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Tips for Writing a Romantasy
Romantasy is a fiction genre that has recently been growing in popularity, particularly on Booktok (the book subsection of the TikTok social media app). But what is this genre, and how can you write a romantasy book that might become a best-seller? Romantasy — a...
Stories that Stick, by Kindra Hall
Writers, if you’re like me, then you probably love devouring books that can help you navigate the complicated world of publishing. It’s exciting to announce, then, that Technica Editorial is starting a new book review series to share some of the standout books that...
Fact, Fiction, and Form: The Art and Creation of Memoirs
To begin creating a memoir, writers must learn how to express their reality in an artistic format. Defining a memoir is the first step in this style’s creative nonfiction writing process. When trying to create a personal portrait reported in unshaped facts and...
Step-by-Step Process to Self-Publishing a Book for First Time Authors
Writing and self-publishing a book can seem like a daunting task but involves several key steps. Here's a general overview of the process: 1. Idea and Planning: - Develop a clear idea for your book and determine its genre, target audience, and unique selling points. -...
Marketing Your Self-Published Book to Increase Sales
Marketing is an important aspect of selling your self-published book. Here are some tips to help you effectively market your book and increase sales: Build an online presence: Create an author website or blog where readers can learn more about you and your book. Use...
Can Lay Summaries Help Expand the Audience for Scholarly Journals?
Scholarly publishing has undergone many evolutions, but heavy technical writing and detail have always been some of the major defining differences between scholarly journals and trade publications. While both trade and scholarly publications tend to be...
Quality, Not Quantity
Most young authors—including, but not limited to, authors of scientific and scholarly articles—have one main goal in mind: Get published as much as possible. But this way of thinking is just not always helpful for someone who is looking to establish a favorable...
Technica Attends the 18th Annual Bookmarks Festival
Early on September 23, Andy Hill, Claire Lee, and I headed to Winston-Salem for the 18th annual Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors on behalf of Technica. Bookmarks, a literary arts nonprofit, was established in 2004 in tandem with the annual Bookmarks Festival of...
Right to Read: Intellectual Freedom Panel Discussion
On Sunday, October 1, 2023, I attended the Chapel Hill Public Library’s “Right to Read: Intellectual Freedom Panel Discussion” in honor of Banned Book Week. Aside from the discussion, I also enjoyed the free snacks, a free copy of Raina Telgemeier’s Drama courtesy of...
The 2023 Peer Review Week is Almost Here!
Peer review has always been an important, behind-the scenes piece of the publication puzzle. An annual week to celebrate and explore its complexities is well deserved! A couple of decades ago, academic and scientific peer review looked much different from today....
Google’s New AI Search Changes the Game for Publishing
We may still be a few decades away from HAL 9000 and the Terminator wreaking havoc on the humanrace (fingers crossed!), but AI continues to infiltrate and change the publishing industry. We’ve already writtenabout how AI in the form of ChatGPT is changing all the...
Technica Goes a Courting with SSP’s Speed Networking
May’s SSP regional meeting in Durham was a bit of a change of pace compared to the usual monthly meetup. This month, SSP members came together to engage in the publishing industry’s equivalent of speed dating. The meeting began with representatives from the ten SSP member companies giving a brief introduction to their company philosophy and areas of...
Notes from CSE 2018: Preprints, Surveys, ORCID, CRediT, and CHORUS
Earlier this month, Technica attended the CSE conference in beautiful New Orleans. The theme of the meeting was “Publishing in the Changing Climate of the Research Ecosystem,” very timely given how many areas of publishing are evolving in new and exciting ways. As is always the case at CSE, the conference was a great opportunity to network with...
Fake Acceptance Letters – The Latest Scholarly Publishing Scam
The age of Open Access in scholarly publishing has led to a rise in predatory conferences and fake journals taking advantage of authors seeking outlets for publishing. Many journal societies and institutions have tried to fight back against these predatory publishers. A new initiative Think. Check. Attend. helps researchers to identify potential predatory...
Get to Know the Technica Staff: Amy Allen
Each month, we will interview one employee to get their opinions on the publishing industry, hear what it’s like to work at Technica, and learn a little bit about them. This month we are interviewing Amy Allen, an editorial assistant originally from Greensboro, North Carolina. How did you get started in the publishing industry? Did you always want...
Introducing ACS Reviewer Lab
On February 16, 2018, the local North Carolina chapter of ISMTE met at Research Square in Durham. The main goal of the meeting was an introduction to the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) new Reviewer Lab initiative. Technica Editorial was on hand for the presentation. Jody Plank, Product Manager at ACS, was in town to introduce ACS’s new Reviewer Lab. ...
Get to Know the Technica Staff: Claire Ebbitt
Each month, we will interview one employee to get their opinions on the publishing industry, hear what it’s like to work at Technica, and learn a little bit about them. This month we are interviewing Claire Ebbitt, an editorial assistant who graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in May 2017. She studied English and Media & Journalism, both of which have aided...
PSP 2018 Conference Recap
Last month we excitedly boarded trains bound for Washington, DC to attend this year’s Professional & Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Conference, entitled “Data, Diversity, and Discovery: How Professional and Scholarly Publishing Is Accelerating Change and Growth.” Although the keynote speaker opened with a discussion on President Trump and science, the...
Can I Share? The Need for Repository Policies
Just as with science, the world of academic publishing is full of cause and effects. We had a recent blog post regarding ResearchGate and whether or not science and social media can coexist. This rise in academic social media presence and a desire to share material has led to more questions about what work can be posted and when. It seems this desire to...
Get to Know the Technica Staff: Brianna Cooper
Each month, we will interview one employee to get their opinions on the publishing industry, hear what it’s like to work at Technica, and learn a little bit about them. This month we are interviewing Brianna Cooper, a North Carolina native and graduate of UNC Chapel Hill who joined Technica as an editorial assistant in December of last year. This is your...
Happy Word Nerd Day!
Logophile. Lover of words. Word nerd. However, we word enthusiasts choose to define our devotion to words, whatever paths we take towards achieving peak word-related euphoria, one aspect is common. That is the origin story; the epiphanic, pivotal moment that irrevocably transformed our relationship with words by romanticizing the framework through which we...