Almost everyone who writes for a living dreams of penning a book one day, and science writers are no exception. Writing about science means learning mind-blowing facts on a regular basis, many of which could serve as the impetus for a book. But to an aspiring author, the book publishing landscape can be murky, with no clear road map for how to navigate it. Once you have an idea for a book, how do you turn it into reality? “Writing a book is a really special experience,” says Sabrina Imbler, science writer at Defector and author of How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures. “But it also felt very daunting.”
From developing an idea, to crafting a proposal and selling it to a publisher, to actually writing the thing itself, publishing a book is an arduous process. Thankfully, you can draw on the successful experiences of other science writers who have traversed the tricky terrain of book publishing. And professionals in the publishing world, including agents and editors, can help a would-be author figure out how to turn a big idea into a page-turner.
Do You Have a Book-Worthy Idea?
Every science writer needs to be adept at finding and honing story ideas—but not all of those ideas would make for a good book. A book idea should be compelling enough that the general public will spend money to read about it and hefty enough to support 80,000 to 100,000 words, Mackenzie Brady Watson, a literary agent at Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, wrote via email. (Some nonfiction books can run shorter, around 50,000 to 60,000 words.)
As your book idea starts to crystalize, it’s time to decide whether to enlist the help of an agent. Literary agents serve as liaisons between authors and publishers and are sometimes essential to getting a book published.
The idea also has to be exciting enough to you, personally, since you’re the one who will have to spend months to years working on it. “I think it’s really not uncommon for most books to be like three to five years from when you first have the idea to when it actually comes out, and then you spend a year or so promoting it,” says Tove Danovich, freelance journalist and author of Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them. Be prepared for your book’s topic to become a significant chunk of your life for a long time. “You really have to make sure it’s not a topic you’re going to get sick of,” Danovich says.
Sometimes a book idea naturally follows work you’re already doing, digging deeper into an established beat. Imbler developed their book from a 2018 column they wrote for Catapult that mixed memoir with science writing about sea creatures. To Imbler, a book felt like a way to propel their career forward and “prove that I can write about the things that I want to write about for my career.”
Individual stories can also serve as natural springboards into book ideas. Freelance journalist Amy Maxmen published her 2015 e-book, Ebola’s Unpaid Heroes: How Billions in Aid Skips Over Those at the Frontline, after coming across healthcare workers in Sierra Leone who weren’t being paid during the Ebola outbreak that started in 2014. “I just was really obsessed with this story,” she says, “and worked on it for months.” She pitched it to Newsweek, who assigned a 5,000 word story but Maxmen felt she had more to say. She secured funding from the Pulitzer Center and Tiny Spark to produce a longer e-book version of the story published by Newsweek Insights.
A book idea also doesn’t necessarily need to originate with you; an agent or editor can sow the first seed. The topic for science journalist Julia Rosen’s current book project emerged when her literary agent commented that she’d seen many books on trees but none on grass. “That was all she said,” Rosen recalls, but it was enough to get her mind’s wheels turning. “I just saw so much potential to talk about the deep philosophical questions that really interest me,” she says, “through the lens of grass.” After digging deep into research on grass, Rosen nurtured this germ of an idea into a full-grown book project.
Do You Need an Agent?
As your book idea starts to crystalize, it’s time to decide whether to enlist the help of an agent. Literary agents serve as liaisons between authors and publishers and are sometimes essential to getting a book published. You’ll need an agent if you’re targeting a big, commercial publisher; these publishing houses almost never accept submissions directly from a prospective author. While indie and university presses might be more approachable—and willing to read your pitches—you may still benefit from working with an agent, Brady Watson advises.
Agents typically work “right alongside the author, attempting to make the process as smooth and fruitful as possible at every juncture,” she says. For instance, an agent may help refine a book idea, edit the author’s proposal, and send it to prospective publishers. At this stage, an agent can help a writer wrangle a better contract and sometimes a bigger advance—a sum of money paid in installments throughout the publishing process to assist with the expenses and time required to write a book. Agents might also assist with marketing and publicity once a book is published.
Many agents allow aspiring authors to send them query letters, which are typically about a page in length and detail both the book idea and the writer’s background. If choosing an agent to approach feels intimidating, turn to writers you admire for inspiration and advice. “Look in the acknowledgments sections of books that you really liked, and books that feel similar to your book,” says Imbler. “See who the agents of those books are, and then reach out to them.” The book’s acknowledgements section will likely list the agent, and if not, you can contact the author directly to ask. You can also search through lists of agents, such as this one, categorized by subject, from the Association of American Literary Agents.
