Siri Scientific Press: A UK-based writer specialising in palaeontology
I’ve written this text as a abstract of how I established myself within the fossil publishing enterprise as a result of it could be of curiosity to a normal readership. First, slightly background about myself is so as. I’ve had a life-long curiosity in pure historical past, particularly entomology and arachnology. After finishing a BSc in Zoology (1994) I gained a PhD in fossils preserved in amber (1999). I did a one-and-a-half-year stint in a curatorial function at a college museum, adopted by 4 and a half years of funded post-doctoral analysis. Following a brief interval of unemployment, I used to be supplied a short-term post-doc within the USA. Nevertheless, previous to taking on this place, I realised that there was way more to life than worrying about journal affect elements and the place my subsequent grant would possibly come from. I additionally discovered a number of the politics of academia significantly unpleasant and so determined to ‘hand over’ science, though this was simpler stated than finished.
I disposed of all my worldly possessions, aside from (unusually sufficient) my amber books, analysis papers and my laptop computer, then moved to West Africa, the place I discovered myself with numerous free time. I saved myself busy wandering across the forests, photographing animals (primarily spiders and bugs) and vegetation, along with recording area observations and accumulating ecological knowledge (I discovered it troublesome to not do science). I additionally wrote a ebook on the subject I had been researching for greater than a decade: Dominican Amber Spiders – a comparative palaeontological-neontological method to identification, faunistics, ecology and biogeography (Penney, 2008) – I’d had an ambition of writing a ebook on spiders because the age of round 16.
I contacted various literary brokers to attempt to get my ebook printed. All of them thought-about it too particular, so I attempted various educational presses instantly. One main college press despatched it out to reviewers and it acquired glorious suggestions recommending publication. Nonetheless, they determined it might not make sufficient revenue for them, so that they rejected it. That left two choices: vainness publishing or setting myself up as a writer and doing it myself. I opted for the latter and named my publishing enterprise after my daughter Siri, who had been born a number of months earlier. At that time, I didn’t have vital publishing aspirations. The books have been saved at my mom’s home and I despatched directions for distribution from Africa, which she very kindly did for me. Issues modified in February of 2009. I discovered myself again within the UK and unable to return to the African nation through which I had been residing for the previous few years. Actually, I had the shirt on my again, my 13-month-old daughter and my laptop computer, on which I had a few area guides to West African fauna and flora in preparation.
When time allowed, I accomplished these works and initiated a number of extra, together with an edited quantity on the Biodiversity of Fossils in Amber from the Main World Deposits (Penney, 2010). I used to be very fortunate in that main researchers across the globe agreed to contribute to this mission, regardless of it being printed by a brand new and impartial writer.
Equally, I conceived various concepts for a number of different volumes (together with a hardback monograph sequence) that required contributions from colleagues I knew personally. I needed to do a little bit of arm-bending to get what I wanted, however ultimately all these tasks got here collectively properly and resulted in printed volumes. I’m extraordinarily grateful for this early cooperation, as a result of it helped me set up a publishing presence, which I wanted to draw different authors, who I didn’t know personally. The early monographs embody: Quantity 1: Fossil Spiders: the evolutionary historical past of a mega-diverse order (Penney and Selden, 2011); Quantity 2: Fossil Arachnids (Dunlop and Penney, 2012); and Quantity three: Fossil Bugs of the Purbeck Limestone Group of Southern England: palaeoentomology from the daybreak of the Cretaceous (Coram and Jepson, 2012).
The goal of the monograph sequence is to publish comparatively quick print runs (about 200 to 500 copies) of semi/specialised subjects geared toward forming primary reference works for teachers, whereas additionally being accessible to the educated layperson. Such volumes additionally present a wonderful alternative for early stage researchers, who would profit immensely by having a printed quantity on their CV, significantly within the present extremely aggressive educational setting. Extra palaeontology volumes within the Monograph Collection embody: Quantity 6: Fossil Seahorses and Different Biota from the Tunjice Konservat-Lagerstätte, Slovenia (Žalohar and Hitij, 2014); Quantity 7: British Polacanthid Dinosaurs (Blows, 2015); and Quantity eight: Ichthyosaurs from the Early Jurassic of Britain (Wheedon and Chapman, in preparation).
Along with the monographs, there are volumes that are extra normal of their scope, together with household pleasant guides to particular localities. These embody: Fossils of the Whitby Coast – a photographic information (Lomax, 2011); Fixing the Thriller of the First Animals on Land – the fossils of Blackberry Hill (Gass, 2015); and our newest title, A Information to Fossil Gathering in England and Wales (Snowball and Chapman, 2017, which was reviewed in Problem 49 of Deposits), with a number of others presently in preparation.
