Has your life been interesting enough to write a book?

Not sure it's worth a book but 40 years in Las Vegas meant I came across some strange characters. In the 70's and 80s there was a distinct lack of concern about legal niceties when it came to business. There were gun runners, illegal bookies, bagmen for politicians, and even a bag man for the Cuban military. Nothing was out of bounds; there was even an attempt to start a mafia owned fast food franchise, called The Food Factory (food was inedible). About the only careers which were universally despised was either FBI agent or working for the Justice Department.

One more than one occasion I was offered a position in a company whose business plan was of dubious legal standing. I declined the offers, though I had to admit I was tempted. I was also justified, since on a particularly sad occasion another programmer who took the same kind of offer (but different company) was murdered when he agreed to testify against his employers.

A few entertaining stories about the old days in Vegas but not enough to fill a book, much less make a movie out of it. If you want to see how it was back then, watch a movie called "Casino" with Robert DeNiro. Virtually every scene in the movie was based on real life in Las Vegas. Only the names were changed, not that it protected the guilty. And they were all guilty from US senator on down the line to the idiots setting off bombs in restaurants (that scene in the movie was true also, happened at Tony Roma's rib place, good place to eat out).
 

helenbacque said:
A factual autobiography would be a nice gift for your descendants if it was written for the right reasons. A biased account of only your side of unfortunate incidents might do more harm than good.
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Sometimes, though, a person's facts can also be misleading. I think it's a good idea to have the person's perspective on things good and bad as well as facts. Like sorting them both out. JMO.
 
It takes a lot to put yourself out there, if you publish your book , be aware there will be a lot of different people with a different agenda.
But I encourage everyone to set down and write out your life story, to just save it , for your family , if you can I suggest you video tape it with your phone.
 
This book that was written about the Columbine tragedy was not written about me , but I remember having to sign a paper that said they could use any quote I would ever give if ever asked for the book. I have read the book and nothing I ever spoke to the people who asked these questions that were involved with the book were in the book although many statements were very similar to what I said from others.
 
Pecos said:
Some parts of mine have been very interesting, but other things that were profoundly interesting to me can put other people to sleep. I mean, LOL nobody wants to read about being inside a radar system with test probes trying to figure out why it isn't cooperating.
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That reminds me of "The Martian," you may have read the book or seen the movie -- it started as a blog, just someone imagining he was an astronaut. I loved the minute by minute, day to day details of the story and your radar system problem sounds like it might be equally interesting.
 
Lara said:
@Bretrick asked: Has Your Life Been Interesting Enough to Write a Book?

Yes but only captivating and inspiring to Christian believers and to those open to believing.
Though nauseating and objectionable to the rest...which online seems to be the majority.
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JimBob1952 said:
That's not how I see it. You're a bright light here and I think most SFers would agree, even if they don't share your religious convictions.
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palides2021 said:
Writers typically write for a niche market anyway, so if your writing is Christian, why hide it "under a bushel?" Go for it
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Ditto.......
 
Irwin said:
It was a dark and stormy night. Irwin drank eight or nine vodka and orange juices and then ate several chocolate chip cookies, two truffles, and about a pound of granola mix. He felt sick to his stomach, but wanted more. The world is in tatters, he thought, so why not?
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Chapter 2

While Irwin suffered with the tummy ache in Colorado, Della lay awake in Ohio, unable to sleep for hunger. She was on day 42 of her New Year's resolution diet and could think of nothing but Frishes' pancakes. "Why?" she asked herself, "Why?"

"Oh that's right," she remembered, "I'm trying to lose weight so my 140+ blood pressure will go down."

Della got out of bed and took her blood pressure for the first time in weeks. It was 192.

On this bright and sunny morning she went to Frishes and ate pancakes. I'm going to have a stroke anyway, she thought, so why not?
 
Della said:
Chapter 2

While Irwin suffered with the tummy ache in Colorado, Della lay awake in Ohio, unable to sleep for hunger. She was on day 42 of her New Year's resolution diet and could think of nothing but Frishes' pancakes. "Why?" she asked herself, "Why?"

"Oh that's right," she remembered, "I'm trying to lose weight so my 140+ blood pressure will go down."

Della got out of bed and took her blood pressure for the first time in weeks. It was 192.

