

Ask HN:  Do this as a book? - Mz

So I wrote a post here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1823521 about how I got divorced without lawyering up.  At least a couple of people seem to think I should really turn this into a book.  Thought I would ask for feedback here.<p>1)  Any links, resources, advice on self-publishing a book/ebook: Pricing, how long should the book be, etc?<p>2) I really don't know anything about law.  (When I took statistics and environmental law, I blew off statistics the last half of the quarter to do more studying on law. End result:  Highest grade in the class for statistics and an A- in law. Phooey.)  So this would basically be a negotiation book (for lack of a better term).  What I know is how to deal effectively with people and with highly emotionally charged situations/problems.<p>Any thoughts?
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qohen
Re: eBook info: Try Google, using search terms: writing ebook

You'll get back links like this that might be helpful:

<http://www.copyblogger.com/write-and-sell-ebook/>

(which led to this: <http://www.copyblogger.com/create-ebooks-that-sell/> )

[http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/articles2/write_sell_ebooks...](http://www.internetbasedmoms.com/articles2/write_sell_ebooks.html)

The person behind that, btw, did this, which demonstrates, by example, how one
can sell an ebook...by selling an ebook about creating and selling ebooks:
<http://www.easyebookcreation.com/>

This is barely even scratching the surface of what's out there.

Re: writing a book based on dealing with a medical issue:
<http://www.infertilitydiet.com/story.html> \-- it's a regular book, but this
demonstrates that there's a market for such content. (The author also has a
line of books on getting published and the like, which is her main thing, if
you want to put out dead-tree books, which are described here:
<http://www.pbjpress.com/>).

Good luck.

~~~
Mz
Thanks. Much appreciated. I have been thinking this cannot be a 'how to' book,
more like 'slice of life' piece but with potential to be instructive in some
sense. Then it can be called "entertainment", I don't have to worry about
lawyers getting all up in arms about it or something, and provocative is good
when it is entertainment, not good when it is advice.

~~~
qohen
On the other hand, you could get a lawyer to vet it. Or, if you wanted to give
it more heft, get a divorce lawyer to write a chapter or two about the legal
ramifications or how a lawyer like him/her see these things. You could pay the
lawyer to do it or give a cut of the profits. In addition to allaying your
concerns, it might also let you charge more for the product.

I say all this because I'm not sure how easy it would be to sell a slice-of-
life type of eBook vs. How To's, which are all over the place.

Slice-of-life would work on a blog, though, which you could monetize with
Google Ads, ads from other networks, etc., but that's not likely to be as good
as an eBook.

Though you could also monetize it by being an affiliate for related eBooks and
regular books -- if you went to ClickBank.com you could probably find some
related eBooks that you could get commissions for and similarly with Amazon
w/r/t dead-tree books.

One other idea: start small with a short report -- say 10-20 pages -- and sell
that cheaply, say $9.99 or less--and see what happens. And/or give it away to
build up a mailing list, if you can think of how to sell related stuff. This
sort of thing is done a lot.

~~~
Mz
Thanks for all your feedback.

One of the reasons that I don't do well with "giving advice" is because other
people generally cannot do what I do and I get reactions like I am suggesting
they should walk on clouds, "What? Like it's hard?" (channeling Elle Woods).
Showing them the path I took and why I think it worked is more likely to be
instructive and helpful and inspiring.

In the original discussion, someone indicated that most divorces are done
without lawyers. To me, this is actually encouraging information. I know there
are do-it-yourself divorce books that address the legal side of it. I really
don't think the lack of a lawyer is what blows people's minds. I think the
"genuinely amicable" part is what blows people's minds.

Most people I talk to who are divorced have ugly nicknames for the ex and are
clearly still quite bitter and carrying substantial baggage. I have had a
number of experiences where women have tried to dump on me on the assumption
that I would agree with their deeply hostile view of men. It is an extremely
inaccurate assumption. So I think if there is anything instructive about my
experience, it is that putting down your baggage can be done and that life
generally goes smoother if you do that. This is not the type of information
that goes over well as "advice" because the people who most need it are in a
mental and emotional space where suggesting they let it go is generally
received as judgmental, unsupportive, not understanding and so on. But a good
story they can identify with and a good cry might help whereas a lecture tends
to just make their bitterness and baggage all the more intractable.

------
RiderOfGiraffes
Clickable: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=182352>

~~~
Mz
Thanks.

~~~
RiderOfGiraffes
You're welcome.

------
jmount
You may want a different title, "social engineering" usually refers to running
a con.

~~~
Mz
Thanks. I have edited the title, though I am open to other suggestions. (I
have no idea what a book would be called. But this did seem to get a big
response in the thread where I told the story.)

