MC: Marketing is tricky; you have limited control. One of the most impt: the editor can get add'l resources. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:52pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
JM: Publicity people for publishers are conventional channels; helps to do additional work for other audiences (online) #dcswa15 #scicomm
Q: How is marketing handled? JM:Many have had poor experiences but his was good. MS:Some self-reliance needed. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:51pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: Agent fees only paid if they sell something; 'totally worth it'. "Don't pay fees, ever. Stick to the 15%." #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:48pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q: Financial relationships between agent & publ? A: JM: Std 15% off the advance. KS: Same; royalties after paid back. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:47pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MC: "I stuck with the kid; this agent has been an invaluable sounding-board." #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:46pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MC: "I think it's crucial to get the right agent for the book you want to write". Big-shot and small-time agents have +/- #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:44pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
KS: Agents want great ideas. MS: Agent found through admired writers & book editors pointed to same person. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:42pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q: How was an agent found? A:JM: referral. Impt contacts w/editors at publishing houses, knows good ideas from poor. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:40pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MC: Used to worry about ebooks, now realizes print will be for serious books. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:39pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
JM: Edits from Scribner are done by hand. MC: Still experimenting with printed & ebook forms. Print for serious reading #dcswa15 #scicom
4:38pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: Going through a change in reading habits; here in DC we have many B&M bookstores. But digital is the future #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:37pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q: As a reporter, would an article help for a book pitch? A: MS: It will only help. Proposals submitted all the time w/o #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:32pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q: Amazon singles? A:Other publishers will cross-sell to Kindle store. Atavist founded by ex-Wired, New Yorker folks #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:28pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MC: "I don't want to spend my life writing boring, easy books." #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:27pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Moderator Michael Chorost: learning how to write book takes more than 1 book to learn to do. 'For me that's the thrill' #dcswa15 #scicomm
KS: 'A deadline is extremely motivating.' Short-term internal deadlines also helpful. JM:Is my writing any good? (doubts) #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:25pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q: How to keep momentum going? A:MS: 'I got so sick of the topic I went back to article writing'. Find sth you care about! #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:23pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q: Time for research vs. writing? KS: Did them together, research took more time. Others: variable time for proposals #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:21pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
.@emmajspaulding Great to meet you at #dcswa15 Emma! Thanks for introducing yourself.
4:21pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client in reply to emmajspaulding
RT @emcconover: Videos don't have to be perfect - "You just have to be a little bit better than the average quality on YouTube" -- @AutoRoc…
4:18pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
KS:Q:Experience of writing? A:Idiosyncratic. Mother studies prodigies, turned down book writing, sugg'd her daughter #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:16pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: "Amazon is terrible about images" - scattershot. But rights. Kindle though drove 90% of sales cp to Atavist #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:15pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: It was an issue figuring out how multimedia would fit into the story. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:13pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q:Issues around multimedia? A: MS:Coast Guard 'great in sharing images & video'. Animations of hurricane from others too. #dcswa15 #scic
4:12pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: @atavistmag has changed business model (to paywall). #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:11pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: Has doubts about electronic book audience - do they read very closely? Read to the end? (NB - now we have data!) #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:10pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: It did win an award, but drawbacks: no shelf presence. Grandma couldn't find it in a bookstore. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:09pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: Kindle ver $2; @atavistmag was $3 w/multimedia. Enormous # of emails asking 'was it worth it?' #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:08pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: As a 1/4 of a book, interviewed crew members, from Fall '12, finished Jan, on Kindle in Feb '13. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:06pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
MS: Staff writer for @smithsonianmag. Image of the Bounty going down - as a freelancer, wrote for @atavistmag 20K words #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:05pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
KS: Also of interest - 'a platform'. Newspaper, articles, own branding. Showing content expertise. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:03pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
KS: Another is a counter-intuitive take. Tougher to sell biographical things (about scientists). Prefer 10 ideas #dcswa15 #scicomm
KS: Tougher is physics, astronomy. But good examples are there too. Tendency for trends; hard to stand out in the flood #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:02pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
KS: Some topics may be more popular than others; psychology and neurosci. Also food and science (like JM's book) #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:01pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
KS: The Rebecca Skloot story; 'you have to have a big and clear take-away', making it personal. #dcswa15 #scicomm
4:00pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
KS: Good news - strong demand for science books. Agents and publishers: looking for narrative, compelling & interesting #dcswa15 #scicom
3:59pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
KS: Book coming out in Nov; her first; explores connection between child prodigies and Autism. #dcswa15 #scicomm
JM: Difficult to come up with a book pitch; many ideas shot down; over 2y wrote his book (bought by Scribner) #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:57pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
J McQuaid Tasty: The Art and Science of What we Eat; M Shaer The Sinking of the Bounty; K Stephens The Prodigy's Cousin #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:52pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Session "Writing books in 2015" "100K words, a depth and specificity you can't get into in an article." #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:50pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
.@derekcasari Yes, @christophjoyce is an NPR host, and many science fans here at #dcswa15
3:30pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client in reply to derekcasari
TA: "Gratifying when a writer an editor has worked with has gotten better." #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:26pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q:How to find growth in relationship? A: Editors judged on writers they work with. 'Take an unemployed editor to lunch' #dcswa15 #scicomm
Q: When do you have to be obnoxious? A: TA: Made a suggestion, and it was ignored, reverted back. #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:23pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
Q: What about editing your boss' writing? A: EE:Intimidating, yes. Same rules apply. Healthy to do. #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:22pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
EE: Also lots of encouragement to re-write, if the voice has been lost. #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:21pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
(Comment - 'editing is like parenting') Q:Going from 4pg to 2pg - how? A: EE:If more red than black, a warning to writer #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:19pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
LH: "It's the editor's job to determine what's important for their audience." #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:13pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
TA: Further edits w/the headline 'childhood neglect erodes the brain' - feels much more significant, interesting #dcswa15 #scicomm
3:08pm March 28th 2015 via Twitter Web Client
