Ruth Ann Nordin has had it with aspiring self-published authors who solicit money or free work from others to support their endeavor. Nordin writes on Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors: "There are two things the self-published author is entitled to: 1. To write the book they are most passionate about. 2. To publish that book when they want. That is it. You want someone to do the cover, editing, formatting, and some promotion? Find a publisher."
Science writing news
The IRS is unyielding when NASW members receive Science in Society Journalism Awards or other awards of money or property in recognition of their journalistic or literary achievements. Writers owe income taxes on their awards. From the Summer 2013 ScienceWriters.
Citing recent news stories based on flawed research, Andrew Gelman advises journalists to bullet-proof their reporting by seeking help from outside experts. "The point is not necessarily to interview an opponent of the study, or to present 'both sides' of the story, but rather to talk to independent scholars get their views and troubleshoot as much as possible. The experts might very well endorse the study, but even then they are likely to add more nuance and caveats."
The popular Discovery Channel programs and their imitators may do a disservice to conservation, John R. Platt writes for Scientific American: "Undoubtedly these programs will attract their usual massive ratings, but they may be guilty of the same kinds of film fakery that plagues many wildlife films, where the images on your screen don’t tell a full or even truthful story." More from David Shiffman and Brian Switek.
The winner of the 2013 Evert Clark/Seth Payne Award, an annual prize for young science journalists, is Megan Scudellari. Scudellari received the award and its $1,000 prize for “Never Say Die,” a story about aging and life extension in MATTER, a Kickstarter-funded online magazine; for an article in The Scientist about prosthetic limbs, “Missing Touch;” and for two shorter pieces.
You've heard of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and her theory of the five stages of grief? A TV reporter came up with something similar for long-form journalism and posted it on Facebook, where it was picked up by John L. Robinson and posted to his blog: "Depression – 'This is the worse thing anyone has ever written in the vast history of humanity. My keyboard should be smashed, my desk lit on fire and I should be sent to wander the wastelands doomed to never write again.'"
In her first On Science Blogs post in its new home at PLOS, Tabitha M. Powledge finds cause to hope that a turning point is near in the tortuous (and torturous) debate over climate change: "Does it seem to you that climate-change denialism is, ever so slowly, fading away? It does to me. I can’t defend that declaration with data, but in doing research for this post I was impressed with the quality and quantity of push-back from defenders of climate-change science."
"Cliches are shorthand for more complicated thoughts. And they’re comfortable, like broken-in slippers," Mike Feinsilber writes. They're also a writer's worst enemy — "They proclaim 'written by a tired writer who ain’t trying hard.'" Feinsilber offers some tips for putting a fresh twist on the stalest expression, like this Maureen Dowd line about New York's would-be mayor, the incorrigible Anthony Weiner: “Weiner continues to play the rebel without a pause.”
In Slate, Jon Entine critiques a first-person account in Elle of a woman's supposed allergies to genetically modified corn: "It represents a major setback for science journalism, and for consumers who rely on hugely popular lifestyle publications to make their way through complicated issues … Elle perpetuates a 'controversy' that just doesn’t exist in the mainstream science or medical communities." Follow-up.