational Use of a Social Networking Service
Jim Burke, author of McDougall Littell Literature, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, won the 2009 Edublog Award for Best Educational Use of a Social Networking Service. Click for more

Maney Publishing launches open access model
Maney Publishing (UK), which publishes scholarly journals in materials science, humanities, and health science, launched a new open access (OA) business model called MORE OpenChoice. The new program currently includes 23 materials science and engineering journals and 15 health science journals. The company plans to expand the program to include humanities journals in the future. Click for more

SOTA Writing Retreat April 15-18
Sisters of the Academy Institute (SOTA) will be holding a Writing Retreat, “Building a Scholarly Writing Community
for Black Women," April 15-18, in Columbiana, Alabama. The deadline for registration is January 25. The number of registrations is limited to 25. Click for more

Will Apple Tablet Finally Solve E-Reader Woes for Textbooks?
Great article on The Wall Street Journal's blog about Coursesmart's view of how Apple's new tablet computer, set to launch in a few months, will impact e-textbooks "Dreaming Up Textbooks on an Apple Tablet": Click here for article

TAA ED quoted in Inside Higher Ed
TAA's Executive Director, Richard Hull, was quote in an article in Inside Higher Ed about the Amended Google Settlement Agreement's exclusion of academic authors from the Book Rights Registry. Click for more

Blog shares info about permissions
A blog by Anne Wallingford, "May I Have Your Permission, Please?" contains some great information about why authors need to obtain permission to use copyrighted work, and how to ask for permissions. Click to go to blog

View news about the Copyright Clearance Center and its Beyond the Book program: Click here

Listen to recording of Feb. 4 TAA Teleconference on faculty success
Listen to a recording of the Feb. 4 TAA Teleconference "Faculty Success: Tenure, Promotion & Merit Demystified," presented by Dr. Kathleen P. King, International Keynote Speaker, Professor of Education at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education in New York City, and President of Transformation Education, LLC (http://transformationed.com). Recordings are free for members. Non-members pay $69 for each recording. Listen to this teleconference

Call for nominations to the TAA Council
Two officer positions and two Council positions will be opening up on the TAA Council on July 1, 2010. Any member of TAA is eligible to serve on the TAA Council. The open officer positions are Vice President/President-Elect and Treasurer. Click for more

Attorney appointed at-large member of TAA Council
Outgoing TAA Council member Stephen Gillen, an attorney with Greenebaum Doll & McDonald, has been appointed to an at-large position on the Council effective July, 1, 2010. At-large positions are one-year terms.

Sanchez, Davis appointed to TAA Foundation board
The TAA Council appointed Claudia Sanchez and Dannielle Joy Davis to the TAA Foundation Board. Their three-years terms will start April 1, 2010.

Wakefield appointed to at-large position on TAA Council
TAA Past President John Wakefield was appointed an at-large member of the Council effective July 1, 2010. At-large positions are one-year terms.

Sustaining Member: Susan Fawcett
TAA thanks Sustaining Member Susan Fawcett.

Published TAA members: Please fill out an Authors Coalition Survey
If you have published a scholarly book, journal article, or textbook and did not fill out an Authors Coalition Survey when you joined or renewed your membership, or if you have published since joining or renewing and need to update your Authors Coalition Survey, please take a moment to do so: Download a PDF Authors Coalition Survey

Authors Asking: My book is running too long!
Q: "I am writing a book under contract and my chapters have been running so long I have already written the maximum number of pages negotiated with my publisher, yet have only fulfilled half the overall content promised. How should I approach this with the publisher? Should I renegotiate the overall content covered in the book or engage in some major editing?" Click for answer

Hansen-Thomas awarded $400 TAA Publication Grant
Holly Hansen-Thomas, an assistant professor of bilingual and ESL education at Texas Woman's University, has been awarded a $400 TAA Publication Grant to cover expenses incurred in authoring her book, English Language Learners and Math: Discourse, Participation, and Community in Reform-Oriented, Middle School Mathematics Classes, published by Information Age Publishing, Inc. Click for more

TAA thanks Contributing Member
Thank you to Contributing Member Martin S. Roden.

TAA thanks Sustaining Member
Thank you to Sustaining Member Steven Barkan.

How-to Article: Bringing in a co-author requires ‘reconstitution’ of book project
Finding a co-author for your textbook should involve more than finding someone to share the workload, said Mary Ellen Lepionka, owner of Atlantic Path Publishing and author of Writing and Developing Your College Textbook. "Rather than serving merely as a hired hand, each co-author should have content to contribute," she said. Click for more

Communication studies author volunteers to mentor TAA members on textbook writing, working with co-authors
Communication studies author Jason Wrench has volunteered to mentor TAA members on textbook writing and working with co-authors as part of the association's free Mentor-A-Member program. Click for more