January 30, 2009
Writing Department
Situation Wanted - Author
Last week I blogged about Kip Esquire's pie-in-the-sky wish to be a reporter or a commentator for a news organization. Kip has no direct experience in that area, but as a blogger with a background in law and finance, he's not totally unqualified. I'm sure he realized it was unlikely anyone would make him an offer, but he put it out there anyway, just to see if anybody was interested.
That got me thinking about whether I have any similar aspirations that I could appeal to my readers to help me fulfill. It would have to be something that met all three of these criteria:
- It has to be a real stretch for me---Not just learning a new programming language or getting some better blog stats, but something really new and challenging.
- It can't be so much of a stretch that it's out of reach---I have no chance of becoming a rock star, movie director, Navy Seal, or stand-up comedian.
- It has to be something I can solicit on this blog---I'd like to be a celebrity photographer, and it's not impossible that I could become one, but no one's going to read about it here and offer me a job.
It took me a while, but I think I've figured it out: I want to write a book.
I'm not expecting anyone to offer me a book contract, but maybe someone out there has been thinking of writing a book and is looking for a co-author---someone to bounce ideas off of and take up some of the writing load---or maybe just a contributor to do some piece of the job.
Here's what I bring to the table:
- My writing experience consists of this blog, a few news articles at the Chi-Town Daily News, writing software documentation and proposals on my day job, and one professional sale to The VAX Professional magazine.
- I helped as a reader on Philipp Lenssen's 55 Ways to Have Fun With Google
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- I'm not a professional photographer, but I can take a decent photograph.
- I am a professional software developer.
- I'm half-way decent at doing research on the web.
- My education and job experience includes a bit of math, a bit of science, and a bit of engineering.
- I'm located in Chicago.
If you're a software developer who wants to write about some new technology, I could write or test the example code and help you write the book.
If you're a photographer thinking of writing a book about your craft, I know enough basic photography that I won't be totally lost helping you with the text surrounding your images.
If you're a scientist or engineer with a plan for a popular book (or maybe an introductory textbook), I can probably understand the subject well enough to help you explain it to people.
If you have an idea for a book about the war on drugs, civil liberties, free speech, criminal defense, eminent domain, free markets, or any other subject that interests me, I probably know a little of the background, and I'd love to help if I can.
If you want to write a book about something in Chicago, I'm right here in the Windy City, and I can take pictures.
So if you like the way I write on Windypundit, and if you've got an idea for a book, and if you think I could help you write it, my email address is in the sidebar. Think about it.
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