Post: #26

(10-05-2012 02:34 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  Unfortunately, many of the books recommended are not available on the kindle. The exile, and off the rails I really want to read. Kindle has spoiled me with instant gratification, not sure I can order and read a paperback anymore lol.

Pretty sure you can get Off the Rails on your Kindle with a bit of work; see my above post.

Post: #27

"Barbedwire & Babushkas" is an excellent book. Two guys decide to kayak the length of the Amur River from source to Ocean. There's no sex but for a comical insight into the Russian Far East it's impossible to beat. One of my all time favorite travel books.

Just started reading Neil Skywalker's book. Why did he call it 'around the world in 80 bangs' and not in '80 Lays'. It seems the obvious title to play on the Jules Verne title. Fair play to him because despite what we all say in the FSU threads,Neil seemed to cutting a swathe through the women there. One minute he's in a club and approaches a girl and a couple of sentences later he's fcuking her up the bum in a suburban apartment.

Post: #28

(10-05-2012 03:59 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:  "Barbedwire & Babushkas" is an excellent book. Two guys decide to kayak the length of the Amur River from source to Ocean. There's no sex but for a comical insight into the Russian Far East it's impossible to beat. One of my all time favorite travel books.

Just started reading Neil Skywalker's book. Why did he call it 'around the world in 80 bangs' and not in '80 Lays'. It seems the obvious title to play on the Jules Verne title. Fair play to him because despite what we all say in the FSU threads,Neil seemed to cutting a swathe through the women there. One minute he's in a club and approaches a girl and a couple of sentences later he's fcuking her up the bum in a suburban apartment.

Hahaha, well it took more then a few sentences to fuck her up the bum. This girl was quite the pain in the ass haha. But yeah, silly old beta me went home with three girls 10 years younger than me that night.
I named the book Around the world in 80 girls because I heard some guy say it to me in Hong Kong ( you read it later) and it was kind of an aha moment. It does sound a lot catchier then bangs or lays and i'm aiming for the mainstream travelers( beta crowd) and manosphere buyers. (actually there is a book called Around the world in 80 lays and it's a book about prostitutes.

I'm definitely reading that book about Far East Russia which I consider the best part. I'm planning to do the BAM train line one day which I was told is like going back in time for 40 years and returning to Soviet Russia. Also the most dangerous part because of all the Gopniks there. Good thing i'm buffing up in the gym now.

This is already one of my favorite threads now. I can't to start reading all the mentioned books here.

Post: #29

I stopped reading Black Passenger Yellow Cab about 17% of the way through. IMO, it is not nearly on the level of English Teacher X, Roosh or Naughty Nomads book. It is basically only about the sex. Really no character development at all, I don't get a feel for where he is, or even what city he is in. As in Vodkaberg, I really felt a connection with Slappy and some of the other characters. As well as getting a good description and feel for the bars/clubs and city itself. In BPYC half of the time I don't know if he is in Kobe or Osaka, and he barely describes either place at all. I feel like I could show up in Vodkaberg and already know what it is like, but not at all with the places in BPYC. I think he has mentioned his roommate one time, and other than that, there really are no characters in the book besides the girls. Maybe I'll go back and give it a second chance, but it really let me down and didn't hold my interest at all.

On a brighter side, I just started Neil's book, and so far I am really enjoying it. I don't know how it was before being edited, but with the little I've read so far, it seems to be written pretty well. You would have no idea that English is his second language. Looking forward to reading this over the next week or two.

Post: #30

At which part of the book are you now?

Post: #31

(10-05-2012 04:24 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:  

(10-05-2012 03:59 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:  "Barbedwire & Babushkas" is an excellent book. Two guys decide to kayak the length of the Amur River from source to Ocean. There's no sex but for a comical insight into the Russian Far East it's impossible to beat. One of my all time favorite travel books.

Just started reading Neil Skywalker's book. Why did he call it 'around the world in 80 bangs' and not in '80 Lays'. It seems the obvious title to play on the Jules Verne title. Fair play to him because despite what we all say in the FSU threads,Neil seemed to cutting a swathe through the women there. One minute he's in a club and approaches a girl and a couple of sentences later he's fcuking her up the bum in a suburban apartment.

Hahaha, well it took more then a few sentences to fuck her up the bum. This girl was quite the pain in the ass haha. But yeah, silly old beta me went home with three girls 10 years younger than me that night.
I named the book Around the world in 80 girls because I heard some guy say it to me in Hong Kong ( you read it later) and it was kind of an aha moment. It does sound a lot catchier then bangs or lays and i'm aiming for the mainstream travelers( beta crowd) and manosphere buyers. (actually there is a book called Around the world in 80 lays and it's a book about prostitutes.

