The writers' workshop at work
By Rachel Toor

When I first went back to graduate school in creative writing, after a lifetime in the publishing 'hood, I told my friends that if they ever heard me use "workshop" as a verb, they should shoot me.

But now, with one foot in the academic world and the other in the muck of teaching creative writing, I think the writers' workshop is an appropriate model for academics who want to make their manuscripts better. Creative writers have been "workshopping" each other's stuff for a long time. The workshop model can lead to tears, to bruised egos, and, occasionally, to black eyes. But the right group can produce better work.

The first thing to do is to gather people who are serious about giving and receiving help, and then to decide what the process should be: how often to meet, what kinds of work to be submitted, who will bring the food. My own model is like Ben Franklin's Junto. He limited the number of members in that mutual-improvement club to 12. More than 12 in a writers' workshop is difficult, and I think six to eight is best.

If the workshop is to be multidisciplinary (as I believe it should be), the group will have to decide how much of each member's work is an appropriate amount to read. Just abstracts? Only the introductions and conclusions of books? Entire grant or book proposals? Whole manuscripts? How often should the group meet and for how long? A lot depends on the energy and commitment level of the members.

Last month I had the opportunity to put into practice something I've been proselytizing in presentations around the country. I'd given a talk on academic prose in the fall at a small, liberal-arts college, and the director of a teaching-and-learning center there asked me to come back to lead a faculty workshop. She sent a message to the 45 folks who had attended my earlier talk and sought two volunteers to submit unpublished writing for a critique. Given the interest in my talk, she thought people would be clamoring for the opportunity. Wrong.

Six faculty members signed up for the workshop. Only one brave person volunteered to submit material. I had forgotten how much courage it takes to show unpublished writing to colleagues.

The idea behind writing workshops is to simulate an editorial meeting, where interested but dispassionate readers evaluate the strengths of the work, point out weaknesses, and wonder about possible ways to solve problems in the text.

Only after we have talked about the strengths in the piece will we move on to a discussion of which aspects are confusing, which parts might benefit from revision. If your writers' workshop is multidisciplinary, some pieces of writing—indeed, some entire academic disciplines—may not be to your taste. There are ideas and positions you won't agree with. But as a member of the workshop, you need to put aside personal predilections and instead focus on art and craft.

The process works best when everyone writes comments on the manuscript ahead of time, discusses the work, and then hands over the pages to the author at the end. That way the writer can get line editing and see where different readers got hung up. Sometimes, during a discussion, people will change their minds and realize that things they thought were the author's problems were really their own reading mistakes.

I allot a specific amount of time in a workshop meeting to discuss each piece, capping a discussion (depending on the size of the group) at 45 minutes to an hour. That forces people to triage their comments—to make sure they make their most important points first.

I've found that the best readers of my own work are often people far afield from what I do: a psychiatrist, a physicist, a philosopher, a historian. They often say "I don't know anything about this, but ..." and then what follows is usually fantastic. That's why I think it's good to be diverse in the disciplinary makeup of the group.

At the workshop I ran for the liberal-arts college last spring, we had a scholar in communication studies, a sociologist, a psychologist, a physicist, a literature and film-studies guy, and a philosophy and literature gal. Two men, four women, all at different rungs on the academic ladder.

I had asked for the volunteer's draft to be distributed a week before we met. When I read it, I realized that we'd lucked out: It was on a topic of general interest, something most of us felt we knew something about.

The prose was clean and not terribly jargon-laden. It was short, only 13 pages. When we got together, I realized I had omitted an important step: to ask the writer to explain what kind of publication the piece was for, identify the intended audience, and mention any page constraints. As it turned out, this piece was supposed to be 10 to 12 pages. That's important to know upfront.

I started the discussion by asking each person to state the thesis of the piece. That we each came up with a different version alerted all of us—but especially the author—that the thesis was unclear. We couldn't tell what she was arguing, which came as a surprise to the author. She thought it was obvious. It wasn't.

She was doing a nuanced "on the one hand, on the other hand" kind of argument. But it wasn't apparent on the page where she came down on the issue. When we talked about it in the workshop, she had forceful arguments for what she was trying to say. Write that, I said. And write it just as you said it. Being clear in your writing is different from being simplistic.

While it was a pleasure to read about a topic of general interest, it was also a problem. Inevitably, we each brought our own ideas and opinions; people proposed alternative theses. There's always someone who says, "I want to hear more about the grandma," even in an essay about neurotransmitters. When I run a workshop, no one—including me—is allowed to say "I want" about someone else's writing. It's not about what you want. That might be an entirely different essay. It's about what the writer is trying to do and how you can help.

