When did you begin creating the book and how long did it take?

I was contacted in July 2016 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics about the need for a nutrition communication text. Planning began in fall 2016, the needs assessment was undertaken in the winter and spring of 2017, the author team was assembled over late spring and summer of 2017, and the writing began in fall 2017. Conception to publication extended over a four year period. This is quite typical for a book of this size. Read more in this blog post titled A Book is Born.

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How was the team of authors assembled? 

Our process was quite different from what you might expect. It was our objective for the pool of authors to be drawn broadly from both nutrition professionals in academia and those working in the field. This would best reach our target audiences of future as well as current nutrition professionals. Therefore, we extended an open invitation to all of the educators in NDEP and all of the practitioners in six Dietetic Practice Groups: NE, DBC, SCAN, FCP, PHCNPG, and NEP, asking them to provide input on the depth and breadth of content and to express interest in serving as a writer or reviewer. The response to this call-out was phenomenal and exceeded our expectations! After gathering more information about topic areas people were qualified in writing or reviewing, we were able to fill the major portion of our need. And, in order to share the opportunity as widely as possible, we formed several chapter groups consisting of 4-5 contributing authors. In addition to the 57 authors listed on the Meet the Authors page, 27 more professionals filled the important role of reviewer, and 10 more pilot tested the book with students and interns. 
 

Was leading such a large group like "herding cats"? 
My response to this commonly asked question is that with few exceptions, this large-scale "team project" proceeded smoothly. It was a pleasure getting to know so many fellow nutrition professionals even though we worked entirely online and remote from one another. Over the course of the project, I had the opportunity to meet most of the authors in person at one of two FNCE meetings, but I was surprised to realize when creating the author bios linked to the author names, how many I had still never met in person! If you think you can only work well with those you already know well, or can work with face-to-face, think again!

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Is the book available in an electronic version?

Yes - it is available in both print and electronic versions. 

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Are there Continuing Education credits available?
Yes! Readers can earn 14 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit by completing an interactive online quiz linked from the back of the book.

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