I’m now on the stage the place I now not must contact researchers providing to publish their work (though I nonetheless do that sometimes). Slightly, I get contacted by authors asking me if I might be fascinated by publishing their work. I’ve now printed virtually 40 volumes, with an emphasis primarily on palaeontology (but additionally entomology and different areas of Pure Historical past) and have sufficient works within the pipeline to maintain a gradual output; and I’ve little doubt that I’ll obtain extra gives of labor to maintain up this momentum. Many of the authors are well-respected teachers at excessive profile establishments from across the globe. Certainly, I’ve had contributing authors from the UK, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Austria, The Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Canada, USA, Australia, South Africa, Madagascar and the Lebanon.
Our brand, which seems on titles from 2012 onwards, incorporates a line drawing of a fossil insect wing belonging to the lacewing species Sympherobius siriae (Neuroptera: Hemerobiidae) in Eocene Baltic amber, which I described in 2010 and can also be named after my daughter. This paper was co-authored with my colleague Dr James E Jepson, an skilled on Neuroptera and fossil bugs preserved in rock. Subsequently, we collaborated on a ebook mission: Fossil Bugs – an introduction to palaeoentomology (Penney and Jepson, 2014) through which his experience on rock preservation was mixed with mine on amber preservation and this quantity included the primary vital palaeo-artistic representations (by Richard Bizley – see The inventive reconstruction of palaeoenvironments: a singular fusion of science and artwork in Problem 33 of Deposits) of fossil habitats from the key geological durations to deal with the insect parts of the palaeoecosystems.
Extra volumes about fossils preserved in amber (along with these already talked about) embody: Fossils in Amber – outstanding snapshots of prehistoric life (Penney and Inexperienced, 2011); Amber Palaeobiology – analysis developments and views for the 21st century (Penney, 2016); and Inclusions in Baltic Amber (Gröhn, in preparation).
After all, a palaeontology publishing catalogue couldn’t be full with no quantity or two on that almost all enigmatic group of fossil arthropods, the trilobites. So far, we’ve got two completed volumes: Trilobites of the World – an atlas of 1000 images (Lawrence and Stammers, 2014); Ordovician Trilobites of Southern Ontario, Canada and the Surrounding Area (Isotalo, 2015), and several other extra in preparation, together with British Trilobites (Kennedy and Stammers, in preparation).
Because the outset, two of my prime targets have been to assist carry latest educational advances in palaeontology ‘to the lots’ and hopefully to encourage future generations of palaeontologists. I’m more than happy to have printed three books specifically, which can assist obtain the second purpose. These are: Dinosaurs of the British Isles (Lomax, 2014); So that you need to be a Palaeontologist? – sensible recommendation for fossil fanatics of all ages (Penney, 2016); A Information to Fossil Gathering in England and Wales (Snowball and Chapman, 2017). A snippet from a assessment of the dinosaur ebook, printed within the Proceedings of the Geologists’ Affiliation (2014), demonstrates success in attaining each the targets: referred to above
“…a really encyclopaedic protection of all British dinosaur species. It’s completely updated on the taxomony of the fabric, with all the brand new names lately launched for British ornithischians included. Search as I’d, I discovered no omissions. This can be a thorough, scholarly work introduced in a format accessible to everybody. Each dinosaur employee on this planet ought to have a replica.”
After all, it was additionally based mostly on this ebook that the writer and frequent contributor to Deposits, Dean Lomax, ended up co-presenting the favored two-part TV documentary, Dinosaur Britain.
Publishing books has not been a straightforward area through which to generate a presence. There’s a appreciable quantity of what I name ‘publishing snobbery’. Some teachers flip their nostril up on the thought of publishing with a small impartial, quite than with a mainstream educational writer. Nevertheless, I do marvel concerning the justification for this. The prime concern of mainstream publishers is making revenue. Sadly, this may end up in decrease high quality manufacturing, for instance, because of utilizing print-on-demand publishing. As well as, a excessive profile identify doesn’t at all times equate to correct or up-to-date content material, and even good modifying for consistency and magnificence. (I’ve reviewed many educational works from such publishers over the previous couple of years and a few have been diabolical.) In some instances with bigger publishers, it may take a number of years from submission of recordsdata to publication of the ultimate work. I delight myself in a fast turnaround and in sustaining a top quality, when it comes to each content material and manufacturing. That my authors are pleased with progress and the ultimate product is essential to me. Additionally, it’s simply as straightforward to buy a Siri Scientific Press ebook from wherever on this planet, with the clicking of a single button, as it’s for a ebook from a extra established writer. Certainly, the standard of Siri Scientific Press titles is mirrored within the glorious critiques they obtain, along with correspondence I obtain from the authors. Some examples embody:
“Siri Scientific Press (SSP) has rapidly made a reputation for itself in producing high-quality scientific books and monographs that take care of pure historical past. Admitted, SSP has a distinct segment product, however one which they excel at producing.” Prof Thomas Hegna, Western Illinois College, USA [academic reviewer].
