1. Be a famous scientist already. Cambridge cosmologist Stephen
Hawking鈥檚 A Brief History of Time sold 12 million copies in English
worldwide. Largely thanks to the 鈥淗awking effect鈥�, popular science publishing
has become a serious business over the past few years. 鈥淓very publisher is now
trying to get popular science books with big-gun names,鈥� says Sarah le Huray,
marketing manager for Cambridge University Press. 鈥淢edia personalities sell huge
numbers; sometimes it doesn鈥檛 matter what they say.鈥� Indeed, Hawking鈥檚 book is
widely said to be the least-read bestseller of all time.
Why did so many people buy it? Some say a science book can become a
鈥渢alisman鈥濃�攁 reassuring thing to have on the shelf at home, even if you
can鈥檛 understand it.
If you can鈥檛 be famous, 鈥渃hange your name to Richard Dawkins鈥�, one wag
suggests. 鈥淎nything he writes will sell,鈥� say publishers. Other names to
consider: Charles Darwin, Paul Davies and Stephen Jay Gould鈥攖hey all have
their own nameplates in the 鈥渟cience鈥� section of my local bookshop.
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2. Pretend to answer the Big Questions鈥攖he meaning of life, why
we are here, that sort of thing. If possible, mention 鈥淕od鈥�, 鈥渕ind鈥� or both in
the title: evolution, cosmology and consciousness are perennial winners.
鈥淪uccess in popular science lies on the boundaries of science and myth,鈥� says
geneticist Steve Jones. We read popular science seeking answers to questions
about our place in the Universe, the nature of good and evil, and the origins of
humanity, Jones says. The trouble is, 鈥減eople are looking to science for
something that science can鈥檛 provide鈥�. It is more than a coincidence, he opines,
that books on chemistry and mechanics don鈥檛 sell.
Role models: the Oxford mathematician Roger Penrose became a commercial
success with The Emperor鈥檚 New Mind and Shadows of the Mind,
while physicist Paul Davies of Adelaide University struck gold with God and
the New Physics and The Mind of God. Mathematician Ian Stewart hit
the jackpot with Does God Play Dice?
But try to avoid ambiguity. British science writer Colin Tudge, author of
The Engineer in The Garden, found his well-reviewed book on genetic
engineering filed in a bookshop鈥檚 gardening section. 鈥淭hey seemed to think it
was about lawnmowers.鈥�
3. Follow the fashion. This year鈥檚 success story is Longitude
, Dava Sobel鈥檚 surprisingly popular account of an 18th-century English
clockmaker. Still in hardback, it has sold 80 000 copies in Britain alone.
Publishers are desperately seeking 鈥渢he new Longitude鈥�. The diminutive
book鈥檚 success has been attributed not least to its pleasing squarish format and
stylish design. 鈥淥ther houses will try to copy the style of the book,鈥� says
Fourth Estate publisher Christopher Potter. 鈥淚t will be interesting to see what
they come up with.鈥�
Fashion anxieties account for many an 鈥渋nstant鈥� book in the trade. A few days
after news of Dolly the sheep broke, one publisher asked me to write 60 000
words on cloning, in a month. Someone probably said yes.
Look out for a spate of books on that topic, and on life on Mars. Publishers
鈥渁re interested in what was in the papers last week鈥�, says environmental writer
Fred Pearce. 鈥淭hey are very unsystematic about what they do, that鈥檚 why there
are so many awful books.鈥� Publishers tend to suffer from a 鈥渇ailure of the
imagination鈥�, agrees microbiologist Bernard Dixon, whose latest book is
Powers Unseen.
4. Get personal. Bring science to life by portraying scientists,
living or dead, as either heroes or antiheroes. James Watson pioneered the genre
with his riveting 1968 memoir The Double Helix. Now biographies of
physicist Richard Feynman jockey for a place on the shelves.
High on the hardback bestsellers list is Simon Singh鈥檚 Fermat鈥檚 Last
Theorem, an engaging romp through 350 years of human obsession with an
ancient mathematical puzzle. He鈥檚 now looking for another theme with
Fermat鈥檚 winning combination: 鈥渁 modern hero, interesting science and a
strong historical appeal鈥�. Above all, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not a threatening book,鈥� says Singh.
