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Staying on Track: Setting Realistic Writing Goals and Sticking with Them

The key to any writing project is creating practical goals, setting writing deadlines, and working hard to meet them. We’ve compiled a list of tips from Cognella signing and project editors to help authors reduce stress, embrace strategic productivity, and stay on track.

Rather than trying to set one overarching deadline for your full manuscript draft, it’s helpful to set shorter-term deadlines, too. Establish your goal date for your full manuscript to be completed and then work backward. For example, you could have a goal to draft a chapter or section a month leading up to your full manuscript due date. You could set a goal to finish 25% of your manuscript in two months, another 25% in another two months, and so on. You could set weekly goals to write about specific topics within a larger chapter or section. Achieving small goals and meeting deadlines consistently can help you stay motivated and avoid burnout.  Remember to recognize and celebrate little victories throughout the writing process.

Cognella Author Spotlight: Faye Z. Belgrave, Trenette Clark Goings, and Heather Jones

What are your main areas of research or professional expertise?

Faye Belgrave: My areas of research and programmatic activities fall in three broad areas: (1) health equity; (2) equity, inclusion, and diversity, and social justice; and 3) African American psychology.   As the founding director of the Center for Cultural Experiences and Prevention, I work collaboratively with community organizations to promote health and well-being within the local community, particularly for African American youth and families.

Two Cognella Titles Receive Awards from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association

Child and Adolescent Development: A Social Justice Approach has received a 2021 Most Promising New Textbook Award, and Intercultural Communication: A Critical Perspective has received a 2021 Textbook Excellence Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA). 

Child and Adolescent Development, authored by Kristine Anthis, is one of ten textbooks to earn a Most Promising New Textbook Award. The award recognizes excellence in first edition textbooks and learning materials. Works are judged by textbook authors and subject matter experts for their merits in four main areas: pedagogy, content/scholarship, writing, and appearance and design.

Creating Connection: Tips to Promote Your Textbook on Social Media

Social media can be an extremely powerful marketing tool for your book, but only if you leverage it wisely and approach it with a strategic plan. Whether you’re using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, or other platforms, here are some universal tips to help you cultivate an audience, provide followers with valuable information, market your textbook, and have a little fun along the way.

First, embrace the “social” in social media. The power of social media resides in its reach. It’s not enough to create a social media account and post some content. You need that content to be seen, and it won’t be seen if you don’t first cultivate an audience.