To a working scientist, the idea of writing a book can seem daunting. Is it possible to squeeze in writing on top of the research, teaching, and administrative responsibilities that already fill up the day? But many scientists can, and do, author books, whether they be textbooks, nonfiction for a general audience, or other literary departures from the usual grant proposals, research manuscripts, and review articles.
Its infinitely more work than you think, and its also much more satisfying, says Anne Houtman, a behavioral ecologist and head of the School of Life Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology, who co-authored the textbook Environmental Science for a Changing World. Ive published a lot of papers, but theres something different about holding a book in your hand, she adds.
Sometimes books come out of teaching a course for which there is no suitable textbook. Or maybe theres something youve always been curious about that you want to explore more deeply than your own research allows. I wrote about the mystery of altruism, says Oren Harman, chair of the Graduate Program in Science, Technology and Society at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, and the author of The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness (which won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for the best science book of 2010 and was featured in The Scientist, September 2011). This is an issue I had been thinking about since I was a kid, he says. I found that kind of passion to be a great way to embark upon a writing project.
The Scientist spoke with researchers turned authors, science journalists, book publishers, and even the editors who hold significant sway over the book youll end up writing. Heres what they had to say.
Wait for tenure For the purposes of a tenure committee, books are not considered peer-reviewed publications. Even though textbooks are often more peer-reviewed than anything youll ever write again in your life, Houtman saysevery single chapter is reviewed by a dozen academics, in addition to editorsthe work is not considered peer-reviewed, and therefore doesnt count toward tenure at most institutions.
Plus, adds Michael G. Fisher, executive editor for science and medicine at Harvard University Press, writing a book takes up so much time, people will wonder why you arent doing research.
Start small If youre interested in writing for a more general audience, one way to test the waters is to write shorter pieces, such as essays for The Chronicle of Higher Education (or The Scientist), op-eds for newspapers, or even book reviews for journals. Its a way to kind of exercise those muscles, says University of Minnesota evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk, the author of several popular science books, most recently Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, and Language from the Insect World, from which she adapted an essay for the January 2012 issue of The Scientist. You should know that you like doing that kind of writing, and you should be able to do it in a way that people are going to find interesting.
Those interested in writing textbooks can also start small by writing individual chapters in edited books, adds Harvey Pough of the Rochester Institute of Technology, who has written several higher-level textbooks, including Vertebrate Life, the most widely used textbook for vertebrate zoology courses.
Prepare for endless edits If youre thinking about writing a textbook, keep in mind that it may never really be finished. Many textbooks, especially at the introductory level, require regular updating. Most biology textbooks are on a 3-year cycle, Houtman says. Thats good and thats bad. On the one hand, if it does well and you keep doing editions, then you have a revenue stream for a really long time. . . . This can be your retirement, she says. But that also means that as soon as you put it to press, its time to start preparing for the next edition.
Read You should read not only how-to tomes, but books that exemplify your intended genre. This is particularly true if you want to write for a general audience, says Zuk, who is often surprised to find colleagues who are interested in writing a popular book, but have not read any. Why would I have read them? Zuk recalls people asking. Im not part of that popular audience. But to get a feel for what a general audience likes, you have to become a part of it.
Excerpt from:
So You Want to Write a Book?
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