My job at the college workshop was to remind the group that the author had her own thesis. We were there to help her sharpen it. When there were passages that seemed vague, we asked for explanations. What do you mean by "energizing the space"? She said "I mean marches and protests." Write that, we said. Oh, she said.

Each time someone questioned her about a term or some shrapnel of jargon, she offered a brief, lucid explanation. Include that, I said. No one will think you're stupid for reminding them of something they already know; in fact, it makes them feel smarter. Readers like to feel smart. Much of academic prose seems geared to do the opposite.

On page three of her paper, she had a quote that illustrated exactly the point she was trying to make. Why bury it, I wondered. Why not start with that provocative example? She would have to do work to set it up, but it would pack a punch. When I read aloud my version of how I would start the piece, one of the other workshop members said it gave her chills. But it wasn't my writing, it was the material, better positioned to grab a reader's attention.

Academic writers are so steeped in their material, they sometimes forget what's compelling about it. It's good to give someone chills.

For scholarly writing groups, especially those composed of people from different disciplines, it's important that the writer whose work is on the table gets a chance to interact, explain, and be interrogated. The downside of that approach is it can make people defensive. "But that's what I wrote," the author might say. "It doesn't matter what you wrote," we might reply, "if the reader isn't getting the point."

It's hard not to get sore when your work is being poked and prodded. When you hear people saying things to you that you say all the time to your students, it's hard not to feel exposed. When peers remind you of things you already know but forgot, when they note mistakes, sometimes pointedly, it's hard to listen without explaining or excusing.

In the college workshop I led, the group—more than strangers but less than friends—was able, in the course of two hours, to create a productive and supportive atmosphere. After we finished, the group decided to meet regularly and to meet once a week just to write—to have a group writing date. After all, if you are going to critique, then there has to be something to critique.

When workshopping works, there's no better way to improve your writing.

Rachel Toor is an assistant professor of creative writing at Eastern Washington University's writing program in Spokane. www.racheltoor.com

Originally appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Reprinted by permission.

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How to prepare for the next edition
By Dionne Soares Palmer

The thought of updating a textbook for a new edition can be daunting, but for James Kalat, author of Biological Psychology, now in its 10th edition, the trick is to think about revisions well before you need to start working on the next edition.

“I am constantly thinking about revisions,” Kalat said. “I subscribe to a lot of journals and magazines and I try to stay up-to-date on them.” The academic journals keep Kalat current in the field, and relevant magazines often yield useful examples to illustrate important points. Kalat takes notes as he reads, recording anything that he may want to refer to in the next edition on index cards that he files away for later use.

Kalat also keeps a filing cabinet where he stores articles he gets online that he will read at a later date. Each interesting article gets filed in a folder labeled with the chapter in which he thinks that information could be useful. To ensure that the next edition of his book will be up-to-date, Kalat makes a point to investigate sections of the book that haven’t been updated recently: “I find out who has cited the articles I used in the last edition to find a more recent reference or find out what people are saying in response to the information to see if it’s still current.”

Husband and wife author team Rebecca and Jean Paul Valette, authors of Contacts: Langue et culture fran?aises, now in its 8th edition, also collect articles and other useful information about French language and culture that will be used in the next edition. To stay organized, they have dedicated a copy of their textbook to the role of filing cabinet. “When we find useful information,” Rebecca Valette said, “we have one copy of our textbook that we slide things into to keep them where they need to go.” That way, new pieces of information or examples are kept with the chapter—and perhaps even on the very page—where they will appear in the next edition.

To give their revisions direction, Valette and Valette attend regional and national conferences and spend time at the publisher’s booth so that they can speak to teachers about what they like about the book and what they think can be improved. In addition, Valette and Valette also get feedback from sales reps, questionnaires, and focus groups. They also find it helpful to send textbooks to teachers who have adopted their book and ask the teachers to write comments directly in that copy of the book to guide their revisions for the next edition.

“Getting input from users is very important,” Rebecca Valette said. “They can tell you which exercises they like, which they never use, and how they think they can be improved. They also make corrections for you to clean up in the next edition and can provide alternate answers for an answer key.”

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Apple unveils e-textbook authoring platform for iPad

Apple has developed a free authoring tool called iBooks Author that will allow anyone with a Mac to create interactive, dynamic, and engaging electronic iBooks textbooks that can be viewed on an Apple iPad.

