Tortoises of the World
TORTOISES OF THE WORLD:
GIANTS TO DWARFS
George R. Zug and Devin A. Reese (NASW member)
Johns Hopkins University Press, April 23, 2024
Hardcover $49.95, eBook $49.95
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1421448350
eBook ISBN: 978-1421448367
Reese reports:
I became enraptured with tortoises as a child. This book has been waiting to come to life for a long time. It’s the first scholarly book to cover the entire biology of tortoises. While other books discuss turtles broadly, this book focuses on tortoises specifically. Tortoises belong to one unique family – the Testudinidae. They stand out as entirely terrestrial against the backdrop of the several hundred aquatic and semi-aquatic turtles.
One day, my Smithsonian colleague Dr. George R. Zug, Emeritus herpetologist, approached me in the hallway and asked, “Do you want to write a book on tortoises with me?” I immediately said “YES!” Our vision was to leverage his vast research experience with my decades of popular science writing grounded in modest herpetology experience.
Devin A. Reese
It turned out to be a great partnership. George and I shared our ideas about the content of the book back and forth, resulting in an agreed-upon outline of chapters. We split up the writing of the first few chapters, swapping our drafts to suggest changes to each other’s work. George pitched it to one press that rejected our proposal but suggested an alternative. Johns Hopkins University Press accepted it with a lead-time of eight months to turn in a draft, and off we went.
Writing the chapters was rewarding and fun. George had deep knowledge of foundational literature, and I spent lots of time chasing down recently published studies. George hired an illustrator to create drawings for the book, and together we researched photos for color plates. Our collaboration was graced with occasional tea dates on my porch. The face-to-face conversations proved valuable for harmonizing our perspectives on particular aspects.
My advice to aspiring book authors is to establish a firm schedule (which George did) for drafting chapters, get a coauthor if possible for accountability, and get your book out of your head onto paper. Many a proposed book languishes as authors aim for a perfect first draft, instead of trusting that the reviewing and editing process will polish it.
Contact info:
- Devin Reese: 703 594-9090; devinareese@gmail.com, https://devinareese.contently.com/
X (Twitter): @Devinreese7
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-reese-9678393/ - Book: Tortoises of the World: Giants to Dwarfs
- Publicist: Fajr Abdul Azeez, fabdula6@jhu.edu
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Banner image adapted from original photo by Devin A. Reese.