A successful book proposal sells publishers on your book idea, outlining what it’s about and why they should want to publish it.
Sometimes an agent might also seek out a writer. By writing authoritatively and artfully about interesting topics, you can stand out from the crowd of aspiring authors and attract the attention of agents. “I think agents enjoy when a writer is clearly having fun on the page, and when their passion for the subject shines through,” Brady Watson says. “We want to be won over by the voice and the tone just like a reader does.”
Rosen, for example, says she’d had little success querying agents for a book on a different topic earlier in her career, but that changed after she wrote a 2020 feature story about the environmental damage caused by invasive earthworms for The Atlantic. Suddenly, she says, agents were calling her. What stood out about this story? “It was a widely read story, partly because I think it was just such a surprising idea,” Rosen says. By leading readers on a colorful and unexpected journey about the lowly earthworm, Rosen had flexed her writing chops and subject-area expertise—both of which are vital for writing books. Rosen recalls her eventual agent telling her that “you took this thing that everyone really overlooked and nobody pays attention to, and you made it interesting.”
If you decide to sign with an agent, you should be picky. For starters, find an agent who will answer your emails and phone calls, insists Danovich. “One of the biggest hardships people have with agents is feeling like they are not responsive.” Your agent should also be someone who shares your vision for your book—and for your career. “I want someone who can sort of guide me through a career in publishing and be looking for opportunities for me,” Imbler says.
In some cases, you can write a book without an agent. This route might be necessary if your book is on a niche or academic topic that agents aren’t typically interested in. But you’ll have to do a lot of legwork yourself. Brady Watson suggests turning to the Authors Guild for legal advice and guides to book contracts. You can also consult lawyers with publishing expertise for help making connections in the industry and negotiating contracts.
Mexican writer Alejandra Ortiz Medrano says she didn’t rely on an agent when publishing her book, El libro de las investigaciones medianamente serias (The Book of Moderately Serious Investigations). Through a literary friend, she connected with an editor at Grupo Planeta—one of the largest Spanish-language publishers in the world—who collaborated closely with her to produce a book about everyday science questions, such as why lint accumulates in our belly-buttons. For Ortiz Medrano, her relationship with her editor was key in navigating the publishing process. “She was there to emotionally support me through the stress of writing,” she says, by being a warm and understanding person.
What Goes into a Book Proposal?
Publishers usually buy nonfiction books based on a proposal and not the book itself—which may still be in an early research phase. Agents may also use a proposal to decide whether to work with an author. “If an author is cold-querying, most agents would expect the author to have a finished proposal ready to share,” Brady Watson says.
A successful book proposal sells publishers on your book idea, outlining what it’s about and why they should want to publish it. It helps to frame your book’s content in relation to others. For example, Imbler thought of their book as a mix between two other books, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren and Stiff by Mary Roach. “Those models are very helpful,” they say. You can find numerous online templates, such as this one from the Nonfiction Authors Association, to help guide your proposal draft. You can also ask other science authors to share their successful proposals.
An agent can help you refine your proposal and highlight its marketing potential. But be sure “you are not being pushed into writing something that is not the book you want to write,” advises Danovich. Rosen says she specifically wanted an agent who would be hands-on in the proposal-writing process. A well-written proposal, she says, can make the writing process much easier. Because of the legwork Rosen did while drafting her proposal, “I know clearly what the book is about,” she says.
How Do You Land a Publisher?
When your proposal is polished and you’re ready to sell, you may be surprised by how many publishing options you have. In addition to the “Big Five” commercial publishing houses (Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster), which have the most resources and name recognition, there are numerous smaller independent book presses (e.g., Milkweed Editions, Mountaineers Books, Agate Publishing) and academic presses (e.g., University of Chicago Press, Princeton University Press, University of Washington Press). There are also self-publishing options, such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple Books for Authors, and Barnes & Noble Press.
If you’re working with an agent, they will send your proposal out into the world and see which editors and publishers bite. Just like with choosing an agent, think carefully about what you want in a publisher and discuss all of your options with your agent. “My biggest priority was finding an editor who I trusted,” Imbler says, and who would take their work seriously. Also consider the resources and attention a publisher will be able to give your book. Big publishing houses might be able to pay out larger advances than smaller presses, but they might focus less on marketing your specific book. This played into Danovich’s decision to work with Agate, a small indie press based in Illinois, which publishes a dozen or so books a year. This smaller setup meant she wouldn’t get lost in the shuffle, she says.
