Am I able to propose a research article for myself to write? Can I get permission to write one? How do people get access to that forum? I have writing experience, have been published online before multiple times, and am a journalism major. I want to write a research article/care on starfish (something I wish I had when I was researching starfish) all in one place.
@Jay Hemdal @revhtree @fishguy242 #fishmedic Obviously this isn’t a fish question but I do know some of you are moderators and article contributors etc. and I want to get your attention and not have it get lost in all the other posts.
I can't speak to the needs/requirements of R2R, but there are a couple of things to watch out for:
1) Overextrapolation from other sources: The prime example of this is the "76 day fallow period for ich". Somebody read a paper where the researcher found a few ich tomonts remained active after that period if held at low temperatures in xeric culture. That was then extrapolated and is now considered dogma for home aquariums.
2) Drawing conclusions from a limited data set: I will sometimes write up a "case history" about an unusual disease issue, but I generally find it more accurate to write on topics that I have extensive experience with. There is one very well known marine aquarium "expert" who writes about fish he has never actually kept. While he is pretty good at citing his sources, it still makes it seem like he has kept every fish out there.
Here is a section from my Aquarium Careers book on writing. It is mostly geared towards writing for money though:
Writing:
Obviously as you can see by reading this book, another part time venture I have been involved with is writing. I have always found writing to be an enjoyable, peaceful and rewarding pastime. Blog entries are perhaps the easiest material to produce, followed by monthly Internet magazine columns, articles for commercial aquarium magazines and then short books. More difficult to develop are popular press pieces, research papers and finally major books. I’ve written about 200 paid magazine articles since 1982. This equates to around $50,000 in current dollars, or only around $1500 per year. Typical payment for a 2500-word magazine article ranges from $250 to $600. If I factor in the time spent researching and writing a single article, I estimate that I earn less than $15 per hour writing at home in my spare time. I average only 3 to 5 articles per year, but there are more prolific part time writers in the field that produce upwards of 15 to 20 articles in a good year. Even still, few, if any aquarists can earn 100% of their living from freelance writing in this field – most of the best writers end up as the editors for hobbyist magazines or writers for popular press magazines.
There are some less tangible benefits to having your articles published – first is the real kick most people get when they first see their name printed as a byline for their article in a national aquarium magazine. While there are no real celebrities in this field, you may also find that after writing a few articles, when you attend aquarium conferences and the like, people may recognize your name. This may parlay itself into an invitation for a future speaking engagement (Yes, believe it or not, there is an “aquarium topic” speaker’s circuit!). If nothing else, this often serves as a way to open conversations with other aquarists at meetings like that. After that point, you may find that if your material is reasonably well written, and involves important topics, that it may enhance your resume – possibly to the point of being able to overcome some other shortcomings, such as a lack of a degree in the field of biology.
The first task that a prospective author needs to attend to is learning their market. I would caution people not to try writing a book as their first foray into technical writing – the time investment is too great and chance of acceptance is too small. Rather, subscribe to some hobbyist magazines you think you would like to write for, and go to the library and review past issues of those same magazines. Compare the topics of articles in their table of contents with ideas you think you might have enough experience to write about. You want to avoid writing material on a topic that was just covered by another author in the same magazine, just a few months ago. You also want to adapt your writing style to that which you see in the magazine – if you don’t, the editor will likely either reject the piece, or change it so that it does fit the magazine’s format. Your material does not have to be revolutionary, (although this does help) but must be well researched and presented in a fresh manner.
Two things seem consistent throughout the aquarium magazine publishing field; long delays in payment and low pay for any photographs and illustrations that accompany the article. Be aware of the contractual agreement you make when the magazine accepts your article, you want to retain the right to use the same idea in articles for other venues, and restrict their being able to use your illustrations for other uses without making additional payment to you.
Some aquarist/authors, who know their knowledge levels are not high enough to write technical pieces, write aquarium magazine articles on human-interest topics or humor pieces – many magazines will accept these as well, although the writer’s skill becomes much more important in these cases.
Just as the advent of digital photography has made everyone feel they are “professional photographers”, the Internet and computers has made everyone believe they are capable of being “professional writers”. The market is becoming flooded with “E-books” on aquarium subjects written by people unknown in the field. Some publishers no longer need to pay for content, as there are so many aspiring “authors” and “photographers” willing to supply content for free. The aquarium print book market has almost gone away. Herbert Axelrod reportedly bought a house with the proceeds of his first aquarium book in the 1950’s. With the proceeds of my last book (a basic aquarium book, a bit longer than Dr. Axelrod’s) I was just barely able to buy a new digital camera.
Jay
. good luck!