“It is likely one of the most fascinating items of writing I’ve ever seen in any educational ebook, not only a paleontological one; it’s slightly out-there at instances, however stick round for the final paragraph — that’s the place all of it comes collectively.” Prof Mike Meyer, Bucknell College, USA [academic reviewer].
“Modifying of Biodiversity of Fossils in Amber was among the finest concepts in final decade.” Christel Hoffeins, Germany [Secretary of the Amber Council, Germany].
“Your layouts are lovely! The pictures look even sharper and with extra color than they seem on my laptop computer. I’m extraordinarily pleased together with your outcomes and with the response others have after they see the ebook. I can’t thanks sufficient for offering an avenue for getting out essential books that in any other case might not have materialized.” Kenneth Chris]Gass, USA.
My publishing ethos additionally differs from that of the mainstream publishers. I’m pleased to supply titles that I feel are fascinating, even when they’re unlikely to make a revenue. I depend on titles that do properly to offset the losses from these that don’t accomplish that properly and, aside from taking a meagre residing allowance, all earnings are channelled again into producing new titles. As well as, I contemplate the non-public method essential and assist to assist SSP authors with their very own palaeontology associated actions every time I can.
Regardless of the small nature of Siri Scientific Press relative to the bigger publishers, SSP usually sponsors scientific conferences. In recent times, the next palaeontology conferences have been supported: Progressive Palaeontology (UK 2013, 2016), Palaeontological Affiliation Annual Assembly (Switzerland 2013, UK 2014, 2015, France 2016), the 4th Worldwide Palaeontological Congress (Argentina 2014) and the seventh Worldwide Convention on Fossil Bugs, Arthropods and Amber (UK 2016). I additionally attend a few of these occasions with a commerce stand.
Whereas growing Siri Scientific Press, I’ve maintained an instructional presence as an Honorary Lecturer on the College of Manchester. Though I don’t get a wage, I’ve loved whole educational freedom because of not being tied to particular grants. Along with my extra normal analysis output, I’ve been in a position to collaborate in multidisciplinary cutting-edge analysis utilizing the newest methods, similar to X-ray computed tomography and subsequent era DNA sequencing, mentioned at size within the Amber Palaeobiology ebook (Penney, 2016). My educational presence is critical sufficient that I nonetheless get invited to provide keynote lectures at conferences, and final 12 months I used to be awarded the next doctorate (DSc) based mostly on my 23 years of analysis output, so I should be doing one thing proper.
In abstract, I’m very pleased with my present association, however, on condition that I do completely all the things in reference to the publishing enterprise (aside from operating the print presses), as this continues to develop, my time accessible for my very own analysis actions is dwindling. After I look again at once I was in full-time academia and my grant was coming to an finish, I recall questioning to myself what else it could be doable for me to do to make a residing. I used to be satisfied that every one I knew about was fossil spiders and, because of this, wouldn’t be capable to do the rest. Nevertheless, I did have transferable abilities that I had picked up alongside the best way, even when I used to be unaware of them. I’ve been in a position to put these to good use, however it has been a steep studying curve. There’s something to be stated concerning the safety of a daily wage on the finish of every month. Nevertheless, there may be additionally quite a lot of satisfaction in increase one thing from scratch and in understanding that folks everywhere in the world derive enjoyment from what I’m doing and that so many essential educational libraries maintain copies of my books.
I’m very pleased with the best way SSP is progressing and it might be remiss of me to not point out that I might be pleased to listen to from any potential new authors, who could also be in search of aspecialist palaeontological writer (e-mail: books@siriscientificpress.co.uk). You’ll find out extra details about any of the above titles, along with new titles in preparation and skim impartial critiques, utilizing the Siri Scientific Press web site (www.siriscientificpress.co.uk).
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