Every author will need to develop organizational habits and creative strategies that allow them to complete the mental marathon of book-drafting.
Once you’ve snagged the interest of an editor, they’ll invite you to meet with them in-person or virtually to talk more. This might sound intimidating, but it is actually a good sign. “By the time you’re getting to the point of a meeting, they’re very serious about making you an offer,” Rosen says. Think of this meeting as an opportunity for you both to see if the editor-author relationship is a good fit, she says.
When a publisher decides to make an offer to buy your book, your agent (if you have one) should handle all of the contract negotiations. Standard book contract items include the book advance, royalties (the percentage of proceeds you’ll receive when a book is sold), where the book can be sold, and when book chapters are due to the publisher. “Agents will negotiate from there to secure the most favorable deal,” Brady Watson says.
During negotiations, it’s important that you and your agent understand what your priorities are. For Rosen, the amount of the advance and how it was paid out was important, because she wanted to have the financial freedom to focus on writing the book without needing to do other work to make money. That said, other authors might want to maintain a mix of book-writing and other work. It’s also important to avoid focusing only on the advance during negotiations, Danovich says. Pay careful attention to the percentage of royalty money you receive when somebody buys your book, and whether you get to keep the translation, audiobook, and film rights to your book, which would allow you to sell those down the line.
Consider asking or having your agent ask the publisher to cover some expenses, too, such as fact-checking, which is not typically baked into publishers’ pipelines. “If there are things that are important to you, like fact-checking or illustration or whatever, think about that early in the process,” Imbler says. In their case, the publisher agreed to pay for illustration, but declined to cover fact-checking. (Imbler paid for an independent fact-check with a grant from the Café Royal Cultural Foundation.) How much the publisher helps with marketing and publicity may also be negotiable.
One way to guarantee your book isn’t fighting for attention is to publish it yourself—but don’t expect to get rich doing so. Maxmen’s e-book didn’t require an agent or traditional publisher, but it also didn’t provide her with any income. Her book is available for $2.99 on Kindle, but none of the proceeds from sales go to her. Without the financial support she secured, she says, the reporting that produced the e-book wouldn’t have been possible.
What Happens Next?
Once you’ve signed a book contract, you’re almost an author. Congratulations! Now, you have to write the book. The research and writing process for a book can be a long, arduous journey. So, it’s important to keep your original aims and hopes for the book in focus. “I think it really comes down to that feeling I had of like, I want to read this book so badly, and it doesn’t exist,” Danovich says. “If you really like something and think that there is an untold story here,” she says, “there will be other people like you.”
Many book writers feel a deep passion for their topic, but Ortiz Medrano says that alone isn’t enough. Every author will need to develop organizational habits and creative strategies that allow them to complete the mental marathon of book-drafting. Ortiz Medrano recommends writing every day, even if it’s not book-related, like in a journal. Authors can also find community with other writers who are working on books. (Rosen pens a newsletter called BookSmarts, where she offers advice on research for writing projects and reflects on her own book-writing process.)
Be sure to develop good stress-relief habits, too. When she was feeling stuck on a section of her book, Danovich would reset by spending time with her chickens. “It made it a lot easier to get into the right headspace,” she says. And when you feel pressure to rush the process along, Rosen suggests in her newsletter to remember that sometimes you need to go slow to go fast. “Moving fast can actually lead to mistakes that slow you down big time,” she writes. “Better to take a deep breath and slow down.”
It helps, too, to remember to have fun. “What I’m trying to tell myself, and I guess what I would tell others, is just try to enjoy the process,” Rosen says. “Enjoying the research, enjoying the thinking, enjoying the writing as much as one can. [That’s] the reason to do this.”
Darren Incorvaia is a journalist who writes about the natural world. He earned a PhD in ecology, evolution, and behavior from Michigan State University in 2021, with a dissertation on bumblebee behavior. He has since written freelance stories for Discover Magazine, Science News, Scientific American, and The New York Times, mostly about exciting new discoveries in the animal kingdom. Darren is a TON early-career fellow sponsored by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Follow him on Twitter @MegaDarren.
