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2019 Textbook award-winning insight (Part 1): Deciding to write and getting...
We recently reached out to winners of the 2019 TAA Textbook Awards and asked them to answer some questions about how they made the decision to write their textbook, how they interested a publisher,...
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Textbook publisher mergers and acquisitions: What authors need to know
If you’ve been published (or simply signed, for that matter) by a US publisher in the last dozen years, there is a fair to excellent chance that the master to whom you are now answering is not the...
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Can my publisher really do that? Common author questions and answers from...
At TAA’s 2019 Textbook & Academic Authoring Conference, industry insider Sean Wakely and royalty auditor Juli Saitz addressed some common questions authors have about what prerogatives publishers...
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Pearson announces move to digital-first
Pearson, one of the world’s largest educational publishers, recently announced that all of its U.S. higher ed titles will be released in digital-first format. The announcement comes as Pearson takes...
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Pearson’s ‘digital first’ announcement: A legal perspective
Interpreting, Adapting, and Amending Textbook Publishing Contracts in a Changing Publishing World In announcing its new strategic commitment to digital courseware and its dramatic break from the...
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Pearson’s move to ‘digital first’: Perspective from a key Pearson executive...
On July 24th, I had the opportunity to interview Paul Corey of Pearson by phone for about an hour regarding the recent announcement that Pearson will move to a digital first strategy for its textbook...
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Pearson’s move to ‘digital first’: Perspective from a key Pearson executive...
On July 24th, I had the opportunity to interview Paul Corey of Pearson by phone for about an hour regarding the recent announcement that Pearson will move to a digital first strategy for its textbook...
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MindTap and Cengage Unlimited under fire from two new class action lawsuits
On August 12, 2019 the law firm of Susman Godfrey LLC filed a class action lawsuit against Cengage Learning on behalf of Douglas Bernstein and four other authors. Three days later, a similar suit was...
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President’s Message: The shifting landscape of textbook publishing
As many of us return to campus for the fall semester, it may be time for both textbook and academic authors to take a look at what our institutions are doing regarding textbook purchases and costs. Is...
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Analog contracts in a digital world
College level textbooks and their publishers have been in the news a lot lately, with all of the major higher education publishers emphasizing a shift to a digital first market strategy. The vast...
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Preparing for ripples, waves, and tsunamis in textbook and academic publishing
Recently, we’ve seen shifts from print to digital, the rise of open educational resources and open-access journals, the consolidation of large publishers into mega-publishers, fundamental changes in...
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eBook Download – Can My Textbook Publisher Really Do That?
First-time and novice textbook authors may ask themselves throughout the publishing process – “can my publisher really do that?” And the answer is “yes”. And “no”. And “it depends”. Your answer will...
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2020 Textbook Contracts & Royalties Survey
Are you curious what royalty rates other textbook authors are receiving for print and digital books? What about what they’ve been able to negotiate regarding first right of refusal, the sunset clause,...
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TAA announces results of its 2020 Textbook Contracts & Royalties Survey
In a recent survey conducted by the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA), 27% of respondents reported that their 2019 royalties were 25% or more lower than in recent years. Only 8%...
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2020 Textbook award-winning insight (Part 1): Purpose, timeline, and results
We recently reached out to winners of the 2020 TAA Textbook Awards and asked them to answer some questions about why they made the decision to write their textbook, strategies they used for successful...
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2020 Textbook award-winning insight (Part 3): Contracts, editing, and marketing
We recently reached out to winners of the 2020 TAA Textbook Awards and asked them to answer some questions about why they made the decision to write their textbook, strategies they used for successful...
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Ask the Expert: What to look for in publisher-driven ‘new’ textbook contracts
Steve Gillen has authored three books with TAA on the topics of textbook authoring, publishing, contracts, and rights clearance and permissions. Q: I’m a published author. I signed a textbook contract...
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Copyright, Covid, and the Virtual Classroom
With the fall semester fast approaching, faculty are intensively preparing for the 2020-2021 academic year, in the face of continually changing information and circumstances. A number of our higher...
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Authors’ suit against Cengage hits snags
In October 2019, six authors, intending to form a class action together with other Cengage authors, filed a lawsuit against Cengage alleging that Cengage’s royalty accounting for proceeds from...
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What you need to know about ‘cross-collateralization’
It has an intimidating name. Indeed, it takes more letters to spell it than to put it into effect. But what is it and why is it bad for authors? Most every book publishing contract will include a...
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