鈥淚t sits comfortably in the hand, and has a bright cover with a picture of an
ancient hero on the front and a modern hero on the back鈥攊t looks more like
a novel than a nonfiction book.鈥�
5. Write about something you know and care about. Despite Step 3,
warns science writer John Gribbin, 鈥渋f you try to write a bestseller by copying
someone else, it doesn鈥檛 work鈥�. New York Times journalist James Gleik鈥檚
1987 Chaos 鈥渄eserved to do well because it caught a moment in science
when something new was just emerging鈥�, says Marcus Chown, author of
Afterglow of Creation. Gleik produced 鈥渁 snapshot, a synthesis, that no one
scientist could have done at that time. Doris Lessing said that book changed her
濒颈蹿别.鈥�
Editor Michael Rodgers, who handled The Selfish Gene and several of
Dawkins鈥檚 later books, targets the author, not the topic: 鈥淭he number of
scientists who can write for popular audiences is so small that if you do find
someone, what they鈥檙e interested in is bound to be good.鈥�
6. Present a television series. Steve Jones鈥檚 latest offering, In
the Blood, follows his recent TV series on human genetics. Almost twenty
years ago, American astrophysicist Carl Sagan wrote a book to go with his series
Cosmos that is still in the bookshops. In the 1980s, David
Attenborough鈥檚 natural history documentaries spawned Life on Earth, the
book. 鈥淧eople bought it as a memento, in case they want to refer back to it, but
I don鈥檛 think anyone does,鈥� says Michael Rodgers of Oxford University Press.
7. Sign up with John Brockman. This New York literary agent has won
million-dollar advances for the many scientist-authors under his wing. Despite
his money-orientated image, says Richard Dawkins, 鈥淏rockman has a vision of the
importance of science and its importance in the culture.鈥� Brockman argues that
scientists are the new intellectuals, 鈥渞endering visible the deeper meanings of
our lives, redefining who and what we are鈥�. Read more about his Edge Foundation
and The Reality Club on his Web site: http://www.edge.org/
8. Publish enough, but not too much. You may end up competing with
yourself. 鈥淎gents and publishers recommend that you produce one book a year,鈥�
says mathematician Ian Stewart. 鈥淚鈥檓 still writing two a year, but getting away
with it.鈥� The blurb on the cover of Richard Dawkins鈥檚 The Extended
Phenotype offers helpful advice from the author: 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 matter if you
never read anything else of mine, please at least read this.鈥�
9. Win a book prize. The 拢10 000 Rh么ne-Poulenc Prize
probably puts several thousand copies on a book鈥檚 sales figures. But see Step 1.
The nine-year-old prize for adult popular science has never yet gone to a
science writer or journalist.
10. Bribe a bookseller. All too often, science books are tucked away
on the fourth floor, where only dedicated readers will find them. But
increasingly, booksellers are displaying the bestselling science yarns in prime
positions near the front door. 鈥淚t鈥檚 great that science books are being given
that chance,鈥� says Simon Singh. Good reviews in the Sunday papers鈥攁nd
mentions in the Christmas books-of-the-year lists, as John Carey鈥檚 Faber
Book of Science achieved 鈥攁lso do much to boost sales.
11. Get lucky. Seek divine intervention. Expect to be disappointed.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty random, like all publishing. Good books sometimes don鈥檛 do very
well, and bad books sometimes do,鈥� says Marcus Chown.
Robin McKie, science editor of The Observer, agrees. Coauthor of two
recent books, he warned his scientist-collaborators 鈥渄on鈥檛 get too excited, it
can go out there and do nothing鈥�. Steve Butler of BookWatch advises 鈥渋n general
don鈥檛 expect amazing sales鈥�. Even a new Stephen Jay Gould will probably sell
only between 20 000 and 30 000 in Britain in its first year in paperback.
12. Exploit pet appeal. John Gribbin proffers a final tip: 鈥淐ats sell
books鈥�. After 13 years in print, Gribbin鈥檚 In Search of Schr枚dinger鈥檚
Cat is still in the bookshops. He recently penned a sequel,
Schr枚dinger鈥檚 Kittens and the Search for Reality.