Skeptic magazine and ABC-CLIO, Inc., one of the world's leading publishers of encyclopedias (Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Encyclopedia of Genocide, Encyclopedia of Folklore, etc.), will be collaborating on a major publishing project entitled SKEPTIC'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PSEUDOSCIENCE, a magisterial two-volume encyclopedia that will be marketed to public, university, college, and high school libraries throughout the United States, Canada, the U.K., and many other foreign countries. I will be the general editor, contributing an introduction to the encyclopedia and a couple of entries. Many of the entries will come straight from the pages of Skeptic magazine since we have already covered in considerable depth many of the topics that belong in an encyclopedia of pseudoscience. But there are many more topics that should be included that we have not published in Skeptic, and for these I would like to announce a call for entries.
Below please find a description of SKEPTIC'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PSEUDOSCIENCE along with a topic list from which you may be interested in writing an entry for us. Entries may range from 500 words to 5,000 words (depending on the scope, depth and importance of the subject), should include a short bibliography/reading list at the end, and be written in an objective, fair, and balanced "encyclopedic" style, yet still maintain the skeptical and scientific perspective we strive for in Skeptic where we attempt to be fair and balanced, yet not be afraid to explain or debunk when the explanation or debunking can be put forth with confidence and evidence.
There is not much money in the budget to pay contributors when there are so many entries, but it is an opportunity to participate in an important publishing project that will further advance the cause of science and skepticism. Contributors will be paid $150.00 each. I just participated in a publishing project similar to this--an edited volume on the history of skepticism--for which we were each paid $150.00. I was happy to do it because I think it is important that we build a body of skeptical literature.
Please contact me via e-mail (skepticmag@aol.com) if you are interested in particating, and suggest the entry you would most like to write about. If you can provide a couple of topics in order of your preference, that might help me select between authors interested in the same subject. I am hoping that contributors can complete their entry by April/May, June at the latest. Please also suggest illustrations that would be most appropriate for your topic. ABC-CLIO has an art department that can help us track down the illustrations and permissions.
AUDIENCE: This encyclopedia will present a thorough, objective, and balanced analysis of the most prominent scientific and pseudoscientific controversies made in the name of science, written at a level for high school and college students conducting research in science and pseudoscience, the media looking for a balanced treatment of the subject, and the general public desiring a highly readable yet trustworthy resource to go to for the most reliable assessments of the most controversial and interesting mysteries involving our universe, our world, and ourselves. As the subjects span all manner of claims from around the world, audiences and markets from around the globe will be interesting in reading and references these volumes, and thus international distribution and translation rights will be high. An additional market that cries out for targeting of this encyclopedia is the media. Every newspaper, magazine, radio, and television producer and interviewer should have a copy of this encyclopedia on their shelf of reference works, right between the dictionaries and reference works on contacting experts.
SCOPE AND PURPOSE: This two-volume encyclopedia will encompass claims from all fields of science, pseudoscience, and the paranormal, and shall include both classic historical works and modern analyses by the leading experts in the world who specialize in pseudoscience and the paranormal. The encyclopedia will be heavily illustrated (and these subjects lend themselves to both historical and contemporary images) and each entry will include a respectable bibliography of the best books on that subject from both the skeptics' and the believers' perspective, allowing readers to conduct additional research on their own after reading what the encyclopedia's expert author has had to say on the subject.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS SUGGESTIONS NEEDED: We would like to include in this encyclopedia historical documents related to science and pseudoscience. For example, we will be including the famous "Report of the Commissioners Charged by the King to Examine Animal Magnetism, Printed on the King's Order Number 4 in Paris From the Royal Printing House" by Benjamin Franklin and Lavoisier, translated into English and printed in Skeptic magazine. Please suggest other such historical documents.
(If you would like to suggest a topic not on this list please do so, although it may already be covered in the topics being chosen--but are not yet finalized--from Skeptic magazine.)
Anomolous Experience, the psychology of
Bermuda Triangle
Big Foot
Biorhythms
Channeling/Cold Reading
Conspiracy Theories
Creationism
Crop Circles
Cryptozoology
Cults/Brainwashing
The Curse of King Tut
Dowsing
Dreams/Nightmares
ESP
Faith Healing
Firewalking
Fung Shui
Handwriting Analysis
Health Frauds
Holistic/Alternative Medicine
Loch Ness Monster
Magnetic Therapy
Near-Death and Out-of-Body Experiences
Nostradamus
Parapsychology
Perpetual Motion Machines
Piltdown Man Hoax
Police Psychics
Polygraph/Lie Detection
Psychic Surgery
Reincarnation and Past Lives
UFOs
If you are interested in writing and entry on one of more of these topics please let me know by e-mail (skepticmag@aol.com) and I will send you additional details. Thank you for your consideration.