On this bright and sunny morning she went to Frishes and ate pancakes. I'm going to have a stroke anyway, she thought, so why not?
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Chapter 3

As Palides sat across from Della at Frishes, noticing how much she was enjoying the gooey syrup and whipped cream on her pancakes, she went ahead and ordered the same. She hadn't eaten pancakes in ages, and it was her birthday, so why not enjoy the decadent sweetness?

As the waitress brought her order, Palides smiled and thanked her. "You don't know what this means to me! It's my birthday! I haven't eaten pancakes in ages, but I wanted to treat myself today."

"You only live once!" the waitress said and left.

Della looked over at Palides and her plate and smiled, nodding knowingly. "Good choice! Happy Birthday!"

That's when Irwin walked in with his hangover and stumbled into a seat. "Coffee please," he said to the waitress. He was to meet someone named John who had made $15,000 from writing a paragraph. He wanted to share with him the "It was a dark and stormy night" story he had written. Will it pass his judgment?


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PS I liked what Irwin and Della did, and added my own two bits. Let's keep this going (I hope I haven't offended anyone, but writing a story can be fun!)
 
palides2021 said:
Chapter 3

As Palides sat across from Della at Frishes, noticing how much she was enjoying the gooey syrup and whipped cream on her pancakes, she went ahead and ordered the same. She hadn't eaten pancakes in ages, and it was her birthday, so why not enjoy the decadent sweetness?

As the waitress brought her order, Palides smiled and thanked her. "You don't know what this means to me! It's my birthday! I haven't eaten pancakes in ages, but I wanted to treat myself today."

"You only live once!" the waitress said and left.

Della looked over at Palides and her plate and smiled, nodding knowingly. "Good choice! Happy Birthday!"

That's when Irwin walked in with his hangover and stumbled into a seat. "Coffee please," he said to the waitress. He was to meet someone named John who had made $15,000 from writing a paragraph. He wanted to share with him the "It was a dark and stormy night" story he had written. Will it pass his judgment?


--------
PS I liked what Irwin and Della did, and added my own two bits. Let's keep this going (I hope I haven't offended anyone, but writing a story can be fun!)
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John walked in with his 2nd wife, and girlfriend, and set over at the table next to Irwins, the waiter came over asked john, where his wife was , John being a mormon, said she's home babysetting my 23 kids, John picked the water glass up off the table and poured a little on the waiters head, because he had just passed out on the floor, from what John had said.
 
Made the mayor mad at me tonight , he was on another fourm, all I did was asked him when we were going to get together ,and have some more moonshine together , of course I have never met him, how can someone get mad at a simple question. I ran my cat for County commissioner one time now that got people talking, we put out posters and everything, he got a lot of votes, we went off and left the cat at home, he wanted to stay home , we had some one watch him, he was a smart cat, anyway a few days later I received a phone call john , your cat Pumkin has been assassinated, I said , what?, the caller said someone had posion pumkin with rat poison, never caught the person.
 
There are all kinds of statistics bouncing around out there, but generally speaking, most self-published authors will likely sell around 250 books or less. A few years ago, the industry was buzzing when statistics revealed that the average self-published author earns less than $500 from her books. I expect its more like , if you don't know how to market yourself , you will sell very few, it depends on a lot of stuff, I have been lucky, I have sold few more copies than most people,but I have made money from writing in other ways, also I don't have to depend on any money from my book. if you think I'm going to make a fortune off my book, your mistaken, I make 39 cents off the ebook, and $2.50 of the paperback, but please don't let this stop you from writing, writing is a gift that every person has.
 
Marketing is the key to e-book sales. There is no quality control for Amazon e-books. It will allow anyone to publish almost anything, and there is no charge to do it. This has resulted in a massive amount of garbage. You could write the greatest book in the world, and it would be so buried that only your friends could find it. Books are listed according to sales rank. So, you have to have pretty good sales to be seen.

A niche market helps. If you have something on a subject with little competition, it's easier to get a good ranking. But, a novel or autobiography is going to be tough. Belonging to a forum and putting a link to the book in your signature helps. If people like you, they may check it out. Giving away free copies to gain reviews and sales rank can help. Amazon allows that for a 2 week period every six months.

The sad truth is that the cream doesn't always rise to the top. As John wrote, you aren't likely to make a fortune. But, even just a couple nice reviews are good for the ego.
 

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