Author Profiles

In January 2024, open textbook author Cara Miller released "Writing for Digital Media," a book about the evolving landscape of writing in the digital age. Miller was awarded a PALSave Textbook Creation Grant to develop the project, and as a peer-reviewed, open educational resource—OER—it is entirely free to students and is ready for use in any classroom.

Here, Miller shares her experience with publishing through the PALNI Open Press, working with OER, and the impact it has on students. 

Please tell us about your teaching background

I've taught in the English Department at Anderson University for 12 years. I taught a variety of writing courses, including composition, creative writing, professional writing, and digital writing. I wrote this textbook specifically for the digital writing course, but it would also be helpful in a professional writing course. While at AU, I also served as the editor of our academic press, the director of the first-year writing program, and the director of the English program. Next year I will be exploring new opportunities. I may still serve as an adjunct for the English Department in the future.

What encouraged you to apply for a Textbook Creation Grant and explore OER as an option for students and faculty?

I applied for the grant because I wasn't finding any textbooks (OER or otherwise) that comprehensively covered all of the topics that I wanted to discuss in my Writing for Digital Media course. I think maybe in the last few years, some other decent textbooks on the topic have emerged, but I really wanted to create something comprehensive, grounded in scholarship, accessible to undergraduates, current, and free for students and other professors to use.

I published the textbook specifically for the class; it's a 3000-level course geared toward helping students navigate digital spaces from a personal, professional, and civic standpoint. We focus quite a bit on writing strategies and best practices for various platforms.

What are the biggest benefits of using OER versus traditional textbooks?

One of the most important benefits of OER is that it's free for both students and professors. When textbooks are expensive, students often delay or avoid buying them, putting them at a major disadvantage in the course. Not only is an open textbook free but it's immediately accessible. Students don't have to carry it around or wait for it to ship. They can access it from their phones or laptops. One other advantage I can think of is that an online version of a textbook is much easier to edit/revise than a print version. So, as digital writing practices and platforms evolve, I could pretty easily revise or add to the textbook.

What was your experience working with PALSave and the PALNI Open Press like?

My experience with PALNI was incredibly positive. I am a very deadline-oriented person, and so I felt supported immediately when I received a detailed timeline for my writing process and also the overall publication process. I was never confused about what was going on or what was expected from me. I also worked with a mentor (Sylvia Yang, Music and Perfoming Arts Librarian at DePauw University) who met with me once a month to check in on my progress, answer questions, talk through ideas, etc. She was very encouraging and really helped keep me accountable to my monthly deadlines. Finally, I found PALNI to be very flexible. I was motivated to complete a first draft of the book as soon as I could, which meant that I "beat" PALNI's original deadline by a few months. They simply moved up my production schedule and sent the manuscript to reviewers that much earlier, which then gave me more time for revising and editing. 

In what ways did your library support you in creating the textbook?

The main way that our library supported my work was to advertise opportunities and facilitate discussions with PALNI. Before I published an open textbook, I signed up for an OER webinar, which our librarians advertised. I also took advantage of opportunities to review other open textbooks and to receive grant money for adopting OER in my classes. I wouldn't have known about those opportunities if it hadn't been for our librarians. Also, as the editor of the AU Press, I was interested in putting our own publications into an open-access, online platform, and I worked with PALNI to do that for our most recent manuscript. Heather Myers, PALNI's Open Textbook Publishing Consultant, taught me how to do this.

What is one piece of advice you would give other faculty looking to publish their own open textbook/OER?

My main piece of advice for other faculty interested in publishing OER is to create manageable deadlines for yourself and stick with them. Since my textbook had so many chapters, my goal was to write a chapter and a half every month, which didn't seem like a lot of work, but when you think about all of the research and planning that goes into each chapter, it was a push, especially considering that I was still teaching full time. Having those goals for myself really helped me to carve out a weekly writing schedule and to understand what I needed to accomplish every time I sat down to write.

Would you consider publishing more open textbooks in the future? Why or why not?

I would definitely consider writing another open textbook, depending on what my professional future holds. Since that's a bit uncertain at the moment, I'm not sure if there will be opportunity or reason to write another one. Considering the time and energy that was involved, I certainly wouldn't enter into that kind of project lightly, but the writing process itself was so rewarding, and I've heard such wonderful feedback from other faculty who will find this book useful. It was definitely worth the effort. I am grateful to PALNI for the support and encouragement and the work that they continue to do to promote open-access textbooks.

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