Rod Pyle: Blueprint for a Battlestar

Advance copy: Backstories on books by NASW members

Cover: Blueprint for a Battlestar

BLUEPRINT FOR A BATTLESTAR:
SERIOUS SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATIONS
BEHIND SCI-FI’S GREATEST INVENTIONS
Rod Pyle
Sterling Publishing (U.S.) $24.95, Aurum (U.K.), £20.00, Oct. 11, 2016
ISBN-10: 145492134X; ISBN-13: 978-1454921349
ASIN: B01KYGNH6I

Pyle reports:

The idea for this book began via conversations with an editor I’d worked with previously on Missions to the Moon (Carlton/Sterling, 2009). We discussed a number of concepts during 2014 before agreeing to create a book about the science of sci-fi. A more formal proposal followed. We collaborated to create a number of sample book spreads, since it is a heavily illustrated book. I worked out an agreement with the publisher in the UK, Aurum/Quarto, and then had the contract negotiated by my agent. Sterling joined the project for U.S. publication.

Rod Pyle

Working from an agreed-upon table of contents, I created a database of topics, researched each for past history (origins of the laser, for example), current uses, and the state of the technology in question, e.g., medical, industrial, entertainment, and military uses. Then I sought out near-future potential, including miniaturization, further development in medical uses, high-powered weaponry, and industrial applications.

Sources included universities and institutes, private companies, small entrepreneurs, engineers, and scientists in various areas of employment. I consulted the usual databases and reference sources, and a lot of popular articles and periodicals. Fact-checking can be challenging for some of these technologies, since things change and advance rapidly, but with some able assistance it all came together. A final "science" pass was performed by a very capable (and brilliant) Caltech PhD.

Some of the topics we considered early-on, such as teleportation, were set aside as a bit too far off in the future. Other topics, such as hoverboards, are generally unlikely to be developed in a mass-market form in the near future, but were simply too much fun to set aside. There are nonetheless companies or individuals continuing to work on some of these "unlikely" topics, hoverboards among them, though most use technologies that will provide a less satisfying experience than that seen in Back to the Future II. Jetpacks, lightsabers, and a few others fall into this category.

In the end, I wish I'd had more time to work on and edit the book. When projects such as this are so engaging, don’t we always feel we could use a few more months?

Contact info:

Rod Pyle, 626-399-4440, rodpyle@yahoo.com, http://www.pylebooks.com
Publicist: Ardi Alspach, 646-688-2450, AAlspach@sterlingpublishing.com
Agent: John Willig, 609-698-7162, wlitagent@msn.com
Book website: https://www.quartoknows.com/books/9781781315934/Blueprint-for-a-Battlestar.html
Book blog: http://www.pylebooks.com/blog

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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.

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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.