I'm definitely reading that book about Far East Russia which I consider the best part. I'm planning to do the BAM train line one day which I was told is like going back in time for 40 years and returning to Soviet Russia. Also the most dangerous part because of all the Gopniks there. Good thing i'm buffing up in the gym now.

This is already one of my favorite threads now. I can't to start reading all the mentioned books here.

Somebody already wrote a book called:

Around the World in 80 Lays - Joe Diamond.

I never bought it because it got horrible reviews.

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, February 3, 2011
By AWD "AWD" (United States) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Around the World in 80 Lays: Adventures in Sex Travel (Hardcover)
To the authors credit, he pretty much warns you the that his book will suck, but if you've already purchased it, too late. In the intro he writes something to the effect of "although the title says around the WORLD in 80 lays, most of my reference's will be from South America, but I will include stories from others as well." The first 60% of his book is personal stories from Brazil, Rio specifically, and the rest is just 1 story per country (Thailand, Germany, Czech Rep), from a couple of guys he met on the internet. The book should be called "my pathetic adventures in Brazil and a couple of stories I heard from other guys." The only informative part of the book is the index, where he lists the websites that he copies all his stories from, and honestly if you're reading this book, you've probably already been to those sites. Huge waste of money.
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1.0 out of 5 stars Just plain bad, August 8, 2010
By Rex Katz - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Around the World in 80 Lays: Adventures in Sex Travel (Hardcover)
Don't believe the title. Written with high-school English, this book only gives first hand experience in Rio, Brazil and the rest are short second-hand anecdotes from Germany and Thailand. Very shallow, limited and poorly written.

There is a horrible book out there called the Hedonist by Dr. Brett Tate. The guy is a whore monger and is a doctor of nothing! It has more typos and the worst English of any book every written. The guy repeats whole paragraphs 2 pages later. If I can find my old copy I'll put some pages on my blog, just for laugh effect.

Post: #32

I just saw a book called Around The World In 80 men, when I was looking for Neil's on amazon

Post: #33

That's his second book, the parts he didn't write about in book one.

Post: #34

(10-07-2012 10:36 PM)IainMuirs Wrote:  That's his second book, the parts he didn't write about in book one.

Roosh put up a tweet the other day about how there are women making a living selling homemade crap online. That 'Around The World In 80 Men' book was some trashy series about a high class prostitute going around the world by some female author.

It's just ridiculous to me, that books like that take up such a large percentage of the market share. The bottom line is that the average man doesn't read. He's content pounding a six pack of beer every night and going home to his fat wife. These are probably the same guys who hate on Roosh and Neil.

I support Roosh's work by buying several of his books, and I bought Neil's book. I do this because I get value from the forum and the guys on here. The other reason is I know first hand how hard it is to use all your energy to pursue a business or creative goal and be let down by people who supposedly 'support you.' I wrote about this on the forum before, that I started a business and all my friends who said they would support me were never there and in fact talked shit.

So keep at it guys. Men need to open their eyes, even if it takes me beating them over the head with my copy of Bang.

Post: #35

I just finished Neil's book.

Its an enjoyable tale of his sojourn around the world banging women. It kind of makes you want to sell up,grab a rucksack and go traveling around the world.

I'd read that the book was littered with typos and grammatical errors however I didn't find this to be the case. There were spelling mistakes but they were few and far between and did not in any way detract from the enjoyment of the book. You'd also never know that Neil was not a native speaker from reading his book. There are lots of idioms you'd usually only expect from someone with native fluency. Hats off to him. The story flows at a good pace too so you're kept interested in his tale and Neil comes across as a cool guy that you'd be happy to have a beer with somewhere on the road. What he did well was the opening section where we learn about Neil's background and relationship history,it sets the tone for the book and means you can relate to him and his experiences. That's the good,I do however have some negatives. Quite a lot.

One of the overall problems with the book is that Neil is not a natural story teller or writer and so,lack of flair apart, he has committed the mistake that many non writers who write 'Trip Books' make which is that their book ends up reading like one of those 'What I did in my summer holidays' school essays we all used to write. He has tried to cram everything he did on his trip in,even things we need not know and that add nothing to the overall narrative. So for example when he rents a bike,we find out how much he paid. We learn the price of various inconsequential things. However on the other hand he tells us almost nothing about the places he visits. He went to Kazan but what were his opinions on the city and its architecture or demographics? Ulan Bator? Fascinating places but what were
these cities like? I have no idea as there were hardly any descriptions and Neil seemed unwilling or able to verbalise his thoughts. Its a pity because it was a cool
trip but I never felt I was being taken there,as a reader,with him. His time in Cambodia could be seen as the fundamental core of the book,the chapter where e finally casts of any betaness and bangs his way to Alphadem. However due to his
lack of storytelling ability we just get a run down of him banging the girls. We don't learn anything about Cambodian women,what it was about Neil that made him seemingly irresistible to them,how his sudden alphaness impacted on him mentally. There was no depth to anything. He also relates stories that have nothing to do with women because he wanted to tell us about a hike up a
mountain or trip to a national park. He wants us to know about this cool trip that meant lots to him but ultimately will mean little to the reader.

