Table of Contents
Foreword Kendall Powell ix
Part I The Skilled Science Writer
1 What Makes a Science Writer? Alison Fromme 3
2 Finding Ideas Emily Sohn 9
3 Making the Pitch Thomas Hoyden 23
Box: Classic Mistakes We Can All Avoid Monya Baker 32
Box: Pitching Endurance Douglas Fox 33
Box: A Tale of Two Query Letters Thomas Hayden 36
4 Getting the Story, and Getting It Right Andreas von Bubnoff 40
Box: Making a Reporting Plan 48
Box: A Science Writer's Emergency Question List 49
Box: On and Off the Record 50
Box: "So When Can I Read Your Draft?" 51
5 By the Numbers: Essential Statistics for Science Writers Stephen Ornes 53
6 Excavating the Evidence: Reporting for Narrative Douglas Fox 59
Box: Who Pays for Travel? 71
7 Sculpting the Story Michelle Nijhuis 75
Box: Story Anatomy 84
8 Working with Editors-and Their Edits Monya Baker Jessica Marshall 87
9 Going Long: How to Sell a Book Emma Marris 99
Box: Sample Query Letter 112
Box: The Six Steps to Authorship 114
10 Multilancing Robert Frederick 116
11 Just Write the Friggin' Thing Already! Anne Sasso 123
Box: Thirty Books in Thirty Days Emily Sohn 130
Part II The Sane Science Writer
12 The Loneliness of the Science Writer Stephen Ornes 137
13 Good Luck Placing This Elsewhere: How to Cope with Rejection Hillary Rosner 142
14 Beyond Compare Michelle Nijhuis 149
Box: Measuring Success in a World Without Performance Reviews Alison Fromme 154
15 An Experimental Guide to Achieving Balance Virginia Gewin 157
Box: How the &%@ Do I Take a Real Vacation? 163
Box: Balance, Schmalance Liza Gross 165
16 Creating Creative Spaces Hannah Hoag 167
17 Avoiding Domestic Disasters Bryn Nelson 175
18 Children and Deadlines: A Messy Rodeo Amanda Mascarelli 183
Part III The Solvent Science Writer
19 Minding the Business Anne Sasso Emily Gertz 195
20 Networking for the Nervous Cameron Walker 215
Box: The Introvert's Survival Guide for Conference Cocktail Parties 221
21 Paid to Grow Robin Mejia 223
22 Contract Literacy Mark Schrope 230
Box: Time and Money: Can I Afford This Project? Stephen Ornes 244
23 The Ethical Science Writer Brian Vastag 246
Box: The Journalism-Promotion Divide Helen Fields 256
24 Social Networks and the Reputation Economy Emily Gertz 259
Box: Blogging: My Digital Calling Card Sarah Webb 265
25 The Diversity of Science Writing Sarah Webb 267
26 Sustainable Science Writing Jill U Adams 273
Afterword: Finding, or Founding, Your Own Tribe Kendall Powell 279
Box: I Started My Own Group and So Can You Helen Fields 281
Acknowledgments 283
Contributors 285
Selected Resources 289
Index 301