Arcand/Watzke: Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond

Advance copy: Backstories on books by NASW members

Cover: Light: The Visible Spectrum and Beyond by Kimberly Arcand and Megan Watzke (NASW member)

LIGHT: THE VISIBLE SPECTRUM AND BEYOND
Kimberly Arcand and Megan Watzke (NASW member)
Black Dog & Leventhal, October 27, 2015, $29.99
ISBN-10: 163191006X
ISBN-13: 9781631910067

Watzke reports:

After co-authoring a book published in 2013 (Your Ticket to the Universe: Your Guide to Exploring the Cosmos, Smithsonian Books), Kimberly Arcand and I knew we wanted to write another. We both work full-time in the communications group for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. We found that writing books let us explore new content, and be more creative with our writing and story-telling.

Megan Watzke

I mention our day jobs because they played a large role in choosing the new book’s content. Because Chandra looks at X-rays from space (as opposed to the visible light we see with our eyes), both Kimberly and I have spent our careers talking about “other” types of light. Learning that 2015 had been declared the International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies by the United Nations spurred our interest in writing about visible light.

We have a fantastic agent who helped us shape our proposal, and shop it around. We were thrilled that Black Dog & Leventhal wanted to publish the book. Knowing their track record of excellent visual science books, e.g., Theodore Gray’s The Elements and Molecules, we knew we would be in good hands.

It took us about six months to write and research the book, followed by several months of iterations with the editor and designer. The entire process was very smooth.

We are thrilled with the publisher’s ability to distribute the book widely. If I had to do something differently, I think I would have lined up more endorsements, and focused on our social media efforts a bit more before the publication date. It’s hard to tell what the right formula is for a promoting a book successfully in today’s publishing realm, but my feeling is that you can never do too much.

Contact info:

Megan Watzke: 617-953-5411, megan1104@gmail.com, or mwatzke@cfa.harvard.edu
Agent: Elizabeth Evans, 212-794-1082, eevans@jvnla.com
Publicist: Kara Thorton, 212-364-0537, kara.thornton@hbgusa.com
Book websites: http://www.arcandwatzke.com; http://www.blackdogandleventhal.com/light
Blog website: http://www.arcandwatzke.com/#!blog/co1v

NASW members: will your book be published soon? Take advantage of this opportunity for shameless self-promotion. Submit your report for Advance Copy.

Tell your fellow NASW members how you came up with the idea for your book, developed a proposal, found an agent and publisher, funded and conducted research, and put the book together. Include what you wish you had known before you began working on your book, or had done differently.

See https://www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines.

Thinking of writing a book? If you are a NASW member, you may access a list of more than 150 books and online resources to help you craft your book proposal, find an agent and funding sources, negotiate your contract, learn about self-publishing, publicize and market your book, and more at https://www.nasw.org/article/write-book.

Send book info and questions about book publishing to Lynne Lamberg, NASW book editor, llamberg@nasw.org.

Advance Copy

The path from idea to book may take myriad routes. The Advance Copy column, started in 2000 by NASW volunteer book editor Lynne Lamberg, features NASW authors telling the stories behind their books. Authors are asked to report how they got their idea, honed it into a proposal, found an agent and a publisher, funded and conducted their research, and organized their writing process. They also are asked to share what they wish they’d known when they started or would do differently next time, and what advice they can offer aspiring authors. Lamberg edits the authors’ answers to produce the Advance Copy reports.

NASW members: Will your book be published soon? Visit www.nasw.org/advance-copy-submission-guidelines for information on submitting your report.

Publication of NASW author reports in Advance Copy does not constitute NASW's endorsement of any publication or the ideas, values, or material contained within or espoused by authors or their books. We hope this column stimulates productive discussions on important topics now and in the future as both science and societies progress. We welcome your discussion in the comments section below.