I want to write a -really- polarizing / antagonizing book

[fastlanedoll]

In short, it is pretty much an attack (or uncovering of the vices, if you will) of a profession I feel really strongly about.
Lest you think I'm writing this to be negative or trying to polarizing for the sake of being polarizing, I'm not.
If taken seriously, it could possibly be a seed to propel a change in the industry (okok, I sound like I have delusions of grandeur here), but a lot of ppl may find it offensive due to its negative overtones (even though I'm trying to come across in a matter-of-fact way).
Nothing in it will be exaggerated or made up, but I feel light should be brought to this issue.

I've done a quick search and no-one seems to have written anything like this before.
Is it even possible to get something like this published?
Will it come across as discriminatory / degrading?
I don't plan to use my real name to publish (duh), but could it possible be traced back to me and end in my untimely death? (lol)

Would you write something like this?

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[RazorCut]

I don't plan to use my real name to publish (duh), but could it possible be traced back to me and end in my untimely death? (lol)

Would you write something like this?

I wouldn't consider an untimely death that unlikely if I were you. Especially if you are attempting to bring down a highly lucrative industry (depending on how shady they are).

You don't have to look far back in history to see what can happen when the written word upsets the wrong community.

Salman Rushdie had death threats aimed at him including a fatwā calling for his assassination issued by Ayatollah Khomeini himself (the then leader of Iran). This was all over a work of fiction (Salman Rushdie is a novelist).

The risk to his life was so serious that the British government had to step in and put him under police protection and he went into hiding for quite some time.

You poke the bear at your own risk. What do you hope to achieve from your efforts?

 

[JAJT]

I don't plan to use my real name to publish (duh)

IMHO you're likely going to have a hard time gaining ANY credibility if people can't put a face to a name.

If you want to go the anonymous route, it would be better to team up with a reputable reporter and break the story/book through them. This way you can borrow the reporter's credibility by being their reputable anonymous source, do anonymous interviews, etc...

Otherwise the industry is going to go "we don't spend any time reading fake slander stories from ghosts, we're too busy helping people" (or whatever).

Whether or not you should write this, however, comes purely down to how strongly you feel about the need for this story to be told. A lot of people have become famous for disregarding their personal safety to get the word out there about this or that. To them - it wasn't a choice. It was their calling or mission or duty. If you could take or leave this story one way or the other, and you are risking your life over it - that sounds like you don't have the conviction to tell this story. Just being honest.

 

[Bekit]

It takes guts to do something like that. It reminds me of Upton Sinclair's book, The Jungle. It brought about a total transformation of the meat packing industry in the United States. The Jungle - Wikipedia

In today's world of interconnected everything, I would not think that publishing under a pseudonym would give you any protection at all.

Think about it.

In order to market your book, you're going to have to do book signings, podcast interviews, and other public appearances. So your voice and your face (two very compelling biometric data points) are going to be on display to anyone who wants to know. SOMEBODY is going to know how to get ahold of the "Real You," from your publisher to your Amazon account.

If this is a heavy-duty enough issue that people would want to kill you, I think I'd go the reporter route as well.

You know who would be good? The guy who broke the Theranos story. He's the kind of person who will follow up and ferret out the issue. John Carreyrou. Even he wasn't immune from being attacked viciously in the courts.

But - if nobody has the courage to "stir up the hornet's nest," then evil must inevitably go unchecked.

So if you do decide to go forward, I think you would have all our applause and admiration.

That's a choice only you can make.

 

[Kruiser]

But also make sure you aren't a whiny victim/crazy person. Most people I have met who want to "take down industries" and "expose the corruption in the system" are just that.

I'm not saying you are. I have no idea. But at least ask yourself the question.

 

[Kevin88660]

In short, it is pretty much an attack (or uncovering of the vices, if you will) of a profession I feel really strongly about.
Lest you think I'm writing this to be negative or trying to polarizing for the sake of being polarizing, I'm not.
If taken seriously, it could possibly be a seed to propel a change in the industry (okok, I sound like I have delusions of grandeur here), but a lot of ppl may find it offensive due to its negative overtones (even though I'm trying to come across in a matter-of-fact way).
Nothing in it will be exaggerated or made up, but I feel light should be brought to this issue.

