The Latest on The Slime Mold's Guide

Book progress completion bar: 95% done

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For the last two years I have been writing my first book, The Slime Mold’s Guide to World Domination. I have some news to share.

First, last year I was lucky enough to win an Alfred P. Sloan Science Book Grant, which has been an incredible aid in finishing this book. With the foundation’s help (you might remember them from PBS: “This program is brought to you by … The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation”), I was able to afford translators of German, Japanese, and Latin. And I was able to help support my family at a difficult time when my husband was out of work. I send my deep gratitude to all the good folks at the Sloan foundation for this invaluable assistance in making creative works about real science come to life for the public. Alfred’s generous bequest is as needed and appreciated now as it was when he made it in 1934. And guys, you made a huge difference for me. Thank you.

Second, I am now incredibly close to finishing this ding dang book. I have turned in 11 chapters and am now about a third of the way through the last chapter, 12. I had a bit of a Pit of Despair moment during the writing of what turned out to be two chapters, 10 and 11, feeling as though I’d never find my way out. But with the encouragement of my friend and book consigliere Nathan Pieplow, and the help of my husband who gave me a whole week to do nothing but write in March while he took our kiddo to see the grandparents, I made it. Now, I am like the pack horse that has sighted the barn: with every paper or book I finish reading and writing up, I am that much closer. This book is happening.

Next, in March, I gave an interview for a youtube show on Civic Science for Prof. Fanuel Muindi of Northeastern University recently, who saw my Sloan Grant award announcement and was curious enough about my book title to want to chat. We talk about the process of writing a book and about getting a Sloan Grant.

And finally, as you surely sensed from my interview, I have realized one of my missions in life is to get more science writers to write science books. Why? Because the world needs more good science books, because it’s been incredibly fulfilling (at least for me), and because I think it can only help your career, whatever the outcome. We need more science writers with sustainable careers.

To wit, a short Q&A:

Q: What has surprised you about the writing process?

How much fun it is, and how much incredible science book material is sitting around in dusty old journals and books just waiting to be unearthed. This is a call to arms, science writers. We have so much more book ore sitting around out there unmined than the history writers do. Entire realms of research and science stories are just waiting out there, hitherto untouched by the hand of any professional writer. And yet there are scores more history books than science books published each year. Why is that?

Q: Would you recommend I write a science book?

Honestly, yes — if you are already an experienced science writer, and if you can find a book idea you are passionate about. First, for the reason just mentioned in the last question – so much great book material is waiting, and the world needs more great science books. But second, newspapers are dying. Magazines seem to be dying. You know what isn’t dying? Books. Books are doing great. Net book sales in 2023 in the U.S. were $12.57 billion – that’s billion with a b, folks. And nonfiction outsells fiction. For some reason, people — even many young people — LOVE books.

Plus, in a book, you are actually encouraged to have your own voice, rather than trying to make it conform to Magazine or Newspaper X’s institutional voice. Nay, book editors often say the very books they are looking for are precisely those authored by writers with strong, distinctive voices – even in nonfiction. And that was even before ChatGPT and other large language models came along. The premium on a unique human voice is probably only going to get stronger now.

Finally, lots of nonfiction editors say they are looking for science and nature books. Just to take one example, on my publisher Simon & Schuster’s editor website, one-third of the nonfiction editors mention “science” or “nature” as a book topic they would be interested in publishing. There seems to be a desire of nonfiction editors for science books that is not commensurate with the number of good science book proposals being received, judging by the number of science books these editors have actually published.

Becoming an author is always risky, and most books do not turn a profit. On the other hand, a few do. It’s a gamble. But I knew I wanted to write books 20 years ago. It was my dream —and damn the torpedoes. If you have ever suspected you might have it in you to be a nonfiction author, I encourage you to go for it. If your book does succeed, your financial reward will be commensurate with that success – also unlike in newspapers and magazines. If your book does not succeed, you are now a book author, and that is a lifelong credential that makes you a more marketable science writer. What have you got to lose?

Q: But writing a book seems scary. I’ve never written one before. How can I write one if I don’t know what I’m doing?

It is scary. Let me tell you about the long, sobering pause in my office before I signed my book contract. It felt like jumping off a cliff — and I already had two chapters under my belt to get me to the point where I could at least believe I could do it most of the time. I have not always been certain I can pull it off. In this capacity, I have made liberal use of Shepard’s Prayer.

But if you are a smart person, you will figure it out as you go. You will. Talk to other science writers. Ask questions. Read lots of nonfiction books, and books about writing nonfiction books. Becasue this process can be profoundly lonely, consider joining Kristin Hugo’s Substack and support group for science writers and nonfiction book authors, Authors of Nonfiction Books in Progress. We meet once a month to trade war stories and share advice. Have faith in yourself and trust that the passion you feel for your book will give you the strength to figure out how to write it.

But the best advice I ever got was: just start.

Q: How can I learn more about what makes a great nonfiction book?

If you are interested in writing a nonfiction book, I recommend two books: Thinking Like Your Editor, by Susan Rabiner and Alfred Fortunato, and Working by Robert A. Caro. I also encourage you to read – or at least, skim -- lots of science and other nonfiction books to find out what you like and don’t like (Aside: The Right Stuff is my favorite nonfiction book of all time, and if you like my style and are even moderately interested in the space race, you will love this book).

Read great fiction, too, because the best nonfiction is written like fiction (I personally recommend Wolf Hall), and not like textbooks or a collection of magazine articles on a given topic. Instead, they have a discernible voice, literary merit, and a propulsive story arc with a beginning, middle, and an end. Whether reading fiction or nonfiction, humans have the same deep need, as Salman Rushdie has pointed out: “Tell me a story”. In my opinion, in science this story is not hard to find, because it is intrinsic to the whole endeavor: is is mystery.

If you think you might have a book in you, but you’re not sure what, see if you can find a great driving question that you’ve always wondered about. Great questions produce great nonfiction books. Tom Wolfe’s “grew out of some oridnary curiosity. What is it, I wondered, that makes a man willing to sit up on top of an enormous Roman candle, such as a Redstone, Atlas, Titan, or Saturn rocket, and wait for someone to light the fuse?” I do not think he realized he would end up writing about military test pilots, and basically creating the entire concept for Top Gun, but that is what happened.

My question was, “How can a giant slimy crawling cell possibly be intelligent?” And trust me, it has taken me places I never expected to visit either. I can’t wait to share the answer with you.

Current publication estimate: October 2026.