The new iBooks Author is available as a free download from the Apple App Store at www.apple.com/ibooks-author Authors and publishers of any size can start creating books with Apple-designed templates that feature a wide variety of page layouts. iBooks Author allows users to add their own text and images simply by dragging and dropping, and with the built-in Multi-Touch widgets users can easily add interactive photo galleries, movies, Keynote presentations and 3D objects.

iBooks textbooks offer iPad users gorgeous, full screen textbooks with interactive animations, diagrams, photos, videos, unrivaled navigation and much more. Publishers McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education and E.O. Wilson have already created textbooks with the new iBooks Author tool, and textbooks from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt are in development. These initial offerings are focused on high school science and math. These publishers will deliver their educational titles on the iBookstore (accessible through iTunes) with most priced at $14.99 or less.

Some of the iBooks currently available in the iBookstore include:

• Environmental Science, by Jay Withgott, published by Pearson
  
  
• E.O Wilson’s Life on Earth, by Gael McGill, published by The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation
  
  
• Algebra 1 Common Core Edition, by Randall I. Charles, published by Pearson
  
  
• Geometry Common Core Edition, by Randall I. Charles, published by Pearson
  
  
• Algebra 1 Common Core Edition, by John A. Carter, published by McGraw-Hill Education
  
  
• Geometry Common Core Edition, by John A. Carter, published by McGraw-Hill Education
  
  
• Biology, by Kenneth R. Miller, published by Pearson
  
  
• Biology, by Alton Biggs, published by McGraw-Hill Education
  
  
• Chemistry, by Thandi Buthelezi, published by McGraw-Hill Education
  
  
• Physics, by Paul W. Zitzewitz, published by McGraw-Hill Education

Apple also announced an all new iTunes U app that gives educators and students tools to use on their iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch to teach and take entire courses. With the new iTunes U app, students using iPads have access to a large catalog of free educational content, along with more than 20,000 education apps and hundreds of thousands of books in the iBookstore that can be used in their school curriculum. The iTunes U app is available as a free download from the App Store.

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Publishers take action to stop parallel importation practices
By Dionne Soares Palmer

Publishers Macmillan, Cengage Learning, and Wiley are proactively working to prevent the unauthorized sales of international versions of their textbooks in the United States, a practice referred to as “parallel importation.”

Parallel importation involves a seller buying international versions of textbooks that have been sold abroad at discounted prices and then selling those books to students in the United States, thereby undercutting domestic sales and financially hurting both the author and the publisher.

In order to both combat parallel importation and better serve local markets, both Macmillan and Cengage Learning are working to create international versions of books that are precisely tailored to a particular region. “Since international versions are different from the domestic edition,” said Macmillan President Brian Napack, “they are of less use to US students if they buy them. This can be a good thing for the international markets because they get books tailored to their unique needs, and it also helps put a damper on parallel importation.”

In addition, these publishing houses are pursuing litigation against sellers who engage in parallel importation: “Sellers should be aware that publishers, including Cengage Learning, have brought legal action against online sellers of certain foreign textbook editions in order to prevent infringement and to protect our intellectual property, our authors and those students buying authorized copies,” said Ken Carson, Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Cengage Learning. Wiley was also successful in a recent court case against a seller involved in large scale parallel importation practices.

Wiley is also trying a unique approach: equipping textbooks with computer chips in order to track them around the world and trace their routes back to the United States. “We see the cost of this system as low compared to the benefits,” said Susan Spilka, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Wiley. Wiley does not yet have official numbers on the results of this program, but Spilka is optimistic that the practice will discourage piracy and parallel importation.

All three companies encourage authors to collaborate with their publishers in order to help combat parallel importation. This may include helping to create region-specific international versions of the book and working to develop new online products that are more difficult to include in a parallel importation scheme.

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How to get your book noticed by librarians and book buyers

Here's what every book promoter and author should know: Libraries (and your local bookstore) provide a significant market for independent titles—especially self-published or those from small presses, said Kimber Bilby, ForeWord Reviews marketing director.

The American Library Association reports that public, school, college and university libraries spent over $1.9 billion on book purchases in 2007. Before you mail out copies of your book, said Bilby, keep the following in mind:

1. List all wholesalers and distributors for your title, and place ordering information prominently on your sales sheet, including ISBN / Genre / Publisher / Publishing Date / Binding / Price / Page Count.
   
