Enhance Your Career by Writing Your Own Books as Supplemental Materials: How to Produce Them and How to Use Them in Class

• Date: 01 June 2014
• Published date: 01 June 2014
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jlse.12019
• Author: Laurie Lichter‐Heath,Beth K. Whittenbury

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 31, Issue 2, 367–383, Summer 2014

Perspectives on Teaching

Enhance Your Career by Writing Your

Own Books as Supplemental

Materials: How to Produce Them and

How to Use Them in Class

Laurie Lichter-Heath∗and Beth K. Whittenbury∗∗

I. Introduction

Do you have a special area of expertise in the classes you teach? Do you often

wish for the textbook you use in class to better cover a certain subject or to

explain it in a different way? If you answered yes to either of those questions,

you should consider writing your own book. Afraid the big university presses

will not publish it? Do not worry; now you can publish it yourself. Today,

multiple avenues exist to help you get your own special message out to the

public and your students. In so doing, you can earn extra income and show

that you have subject matter expertise that can lead to increased visibility,

thus enhancing your academic standing.

Although self-publishing designed to enhance student understanding

is important to promote learning objectives and can contribute to the field

of knowledge, self-publishing without peer review is generally not accept-

able for promotion and tenure purposes. However, there is a growing trend

that recognizes the use of self-published items to help educators write and

∗Business Law Faculty/Lecturer, University of the Pacific, Eberhardt School of Business.

∗∗Best-selling author of Investigating the Workplace Harassment Complaint (ABA Publishing 2012)

and legal consultant specializing in sexual harassment training, mediations, and investigations.

Chair-Elect of the Employment Law Committee of the Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice

Section of the American Bar Association. Former Visiting Professor at the University of the

Pacific, Eberhardt School of Business and Adjunct Professor at Antelope Valley College. She

can be reached at bkwhittenbury@bkwhittenbury.com, through her website at http://www.

bkwhittenbury.com, or view her author website and blog at http://www.bethwhittenbury.

com.

C2014 The Authors

Journal of Legal Studies Education C2014 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

367

368 Vol. 31 / The Journal of Legal Studies Education

possibly gain access to tenure-track positions.1In any event, knowing how

to self-publish gives faculty access to an educational tool for the classroom

allowing them to design, write, and implement educational programs they

deem helpful to the educational process without the limits and requirements

placed on academicians by professional publishers.

In this article we will show you how to publish your own works and

make them available for sale to the general public. You will see empirical

evidence that such supplemental materials enhance your students’ education

well beyond what they traditionally gain from the general course textbook.

Finally, we will explain why publishing your own materials will allow you more

control over the educational process and has the potential to advance your

academic career.

II. Writing and Publishing Your Own Book

The first step to writing a book is to write a manuscript using Microsoft Word

2007 or higher. Version 2007 of Word allows you to easily convert a Word

file to a PDF file, which you will need to do in order to upload your book

to the main self-publisher platforms. Once you have finished the content of

your book, make sure to have it copy edited. You will need a fresh set of eyes

to catch typos and formatting errors. While your book is being edited, take

some preliminary steps to get your book ready for printing.

A. Unique Requirements for Self-Publishers

First, if you intend to sell your book commercially, you will need an

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)2for each format in which you

will produce your book. For example, a paperback edition needs a separate

ISBN from a hardcover or e-book edition. Bowker3is the main provider of

1See, e.g., Isaac Sweeny, Same Track: One Adjunct’s Alternative Route to the Tenure

Track (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform June 27, 2013).

2“The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a thirteen-digit number assigned by

standard book numbering agencies to control and facilitate activities within the publishing

industry.” Penn State University Libraries, Bibliographic Processing Cataloging Rules,Penn State U.

Libraries, https://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/cataloging/training/bpcr/020.html (last

visited Apr. 9, 2014).

3“Bowker is the world’s leading provider of bibliographic information management solutions

designed to help publishers, booksellers, and libraries better serve their customers. The company