Key Tips for Academics Wanting to Write for the General Public: A short guide for post-ac, alt-ac, or academics
Below is Part 1 of a five-part series.
So you want to write a book. From a purely academic perspective, writing books, manuscripts, and monographs is an essential part of the job. For those who are considering leaving or have left academia, writing a book for the general public can serve as an excellent pivot point and bridge between the ivory tower and the real world. One of your biggest assets is your intellectual capital. Your ideas, creativity, and ability to innovate. A book is a logical and attainable way to capitalize on and express your intellectual capital.
Having an accessible, well done, and, most importantly, completed book serves as a mobile business card spreading your ideas and messages to the world. It also is a physical representation of your time management skills, perseverance, dedication, and creativity. With a book in hand, consulting and speaking gigs are easier to come by. If you are someone can not only come up with an innovative idea for a book, but also follow through with that idea to write a book, it demonstrates to the world that you are someone worth knowing and working with in a partnership or consulting relationship.
However, the path to publication isn’t always straightforward. Should I find a publisher or self-publish? Where do I get books printed and how does this process work? Do I need an ISBN number? How does book design work and why is it necessary? What on earth am I going to write anyway? How do I price my book? Although there are a multitude of resources available on the internet for independent (or indie) authors, this series is specifically for individuals with an academic background who are interested in writing for the general public.
In this five-part series, I’ll detail considerations to make when deciding to write a book for the general public (or a trade) audience. In Part 1, I’ll discuss goal setting and audience. Part 2 will cover content selection, Part 3 and 4, book design and production, and Part 5, marketing and growing your network.
Now, let’s switch to the focus of Part 1. We’ll be applying backwards design, a best practice for designing educational activities that you may be familiar with from teaching, to your book project.
If you are considering writing a book, what are you hoping to achieve and who are you writing for? Much like putting a grant proposal together, your aims need to be specific. Who are you trying to reach, why are you trying to reach them, and what do you hope to achieve?
When I set out to write Biology Everywhere: How the science of life matters to everyday life, I was specifically trying to create a book that was accessible to the general public, particularly people who had little confidence in their ability to engage with science and biology. I wanted to reach this audience, because my prior teaching experience (plus the research literature) indicated that many people lack confidence to engage with science. I wanted a book that would appeal to people who had bad prior experiences in science classrooms and that would help empower them to engage with biology as it relates to their lives.
As I was writing, I intentionally made my writing style conversational, funny, and approachable. I avoided jargon wherever possible and instead focused on sharing stories and examples that demonstrated how we see various biological concepts as part of our daily experiences, for example, relating cellular metabolism to why yogurt tastes tangy.
During the cover and interior book design process, I specifically sought design elements that made the book as un-textbook like as possible. I didn’t include “end of chapter” questions either.
My ultimate goal with Biology Everywhere was also to serve as a pivot point for my career. Like many in the Post-ac or Alt-ac communities, I wanted to get off the “never good enough” hamster wheel that’s unfortunately common in the academy. I also wanted to extend the impact of my biology everywhere teaching philosophy to a wider audience. I didn’t write Biology Everywhere to get rich or make my living solely as an author, but as a method for opening doors. For example, I am collaborating with the Office for Academic Innovation at the University of Colorado to produce a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) based on my book, which will generate another royalty stream. I’ll talk more about how Biology Everywhere opened doors in the final part of this series.
If you are hoping to make significant profits on a book (and not just make your money back), you should ask a few questions first. What need does it fill in society? Why would someone buy your book? Who would buy your book? The answers to these questions are important to decide from the beginning, and something I will discuss further in Part 2.
The problem with many of the texts we write as academics is that they appeal to a very small percentage of people. Consider this: what value does someone get out of reading your book? Are you trying to educate them on a particular topic or help them achieve a particular goal? How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is one of the best-selling nonfiction books of all time. It fills a specific need that we can all relate to: how to make meaningful social connections.
Figuring out who the book is for and what need it fills should guide your entire writing and book design process. This also is important for your marketing strategies, which I will cover in Part 5. What is the best way to reach your audience? What will they respond to? My marketing strategy is based on word of mouth among biology educators in my network, personal interactions (since the target audience is people who are uncomfortable about engaging with biology), and writing far and wide about a variety topics related to my book.
In this first part, I discussed how to start at the end with your goals for a book and identify a need your book might meet. In Part 2, I’ll extend this discussion to choosing content for your book and potential intellectual property considerations.
Be sure to sign up for my mailing list at www.biologyeverywhere.com so you don’t miss the next installment in this series!
Dr. Melanie Peffer is the author of Biology Everywhere: How the science of life matters to everyday life. She is interested in how people learn, understand, and engage with biology content. Visit www.biologyeverywhere.com for more information about her book, advice on writing for the general public, building an Alt-ac career, and upcoming speaking engagements.