Janet Elder and Joe Cortina began their writing collaboration as colleagues in the Human and Academic Development Division at Richland College, a member of the Dallas County Community College District. Professor Elder now writes full time; professor Cortina currently teaches both developmental reading and honors English courses at Richland, and serves as the developmental reading program coordinator. Both are trained reading specialists and are highly experienced in teaching basic and advanced reading improvement and study skills courses. Their combined teaching experience spans elementary, secondary, and undergraduate levels, as well as clinical remediation.

Dr. Elder and Dr. Cortina began collaborating in 1985. Their first textbook was Comprehending College Textbooks: Steps to Understanding and Remembering What You Read. Their beginning-level textbook, New Worlds: An Introduction to College Reading, is now in its fifth edition. Dr. Elder is also the author of an introductory-level text, Entryways into College Reading and Learning, and an intermediate- to upper-level college reading improvement textbook, Exercise Your College Reading Skills: Developing More Powerful Comprehension, second edition. Both authors are long-standing members of the College Reading and Learning Association (CRLA) and the National Association for Developmental Education (NADE). Dr. Cortina is also a member of the Texas counterparts of these national organizations, Texas-CRLA and TADE, and Dr. Elder has given numerous presentations at their conferences over the years.

Janet Elder was graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas in Austin with a B.A. in English and Latin, and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She was the recipient of a government fellowship for Southern Methodist University's Reading Research Program, which resulted in a master's degree. Her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction in reading is from Texas Woman's University where the College of Education presented her the Outstanding Dissertation Award. After teaching reading and study skills courses at Richland for several years, she implemented the college's Honors Program and directed it for six years before returning to teaching full time. She was a three-time nominee for excellence in teaching awards. Disability Services students also selected her three times as the recipient of a special award for "exceptional innovation, imagination, and consideration in working with students with disabilities." She is a recipient of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development's Excellence Award. In fall 2004, she left teaching in order to write full time, but she continues her affiliation with Richland as a professor emerita.

Joe Cortina earned his B.A. degree in English from San Diego State University and his master's degree and doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction in reading from the University of North Texas. He has taught undergraduate teacher education courses in reading at the University of North Texas and Texas Woman's University. In 2010 Dr. Cortina received Richland College's Excellence in Teaching Award for Full-Time Faculty. In 1994, 2009, and 2011 he was a recipient of the Excellence Award given by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. And in 1992 he was selected as an honored alumnus by the Department of Elementary, Early Childhood and Reading Education of the University of North Texas. In addition to teaching, Dr. Cortina conducts in-service training and serves as a mentor to both new full-time and adjunct faculty at Richland College.