I've done a quick search and no-one seems to have written anything like this before.
Is it even possible to get something like this published?
Will it come across as discriminatory / degrading?
I don't plan to use my real name to publish (duh), but could it possible be traced back to me and end in my untimely death? (lol)

Would you write something like this?

Not recommended at all.

Messing around with big boys will not be fun.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[fastlanedoll]

Thanks to all the responses.
I think I may just pass this off as a potential treasonous mistake.

 

[fastlanedoll]

EDIT: I'm not messing with any 'big boys'. This industry isn't particularly lucrative from an individual standpoint (at least they make less than me ), but it is large one. And like they say, there's power in numbers as well.

 

[Readerly]

There's a difference between writing something and publishing it. If you feel drawn to write your polemical expose, why not jump in with a draft? After you've actually written the thing, then you can decide if you want to share it--and in what way.

Stopping yourself from writing something you are interested in writing because of some hypothetical scenario in some faroff future sounds like, to use a favorite term here on the forum, action-faking.

 

[ChrisV]

Is it even possible to get something like this published?

Self publishing these days is soooo easy. You just write a Kindle book. Most people read on Kindle anyway.

In short, it is pretty much an attack (or uncovering of the vices, if you will) of a profession I feel really strongly about.

If taken seriously, it could possibly be a seed to propel a change in the industry (okok, I sound like I have delusions of grandeur here), but a lot of ppl may find it offensive due to its negative overtones (even though I'm trying to come across in a matter-of-fact way).
Nothing in it will be exaggerated or made up, but I feel light should be brought to this issue.

So do it. Criticism is absolutely essential to medical and scientific fields. If it's controversial, so what? Look up The Bell Curve controversy. It was controversial, but got people thinking.

I don't plan to use my real name to publish (duh), but could it possible be traced back to me and end in my untimely death? (lol)

Lol. I'd use my real name, but that's just me.

 

[Tourmaline]

When you are lying on your death bed, will you say "I am glad I never wrote that book", or, "I regret that I never wrote that book"?

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[ChrisV]

EDIT: I'm not messing with any 'big boys'. This industry isn't particularly lucrative from an individual standpoint (at least they make less than me ), but it is large one. And like they say, there's power in numbers as well.

Supplements have their uses. Sometimes their benefits are overblown, but there's a lot of good science behind certain supplements. And I don't think anyone in the supplement industry is going to kill you lol.

 

[fastlanedoll]

Supplements have their uses. Sometimes their benefits are overblown, but there's a lot of good science behind certain supplements. And I don't think anyone in the supplement industry is going to kill you lol.

Wasn't talking about supplements

 

[fastlanedoll]

Self publishing these days is soooo easy. You just write a Kindle book. Most people read on Kindle anyway.

Can they still trace you if you only write a kindle bookbook?

 

[Ismail941]

Man When I read this post, it reminded me Red Pill Matrix movie and Vendetta movie

The best thing about Polarizing / Antagonizing = It gets Attention in the marketplace and it will sell ultimately and eventually

 

[fastlanedoll]

Man When I read this post, it reminded me Red Pill Matrix movie and Vendetta movie

The best thing about Polarizing / Antagonizing = It gets Attention in the marketplace and it will sell ultimately and eventually

I don't want to be traced, then slaughtered (either overtly, or covertly), though.
Again, I'm not doing it for the sake of being antagonistic. But some truths need to be exposed.
I also have evidence that this field is detriment to the economy as it just sucks money without the same value of output compensated.

 

Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member: Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)

[Ismail941]

I don't want to be traced, then slaughtered (either overtly, or covertly), though.
Again, I'm not doing it for the sake of being antagonistic. But some truths need to be exposed.
I also have evidenced that this field is detriment to the economy as it just sucks money without the same value of output compensated.

Man I get you what you are saying

Before you do anything, think many times and talk to like minded people to reach a point so that you can make decision for yourself
Also it reminded me Ed Snowden - you know who left USA and ended up in Ecuador and Russia for Asylum

I think you should model, study and reverse engineer those people who did the similar what you want to achieve