I’m excited to share about a book contract that I just signed with Parlor Press for the #KeywordsProject that started in 2019. You may recall that in December 2022 I announced the publication of a similar collection, Keywords in Design Thinking, released by The WAC Clearinghouse/University Press of Colorado. Keywords in Design Thinking was a more focused keywords collection that zeroes in on design-thinking terminologies. Although making and maker culture have an intricate relationship with design thinking, the editors from WAC have recommended separating the enormous project into two volumes to attract greater readership, hence this second publication, Keywords in Making: A Rhetorical Primer. I am so glad that Parlor Press sees the value in this work and is going to serves as its home.

Here is a concept cover design I drafted for Keywords in Making. As the manuscript gets edited and typeset, I am working on a marketing worksheet to help Parlor Press strategize its promotional activities for this new collection. Here’s where I need help: If you’re an instructor teaching rhetorical, technical, professional, or engineering communication courses, or any special-topic seminars on design, making, and active learning, would you consider adopting this keywords collection as a reference material? If so, I just need your name and course title(s) to include on my worksheet. Please let me know at jason.tham@ttu.edu. You can also just leave a comment or DM on the socials where you found this post.

Book-jacket abstract of Keywords in Making:

From “Accessibility” to “Visual Semiotics,” from “Augmentation” to “Writing Studio,” and from “3D Printing” to “Wireframing,” major sections of Keywords in Making demonstrate the ways in which words, semantics, and terminologies create and sustain a particular discourse community consisting of makers and designers. This collection aims to be a lexical resource for rhetorical inventors and technical communicators, including writers, inventors, instructors, and program administrators, who identify with the maker community. With 100 omnibus terms subject to analysis, interpretation, reinterpretation, and expansion, this collection is a primer to research and practice in design and innovation powered by the popularized maker culture, education, and movement. Each entry in this collection conceptualizes a particular keyword’s role in “making” as an inventive and rhetorical activity. Contributors provide application examples and pedagogical approaches that flesh out their keywords in relation to professional experiences while offering recommendations for future actions. As a whole, this collection presents a compelling argument for why making matters to rhetoric and technical communication. 

Thanks for your consideration!