   
2. Promote your book with a brief description (no more than three sentences). Focus on why your book would be popular. Does is touch on a hot topic, focus on health, feature zombies, or is it a patron-pleasing mystery?
   
   
3. List your credentials.
   
   
4. Include copies of professional book reviews. With mention of these, many libraries can then show a need to buy for their collection.
   
   
5. Address your book and sales sheet to the library’s acquisition buyer or director.

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Attorney responds to breach of contract suit against McGraw-Hill

In response to a January 25 federal class action suit brought against McGraw-Hill alleging breach of contract, Stephen Gillen, an intellectual property attorney with Wood, Herron & Evans, said that according to the terms of the contract of lead plaintiff Bob Cordell, which says that royalties on foreign sales will be 10 percent of publisher's net receipts, McGraw-Hill is permitted to deal with its affiliates and to pay royalties on the transfer price.

"The case will turn on whether the transfer price is set at a price unreasonably lower than what would be set in an arm's length deal," he said. "The central allegation in the suit is that McGraw-Hill sells books to its affiliates at unfairly discounted prices and calculates and pays the authors royalties on those depressed receipts while at the same time the affiliate sells the books through to retail at market prices and reaps a windfall."

Gillen reiterated the advice he gave authors last April, that if they are not careful when negotiating language related to foreign sales in their book contracts, they can end up earning next to nothing on international sales of their books. Although he said he cannot provide exact language authors can use to negotiate the foreign sales clause in their contracts without knowledge of the unique facts and circumstances of each case, Gillen suggests authors use the following to start the discussion with their publisher:

“For sales outside the United States, effected through a distributor, if the distributor is an affiliate of the Publisher, then the royalty to the Author shall be calculated on the receipts of the affiliate at source. For purposes of this provision, a distributor shall be considered an affiliate if it is owned or controlled by the Publisher or if it and the Publisher are commonly owned or controlled.”

Gillen cautioned, however, that although using this language would result in royalties being calculated at the higher retail price (rather than at the deeply discounted inter-company price) it will also mean that royalties are not earned or paid until after the retail sale, which may be much later than the inter-company transaction and may not happen at all if the books do not all sell through.

For more information on this suit, see Author Says McGraw-Hill Cheats on Royalties.

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Saylor Foundation releases four openly licensed textbooks

The Saylor Foundation has released four openly licensed, college-level textbooks in Wave 1 of its Open Textbook Challenge (OTC).

The four texts include: Elementary Linear Algebra and Linear Algebra, both authored by Kenneth Kuttler; Computer Networking: Principles, Protocols and Practice, authored by Dr. Olivier Bonaventure; and Mathematical Analysis I, authored by Elias Zakon.

All four texts are hosted on the Saylor Foundation website and available for immediate use by students and educators around the globe.

“These textbooks could save students lots of money,” said Kuttler. “But, another advantage of books in this form is that they are easy to improve. I think there is no such thing as a perfect book, only convergence toward perfection which is achieved more easily with this format than with the traditional approach of multiple editions.”

Kuttler, a professor at Brigham Young University, wrote both Elementary Linear Algebra and Linear Algebra texts for his students’ use at BYU. Both texts have been available online for some time, but each was previously held under a copyright.

Bonaventure is a professor at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. He also serves as the education director of ACM SIGCOMM. His book has already been in use by several universities around the world, including UCL.

“Open textbooks will have a positive impact on most students but also to teachers who will be able to contribute to existing open textbooks and improve them over the years,” said Bonaventure.

Mathematical Analysis I was written by Zakon (now deceased), who taught mathematics at the University of Windsor. The book was submitted by Bradley Lucier of Purdue University, who worked with Zakon’s daughter, Tamara, to revise the text and produce it originally for electronic distribution by The Trillia Group, an Internet publisher Lucier established to provide low-cost quality texts to a wider audience.

“Elias Zakon worked much of his professional life polishing his series of three texts on mathematical analysis, a series that was never published in his lifetime but was copied and distributed to students at the University of Windsor,” said Lucier. “I think Professor Zakon would have been thrilled to see the Saylor Foundation make it possible to distribute freely to students around the world this second volume in the series.”

The authors each received $20,000 for each of their accepted entries. As part of the ongoing Open Textbook Challenge, the Saylor Foundation is offering $20,000 to each college textbook author or professor who agrees to openly license his or her work under a Creative Commons CC BY 3.0 license.

Submitted texts that pass the Foundation’s peer review process and align with one of the eligible courses on Saylor.org will be entitled to the $20,000 prize, and will be made freely available via Saylor.org. More information about this challenge can be found at www.saylor.org/otc.

