From its inception to publication and beyond, the Super Cool Scientists project has been a learning experience for me. There have been challenges, smiles, and definitely a few favorite moments at each stage.

I’ve learned so much since coming up with the original idea to create a coloring book celebrating women in science to now having two published books and even a YouTube channel. Hindsight being 20/20, I can’t go back and change anything but I can share a few things in case they might help someone else. We don’t gatekeep here.

After making the decision to self-publish, I researched the specific platform (Amazon’s CreateSpace at the time, now called Kindle Direct Publishing) and started planning out my next steps. Before getting too in-depth into the process itself, I had to have a draft, which meant I needed to choose the people to feature and get them on board for a book that didn’t exist yet, find an illustrator and come to an agreement for work on the project, and conduct interviews of all the featured scientists and draft each person’s story, identifying key components to highlight in the illustrations.

2023 was a big year for us. We officially launched Super Cool Stories, LLC. We dedicated ourselves to more regular content here on this blog as well as on our social media channels. In honor of meeting these goals, here is a recap of some of the fun things we did last year (with links).

It was important for me to maintain a range of STEM career fields and a diverse group of individuals. My goal was to have anyone who picked up one the books be able to connect with a feature story—whether through the biography or the coloring page illustration.

So, how do you run a successful crowdfunding campaign? For the Super Cool Scientists project, success came from building and connecting with a community who also believed that representation matters in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. If people believe in something, they’ll be more likely to share and support.

Most often, I’m asked by people who already understand the fact that women and other underrepresented groups are sorely lacking in science and tech industries. This is even more true the more technical the fields get and the higher in leadership the roles are. In that case, the answer is meant to validate and support others and I’m grateful to be invited into the space to contribute to that larger community conversation around diversity in STEM.

One day, I was thinking about types of coloring books I’d be interested in getting for myself. As a former science major working in research programs, I searched online for “women in science coloring books” and you know what popped up? Nothing! I got ZERO results.