It’s hard sometimes to tell the full story about your research – its implications and impact, its repercussions and significance – in a single manuscript.

You may have lots more to say about your discipline or field, too. Why not write a book? It isn’t easy, but it is rewarding to tell your story to a broader audience than manuscript editors and journal subscribers. And while you’re not likely to get rich from your book, you may find that it presents you with new opportunities – to raise your profile, to collaborate, to develop a novel project.

If you’re a novice and feel overwhelmed by how to even start, though, don’t just give up. It’s not quite so daunting if you partner up with a professional writer.

And we’ve rounded up a collection of Q&As and other resources on how to write a variety of science books, including textbooks, fiction, children’s books and more.

Research is all about the ‘what-if’, but sometimes your creativity outstrips what’s actually possible, at least right now. Then you begin to edge into the realm of science fiction. Fabulous idea!  The genre, which includes vignettes, short stories, novellas and full-on novels, can be great fun in part because you have so much material. “You’re sitting on a gold mine of really interesting stories,” says Jennifer Rohn, a cell biologist at University College London and founder of LabLit.com, a website about portrayals of scientific research in fiction and other media. Here’s what researchers say about writing it, from gathering ideas to finding a publisher.

And you may know that we publish science fiction each week in Nature Futures.  Our chief subeditor, Colin Sullivan, who edits the section, explains how to get involved. Fear not and good luck!