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Q: How do you go about researching content for your textbook?

A: “I go to a library database where I can get every single article on the topic I’m writing about in every journal in my field. If I am updating a book, I will only look for articles that were published from the time of the last edition to the present. This strategy gets me about 100 or 200 new articles for each chapter. I do a cursory look at everything, but I won’t need to read all of those articles. Instead, I look through the abstracts, and if I find an interesting one, I’ll read the discussion section of the paper. I’ll have about 900 new references for the newest edition of Experiencing the Lifespan just 3 years after the last edition. It seems like it would be impossible to sift through all this research, but really it’s not that difficult. The real challenge of the revision process is incorporating all the new information while keeping the book about the same length.”

— Janet Belsky, author of Experiencing the Lifespan, 2e (2009)

A: “My approach to physical geography (Earth systems science), uses the methods and tools of geographic science: spatial analysis and systems analysis. My research is guided by the rapidly changing condition of many Earth systems in this real-time experiment humanity is conducting. Originally, I went to the many disciplines from which Geosystems draws content and built each chapter from that core material in the literature, rather than look at other physical geography texts. For research, I use peer-reviewed journals, both printed and electronic, and oftentimes contact researchers directly for discussion and possible data for designing figures. Also, I use NASA, JPL, USGS, NRCS, NOAA, and many other public domain science sources. For each revision, I set up a ‘clippings file,’ in folders for each chapter where new leads are gathered. On my computer desktop I maintain a source file of new satellite images and electronic source material. At my professional meetings I attend as many paper sessions as possible, take notes, and talk to information leads. Consider: other textbooks are a look back in time, recent published research is closer to what is current, and research paper presentations at meetings give you a glimpse ahead in your field. Textbook authors should strive to be at that leading edge.

I maintain a master file that is broken down into all the H1 and H2 headings in the main book—clipping files are edited and merged into this file when a revision is done. I do not use Wikipedia, or other ‘public’ outlets, although sometimes the list of footnote links provides some leads on primary source material. I am aware of my competitors and the direction of my market but I do not use any textbooks for reference or content. I use broadsheets 53 cm x 40 cm (21 in. x 16 in.), to record possible revision material, organize material, and keyboard from these sheets for composition of text.”

— Robert Christopherson, author of Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography, 8e (2012)

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Pitching a piece of writing
By Karen Hoelscher and Carmen Werder

Pitching a piece of writing requires thinking strategically about possibilities for seeing your work published, given your personal and professional goals as a scholar. We’ve created a series of tips for approaching editors and publishers that include preparing your materials, making the pitch, and following it up.

1. Preparing your materials.

Seek ideas from colleagues about matching your written materials with a particular journal/publisher. Sometimes colleagues can help us can discern patterns of thought to guide us in approaching a particular editor/publisher.

Pay close attention to the title, the opening, and the closing. These places are crucial in any piece of writing as they receive readers’ prime attention; make sure they are clear, accurate, and distinctive.

Follow the submission guidelines slavishly. Editors devote considerable energy to developing criteria that best match their needs, so follow the specific guidelines they provide.

2. Making the pitch.

Think about your piece of writing. What is its allure? Is there some emerging, timely question the piece is trying to address that attracts an editor? What feature of your piece would catch an editor's attention?

Distill the article’s focus. This focusing is essential, because this emphasis is how the most successful pitches begin. Hook your audience by stating the main thrust of your article in one or two irresistible sentences.

If it’s not immediately apparent why your story belongs in the publication to which you’re pitching, clarify that connection now. Seattle freelance writer Haidn Ellis Foster suggests addressing “The Three Ys": why here (what makes your piece interesting or useful to this publication’s readers?), why now (why is your piece timely?), and why you (what makes you uniquely qualified to write this piece?). It’s also persuasive to include links to other pieces you’ve written to demonstrate why you are the best person (or one of the very best) to write this piece

Float your idea with an editor. Even when it’s still just a twinkle in your eye. Consider doing this in person if you have a chance meeting with an editor. This angling will help you decide whether to submit to a particular publication, and it may also give you a writing angle. Or some key words to include in your query letter to attract the attention of the editor.

Pitch it before you’re totally done. This angling inspires completion and advances momentum, and sometimes results in learning enough from an editor to focus your idea more carefully toward an upcoming theme or issue.

