Lepionka, Mary Ellen. (2008). Writing and Developing Your College Textbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Textbook Authorship and Higher Education Publishing (2nd ed.). Reviewed by David C. Young, St. Francis Xavier University

Lepionka, Mary Ellen. (2008). Writing and Developing Your College Textbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Textbook Authorship and Higher Education Publishing (2nd ed.). Gloucester, MA: Atlantic Path Publishing Pp. xiv + 305         ISBN 978-0-9728164-7-2 Reviewed by David C. Young St. Francis Xavier University December 18, 2008 As someone who teaches in a school of education, my responsibilities are far-reaching, but generally, they fall within the three broad areas of teaching, service and research. In regards to teaching, the typical expectations are that I offer undergraduate and graduate classes in my areas of expertise, and supervise student teachers during their field experience. In terms of service, it is assumed that I will sit on faculty and university committees, and remain an active participant in the affairs of the broader education community. And finally, it is a requirement that I maintain an active research agenda. Thus, writing journal articles, books, book chapters and reports becomes part of the natural routine that most academics, including myself, engage in during the course of their career. As a junior university faculty member, one of the many tasks that I find myself engaged in is reading countless texts in an effort to find the most appropriate book to use for the courses I am teaching. This is no easy undertaking, as ideally, the source one selects should be reputable, readable, provide sound curricular content, and be cost efficient for the students who ultimately purchase this resource. Too often, I find myself lamenting the fact that I am unable to find one book that meets all of my expectations, and as a result, I am often left to cobble together a set of assigned readings by various authors. I find this to be a less than ideal compromise for myself as the instructor, and more importantly, for the students in my classes. Recently, I have found myself toying with the idea of writing my own text—one that would meet my unique requirements. My initial assumption was that this would be a straight-forward endeavor, but, I quickly realized that there were numerous issues involved in writing a textbook that I had not previously considered or even envisioned. What I was ultimately left with was an idea of what the book should be, coupled with a massive array of questions, the answers to which I was unable to uncover. In the interim, and quite fortuitously for me, I had been asked to write this review of Mary Ellen Lepionka’s 2008 work Writing and developing your college textbook: A comprehensive guide to textbook authorship and higher education publishing. This comprehensively revised second edition book was well received, and served as a most valuable resource in terms of providing cogent answers to the many queries I had assembled. In sixteen succinct chapters, Lepionka, drawing on her thirty years of experience in educational publishing, provides the reader with a thorough account of the publishing process from beginning to end. As she states at the outset, academics are experts in their particular field, but they are not experts in textbook publishing, and this book is a cogent and practical account of how one goes about writing as well as publishing their material. This work has several strengths which are particularly noteworthy. First, and perhaps most importantly, the book is very readable. That is, the writing is clear and unambiguous, and even someone such as myself, with little or no familiarity in textbook writing and publishing, could benefit from this read. This overall readability is fostered by the inclusion of a glossary of publishing terms. This may seem but a minor point, but, for a lay audience, the ability to locate definitions for terms such as “seeding adoptions” or “crossover trade” was most appreciated. An additional strength of this book is that it offers the reader extremely useful tips and strategies in terms of the actual writing style one should employ in their textbook. As the author of various journal articles and book chapters, I must admit that I felt as though I had a firm grasp of what academic writing entailed, but, in retrospect, after having read Lepionka’s work, I find myself re-evaluating my position. The material dealing with the writing process, particularly as contained in chapters six and seven, is very useful, and all writers could benefit from embracing the guidelines she outlines. In addition to this, the material in chapter sixteen dealing with enhancing a text’s value visually is an absolute must-read for any prospective book author. As Lepionka points out, the visual presentation of a book is important in marketing and selling it to potential customers. The suggestions offered in this chapter are wonderful, and I would also recommend that readers devote specific attention to the appendix dealing with visualizing information. A final strength of Writing and developing your college textbook: A comprehensive guide to textbook authorship and higher education publishing (2nd ed.) is the inclusion of references, charts, diagrams, a sample prospectus letter, a list of publishers, and web links. Each of these is strategically and appropriately interspersed throughout the book, and provides the reader with relevant and additional information that they might draw on as they engage in producing their own text. After having read Writing and developing your college textbook: A comprehensive guide to textbook authorship and higher education publishing (2nd ed.), I find myself better prepared and better educated about the expectations associated with writing a “good” and “successful” textbook. Although the thoughts of actually embarking on this process are still somewhat daunting, I do feel “empowered” about the prospect of writing my own text. For those who may have trepidations about producing a book, rest easy, as Lepionka’s writing may be the solution to your problem. It certainly worked for me! About the Reviewer David C. Young, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia (Canada). His current teaching includes courses in educational administration and policy, educational research and inclusive education. His research is focused on the areas of educational foundations, school law and special education policy.