What I’m working on: I’m in a period of transition period right now. I spent the last three years writing a book (Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts), and I’m just coming off my book tour. So right now I’m trying to figure out what I want to do next. I’d like [...]
Archive for the ‘Other Resources’ Category
Serendipity Story: A Pitch in Sheep’s Clothing
Posted by Jim Kling on May 14th, 2013
I’ve been a freelance writer for nearly two decades, specializing in science and medicine. Most of my living comes from editors who like my work and farm out stories to me. That’s healthy for my cash flow, but it comes with a drawback: I rarely get to choose what I write. I doubt I’m alone [...]
Excerpt: The Science Writers’ Handbook
Posted by Christie Aschwanden on April 30th, 2013
* Today at The Open Notebook, we’re delighted to present an exclusive excerpt from The Science Writers’ Handbook: Everything You Need to Know to Pitch, Publish, and Prosper in the Digital Age, a valuable new guide written by members of the Scilance writing community. In this chapter, freelance science writer Stephen Ornes provides a primer for thinking [...]
Happy New Year and Some News
Posted by Siri Carpenter and Jeanne Erdmann on January 14th, 2013
As we welcome 2013, we have some exciting changes in the works at TON. We’re pleased to announce that Christie Aschwanden has joined TON as managing editor. Christie will be commissioning and scheduling stories and making sure that our publication schedule stays on track. Please send your suggestions, questions for Ask TON and story pitches [...]
(Free) tickets to Quammen/Dobbs event in Raleigh
Posted by Jeanne Erdmann and Siri Carpenter on October 2nd, 2012
UPDATE: The (free) tickets for this event are gone — though we’ll have a few at the door. But thanks to the generosity of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, we’ll be video-recording the event and posting the full video here. Sincerest thanks to BWF’s Russ Campbell for helping us arrange this! *** As we mentioned last week, [...]
Special TON event: A conversation with David Quammen
Posted by Siri Carpenter and Jeanne Erdmann on September 23rd, 2012
UPDATE: The (free) tickets for this event are gone — though we’ll have a few at the door. But thanks to the generosity of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, we’ll be video-recording the event and posting the full video here. Sincerest thanks to BWF’s Russ Campbell for helping us arrange this! *** See if you can [...]
A heartfelt thanks to NASW, and many others
Posted by Siri Carpenter and Jeanne Erdmann on June 28th, 2012
The Open Notebook started out as a little side project for us, back in the summer of 2010 — a way for us to sharpen our own skills by studying how the writers we admire get the job done. “Hey,” we thought, “let’s interview a few writers, learn the stories behind their stories, and — [...]
Extra! Get yer “Science Writing in the Age of Denial” conference recaps here!
Posted by Siri Carpenter on April 26th, 2012
This week about 200 science writers gathered in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin for a conference on Science Writing in the Age of Denial, hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with support from the National Association of Science Writers. (Conference hashtags: #sciencedenial, and then, when that hashtag was temporarily disabled by spam, #denialconf). In case you’re just [...]
Science Writing in the Age of Denial: Only a few slots left
Posted by Siri Carpenter on March 15th, 2012
Yesterday I learned that there are only about 25 spots left for the Science Writing in the Age of Denial conference (@sciencedenial) to be held in Madison, Wisconsin on April 23-24 — get one while you still can. I’ve been involved in helping plan the workshops portion of the conference, and I’m awfully excited about [...]
John McPhee on characters, structure, titles, and facing the ‘low dread’ of writing
Posted by Jeanne Erdmann and Siri Carpenter on November 8th, 2011
Is there a science writer alive who has not been schooled by John McPhee? Both of us began our writing careers with a collection of McPhee’s books and articles on our shelves, and over the years, we’ve both returned to his works many times, for pleasure and for sustenance. Writing at the excellent blog Last Word [...]
Posted in Other Resources 
Tags: Carpenter, Environment, Erdmann, Longform, McPhee, Structure, Writer Interview 
5 Comments »Something new: the TON pitch database
Posted by Siri Carpenter on October 12th, 2011
Thanks to the generosity and community-mindedness of dozens of science journalists, The Open Notebook has created a searchable database of successful magazine queries — a resource that we hope will be useful for science journalists at all experience levels. You can access the database here, or from the menu at the top of the site. Any [...]
Seeking successful pitches
Posted by Siri Carpenter on September 1st, 2011
The Open Notebook is building a searchable database of successful magazine queries–a resource that we hope will be useful for science journalists at all experience levels. [UPDATE: Thank you for the many pitches already sent! Please keep them coming!] If you would like to submit any pitches that you have sold within the past 4-5 [...]
