Mrs. Katherine Minter, psychology teacher and NHS sponsor, is an avid writer who published a sequel to her first psychology textbook with William Elmhorst, a professor in Wisconsin. For months, because they were unable to meet up to work on the book together, they held many conference calls and edited pages for their recent work online. The work was tedious, but surely a memorable period of time.
“My co-author and I are both consultants for the College Board,” Mrs. Minter said. “During the process, the publisher sent us templates with the desired structure, and we would write on it with an editing program. We would send them in, get feedback from the publishers, and make corrections.”
Over the summer, Mrs. Minter spent two to three hours working on the book every night for three months. When school began, she spent eight hours each weekend solely. In all, it took eight months, four of the months involving vigorous work and dedication.
“I devoted Saturday, where I would get up early at five in the morning and try to be done by one in the afternoon. I was on my set schedule throughout that period of time,” Mrs. Minter said. “We submitted our final copy in November, got back the proofs in early December, and it was finally published in January of this year, available for adoption.”
While Mrs. Minter loved the experience of writing a high school level textbook, she had no prior thoughts of anything of the sort. Minter mentions that though she had never saw herself as a textbook author, she had always been one for adventure and adds that asking for help played an important factor to her success.
“When the publishers asked me to do the second addition, I was thrilled. I found it was easier, especially with the help of a third colleague who helped pick out new diagrams and photographs,” Mrs. Minter said. “It was simply an offer that I couldn’t turn down.”
Since much hard work was required to write the book, Minter realizes the surplus of benefits that the opportunity has provided.
“High school psychology classes all over the world are utilizing the book; as a representative for psychology, I even got to help launch the AP courses in China,” Mrs. Minter said with a smile. “I’ve been teaching AP teachers for twenty years for College Board, and I get contacted regularly over the publishing of the textbook.”
Mrs. Minter reflected on the opportunity of writing both textbooks and harbors no regret, yet would not continue writing another textbook if offered the opportunity.
“The experience was truly magical, but I’d rather not write a third sequel to the textbook,” Mrs. Minter said. “Instead, I’d like to write something original, integrating my own personal ideas about things, mainly to help other people.”
Contributions by Daniela Vara
