Why a survey? The science writing business is changing rapidly, and aspiring writers need some guideposts:
We writers, in case you didn’t know, are scratching our heads about what exactly to do next... Each writer has to figure out how best to use the twenty-four hours in a day.
It makes sense for writers to choose work that makes the most of their particular talents. And for writers who depend on writing to pay the mortgage, it also makes sense to write things that have a chance of being read, and perhaps (dare to dream) earn their creators some money. Ten years ago, the course for a writer wasn’t easy, but at least it had some clearly marked sign posts. You could try to break into newspapers or magazines with pitch letters and clip files. You could try to get a contract with a publishing house and write a book. Today, of course, people read in other ways as well. They read blogs, Facebook posts, Kindle editions, discussion threads, and on and on. The sign posts have been moved, turned upside down, or taken down altogether.
The writer is left to wander across a confusing landscape.
Not being one who makes a living by science writing (if you exclude writing technical papers and proposals), here's my baseless advice: writers probably have to do some of everything. If you want to write books, then you should be doing magazine articles to get your name out there, and you should have a blog to generate at least a minimal reader base that can spread the word about your books. To some degree, you probably have to be a jack-of-all-trades.
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