Launched with the first edition of Real Writing in 1998, the Anker series acknowledges that the writing students do extends beyond the classroom to work and their everyday lives. Real Writing, for the paragraph-to-essay course; Real Essays, for the essay course; and now Real Skills, a new book for the sentence-to-paragraph course, motivate students with their message that writing is an essential and achievable skill: advice, examples, assignments, and interviews with successful former students show the relevance of writing to all aspects of students' lives. Now, the fourth edition of Real Writing gives students more help with every skill they need for college success.
SUSAN ANKER (B.A., M.Ed., Boston University) taught English and developmental writing for several years before entering college publishing, where she worked for 18 years: as a sales representative and English/ESL editor at Macmillan Publishing Company; as developmental English/ESL editor, executive editor, and editor in chief at St. Martin's Press; and as editor in chief for humanities at Houghton Mifflin Company. In each of these positions, she worked with developmental writing instructors, maintaining her early interest in the area. Anker and her husband are the principals of Anker Publishing Company, which publishes professional development materials for higher education instructors and administrators. Her many years of experience talking and working with hundreds of developmental writing instructors across the country, and developing textbooks that meet the needs of these instructors and their students, have culminated in Real Writing, Real Essays, and most recently Real Skills.