Why write a book about dolphin intelligence? HINT: not to make money.

My book on dolphin intelligence was published this week, and I am pretty psyched about it. It was a labor of love that took over two years to go from idea to final product. Because I tackle the thorny issue of the science of dolphin intelligence, I have had a few (not too many) response to the book that were less than pleasant. While the overall response has been extremely positive, a couple people have said that I am promoting the idea that dolphins are ‘dumb’ to sell books and make money, which is wrong for two reasons: 1) the book in fact suggests that they are intelligent, and 2) I am not in this to sell books.

That’s right: I don’t expect to make money off of this book. Anyone familiar with publishing via an academic press will know what I’m talking about, but here are the details:

I was paid an advance to write the book by my publisher (I won’t disclose the exact amount since I am not sure if this is kosher). It was, by all accounts, a very modest advance. In most cases, total sales over the lifetime of the book are not enough for the author to earn royalties in addition to what they receive on their advance (7 out of 10 books do not earn back their advance). So unless Oprah buys a million copies of the book to give out to her followers, the advance is very likely the only money I will see.

But I had to invest in a few things in order to write the book – which came out of my advance. This includes a huge stack of science books on the topics I was researching (which is where most of the money went), as well as some office and web expenses here and there. After deducting the expenses from the advance, I was left with less than half of what I started with. Now I also need to pay taxes on this money, which took away a third of what was left.

So if we now calculate how much money I netted per hour for writing this book (which I did part time over the course of two years), this is what we end up with:  95 cents an hour. That is approximately 8 times less than the US minimum wage.

In other words, I did not write this book to make money. I knew full well what I was getting into, and ‘getting rich’ off of publishing an academic book about dolphin cognition was an obvious impossibility. So why bother spending so much of my life writing this book?

It’s not for political reasons. I’m not fighting for a cause. As I state in the book, I do not adopt an advocacy position when talking about the science. I am simply providing an impartial overview of the scientific literature – so there was no pro- or anti-whatever reason that inspired me to write it.

The reason I wrote it was simple: I love science. I love animal cognition science in particular. I love thinking about it, I love talking about it, and I love writing about it. I love engaging the public in discussions about animal cognition. I would love it if people who also enjoyed these topics were to read the book and learn something they didn’t know. I love the possibility that people will read it and challenge their own ideas about certain topics (especially some of the more fanciful ideas about dolphin super-intelligence), and want to dive deeper into what the science says, and how scientists go about studying animal minds.

I am also not that keen on things like ‘fame’ or ‘notoriety’ – in fact, I am loathe to talk with the press/media about the book since many people are twisting what I say in the book to accommodate sensationalistic headlines. I’d rather let the book speak for itself, and spend my time drinking coffee in the garden or watching Battlestar Galactica.

I wrote the book because I love the topic. It’s as simple as that. And as a bibliophile with more books in my house than is healthy for me (or that I could possibly read before I die), I am very excited to see a book spine sticking out of my bookshelf with my very own name printed on it.

If you love science, animal cognition, or the topic of dolphin intelligence, I am hoping you will enjoy reading the book. I know that I enjoyed writing it – even if it is a silly way to make a living.