Compose and edit your query letter or prospectus carefully. Editors will anticipate the quality of your manuscript based on the quality of your query or cover letter. Treat the query like any other important piece of writing that merits revision and reshaping as needed.

3. Following up your pitch.

If a reasonable amount of time has elapsed without a response, send a follow-up query. We can’t assume that our submissions always arrive at their destinations, so it’s fair to contact your target editor or publisher to confirm receipt.

If your initial pitch results in a request for revision, toast your good fortune! Then, get it right back out the door.

When resubmitting a piece, create a simple, friendly cover letter to acknowledge each of the reviewers’ comments in writing and describe, specifically, where in the revised piece you have addressed each comment. Then, pitch it back to the editor or publisher.

In using any of these strategies, always consider your own style and preferences, as well as the protocols and preferences of the people who make decisions about what gets accepted for publication. Choose the ones that feel right.

Karen Hoelscher is professor of education at Western Washington University, where she guides teacher education majors into and out of the K-8 certification program in the year-long internship program at Woodring College of Education, and writes about intercultural communication and faculty development. Carmen Werder is director of the Teaching-Learning Academy and of Writing Instruction Support at Western Washington University, where she is also on the faculty of the Department of Communication and part of WWU Libraries.

Originally appeared in the December 8, 2010 issue of Inside Higher Ed as part of a Faculty Writing Workshop series and was titled, “Reading the Creek.”

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How to make difficult concepts easier to understand
By Dionne Soares Palmer

Michael Levitzky
Mariëlle Hoefnagels

One of the most valuable attributes of a successful textbook author is their ability to present complex concepts in an effective and efficient format. Following, two veteran textbook authors share their strategies for achieving this goal.

Mariëlle Hoefnagels, author of Biology: Concepts and Investigations, recommends textbook authors make listening to students a top priority when trying to explain a difficult concept. “Either listen in as students discuss difficult concepts with one another, or ask a student to explain the subject to you,” she said. “Pay close attention to the parts that confuse the students, then make sure the narrative and illustrations in your book confront those potential points of confusion.”

Michael Levitzky, author of Pulmonary Physiology, shares some additional strategies for better explaining difficult concepts:

• Build the explanation. Break it into easier-to-understand steps and present the ideas in logical order.
  
  
• Avoid intuitive jumps. Don’t avoid any steps in a process because they are obvious to you; students may not have the intuition to jump from point to point, so be sure to explain every step.
  
  
• Keep your writing simple. Use short sentences, avoid using confusing subordinate clauses, and keep the language simple when possible. If you must use jargon and abbreviations, recapitulate definitions for these terms periodically.
  
  
• Highlight and define key terms. Use boldface or italics to alert students to the use of a new term, and be sure to define these new key terms precisely.
  
  
• Keep figures and diagrams simple.
  
  
• Use analogies carefully and sparingly. Analogies can be confusing rather than helpful if they are not carefully selected.

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How to leverage a book award
By Dionne Soares Palmer

Receiving a book award is not only a great honor, it can also be used to increase book sales and advance your writing career.

Judy Rasminsky, coauthor of Challenging Behavior in Young Children and Challenging Behavior in Elementary and Middle School, both of which have received TAA Textbook Excellence (Texty) Awards, said she and her coauthor Barbara Kaiser have leveraged the award in several ways, including:

• Posting the Texty logo in several places on their challenging behavior websites www.challengingbehavior.com/middle.html and www.challengingbehavior.com/young.html
  
  
• Sending a press release announcing the award to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The NAEYC included information about the award in its catalog, newsletter, and journal, and also purchased Texty seals to put on the books they sell.
  
  
• Asking their editors to notify sales reps about the award.

Chuck Corbin, whose physical fitness textbooks have won both TAA Textbook Excellence Awards and a McGuffey Longevity Award, added the awards to his curriculum vitae. He and also included the award in his website bio and plans to mention it in the prefaces of future editions of each book. Corbin also notified his university and local newspapers in order to publicize the award to students, faculty, and the community.

Both Rasminsky and Corbin also recommend including information about the award on conference presentation slides and handouts.

Eric Schulz, coauthor of Calculus, which won a 2011 TAA Textbook Excellence Award, encouraged his publisher to promote the award as much as possible. Pearson posted an announcement about the award on Facebook and included information about it in their literature. Schulz also let Wolfram, the technology company that makes the unique software used to create the e-book version of Calculus, know about the award. Wolfram published a press release on their blog. Like Corbin, Schulz also worked with his university to spread the word to his local academic community.

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