Science writers' handbook

This indispensable guide shows you how to:
* Jump-start your career as a freelance or staff science writer
* Develop stories and hooks that editors can't resist
* Find ideas, pitch stories and report narrative
* Navigate the emotional side of writing (envy, loneliness, rejection)
* Handle the business details (contracts, taxes, retirement saving, insurance)
* Balance freelance work with the rest of your life--even kids

With over 300 years of hard-won experience, the Writers of SciLance know how to prosper in the evolving world of popular science writing. They want you to succeed too. Whether you're new to the field or a seasoned veteran, these award-winning pros will help you to polish skills, improve business smarts, and create community in what is a rewarding but often solitary field.

As a close-knit community of 35 science writers, The Writers of SciLance have worked as staffers and freelancers for newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations, and web sites; as public information officers; and as corporate, university, and non-profit organization writers. Their articles on nearly every science topic imaginable have appeared in National Geographic, Discover Magazine, Smithsonian, the New York Times, The Washington Post, and scores of other outlets. They have won prestigious journalism awards, written best-selling books, and contributed to leading anthologies. SciLancers have taught science writing at Johns Hopkins, Stanford and in workshops throughout Canada and the United States, and been awarded Scripps, MIT-Knight, and Alicia Patterson Foundation journalism fellowships. They live in communities big and small scattered across North America, with partners, children, dogs, cats and even a parrot.