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Ask HN: Do this as a book?

11 pointsMz11 comments

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.

1) Any links, resources, advice on self-publishing a book/ebook: Pricing, how long should the book be, etc?

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.

Any thoughts?

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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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

BTW, a few links related to divorce eBooks, which should give you an idea of what topics are being covered (including some of the details, which you can then add to your own, as appropriate). Also, you'll get a sense of pricing, length and the types of sales-pitches being used.

http://www.dealwithdivorce.com/steps-planning/divorce-secret...

http://howtodivorce.us/

http://www.divorcesupport.com/divorce/Divorce-eBooks-1762.ht...

Note that the last item on the list of divorce eBooks is this:

http://www.divorcesupport.com/divorce/Getting-Divorced-Witho... . It's 176 pages and priced at $25.95

Also, check this out: http://www.divorcesupport.com/divorce/Avoiding-Divorce-Litig...

That article links to this audio CD, "How to Divorce As Friends":

https://ssl.divorcesource.com/cgi-bin/cmt/book/cat19/divorce...

Clickable: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=182352

Thanks.

You're welcome.

You missed a 1 at the end: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1823521

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

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.)

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