Jennifer Rohn, of University College London and Editor of LabLit, reviews three books in last week’s Nature: From bench to book (Nature 451, 128; 2008), addressing how web publishing and marketing might put more science into fiction and attract new readers. The books reviewed are: A Version of the Truth by Jennifer Kaufman & Karen Mack; The Gift: Discovery, Treachery & Revenge by Jon Kalb; and The Expeditions by Karl Iagnemma. Jennifer writes: “In a darwinian scrum for the attention of an increasingly distracted audience, authors who want to write fiction about science, but not straight science fiction, have their work cut out. The gates of publication are typically guarded by humanities graduates who may have no scientific affinity. To slip through the net, stories about scientists are often sugar-coated.” Only one of the three books reviewed, The Gift, is a serious work of “lab lit” — and given its “uncompromising approach to technical detail, it is probably no coincidence that the book is self-published”, writes Jennifer.

Jennifer herself is subjected to some Q and A on the Authors page in the same issue of the journal (Nature 451, ix; 2008) about her efforts to improve scientists’ fictional standing by her LabLit site “to generate interest in fictionalized science by shedding light on scientists in their natural habitat.”

“Q. Do you think publishers are prejudiced against publishing fiction about science?

A. Yes. Most publishers balk at the idea of publishing a fictional book about science. For example, the book I reviewed with the most scientific detail — The Gift by Jon Kalb, which delves into the ruthless world of hominid fossil hunting — was not traditionally published. It is available print-on-demand by the author. I think for this genre there is considerable opportunity for print-on-demand.”