And that is the ultimate problem with the book: it seems Neil didn't know who his
audience was. And that is a fatal mistake for any author. Was it a recounting of a cool trip for backpackers to enjoy or was it a book aimed at the PUA/ Manosphere market? If it was the latter, as I believe it was, then he should have edited the fuck out of the book and cut out a third of the content. We didn't need to know what he ate for breakfast or for dinner,didn't need to know tbe cost of a bus trip or location of a hostel. What the reader needed was a developing character narrative of how a Beta slowly became an Alpha and how he went about it and his musings
on the consequences of his new alphaness. That was the story to be told but alas
it seems Neil either didn't see that,or simply didn't know how to tell it.

I may seem harsh for my criticisms and I debated whether or not to write this review but the thing is I paid $10 for it. That is what I pay for excellent writers such as Thubron, Theroux, Newby or Danziger. And if you're going to charge a quality book price,you'd better deliver a quality book. And unfortunately Neil has done anything but. It's enjoyable because we know Neil from the forum so it's funny to read his tale but it's very far from quality writing. Maybe I should not
expect quality writing in the Manosphere world but why not? Why just because a book is about banging chicks should the quality suffer? It should not. Neil Strauss
managed it.

And so I would issue a warning to the industry. We all have tales to tell and many have a desire to milk the golden manosphere cow and self publishing has made that option easy, however attempts like this do the sector no service.

I congratulate Neil on his efforts. Millions of people talk about writing a book but never do it. Neil did,I just hope that if he does so again that he learns from his mistakes in writing this one.

Post: #36

Vorkuta,

I welcome your criticism because well, most things are true and I want to hear as much feedback as possible.

About the writing
Yes, i'm not a writer nor did I enjoy any education in it. I was well aware of this problem when writing this book. The main problem is that there was too much to tell and when I added my 103 separate stories together in one word file just to see how much I've gathered over those years it came to about a 1000 book pages.
Not need to mention I had a lot of cutting to do. I have visited 211 places/cities in the world, some multiple times so it's virtually impossible to give comprehensive descriptions of cities or countries and this resulted in a book with a quick writing style. If I wrote in flowery prose and much detail then the book would be around 3000 pages I guess.

I also had to make the choice to highlight a few sexual/encounters and just mention the rest shortly or to describe all of them. I choose the last and do highlight some really memorable things like the girls who wanted to be fake raped but describing in detail dozens of bangs with dozens of different girls in dozens of countries would be too much also. The book does lack in direction a bit but when writing a book you sometimes have to go with the direction you've chosen in the beginning otherwise you keep re-writing it for years before publishing. One thing that sucked was the fact that I had to do every little thing myself and had no help whatsoever. This goes for the writing/editing (later i hired one),formatting and promotion (although i received some good tips from a few poster here like Big Nilla and Rionomad, I still have to follow up on most of them) For example the formatting of the paperback and ebook took me two weeks of 16 hours days because I had to find shit out by myself all the time. Same goes for the website building. Compare it to a guy who wants to build a house without ever holding a hammer and he needs to do it all by himself. He'll get it finished but it wil have some flaws and takes a lot of time.

The fact there are very few spelling errors is probably due to the fact you have the latest version which is edited by a native English speaking editor. One thing I blame this editor for though is that he couldn't answer my questions of what to cut out of the book very well. I asked him a few times about his opinion and what to edit out and never got a good answer. He's very precise and good at grammatical editing but not that good at proofreading and deciding what to leave out. Actually he made very little effort on that part. I guess it comes with using a non-professional editing service but yeah it saved me a couple of thousand dollar. Since I recently broke even on the book costs such as editing/the cover/formatting and some promotion costs I might have to invest on some one who just proofreads.
Problem is that I don't want keep rewriting and pumping money in this project. I have spend nearly all my daily time on this since January. Now that the second edition came out its time to only focus on the book promotion and maybe save the writing effort for another time and book. We can't all debut with a bestseller/masterpiece of course. I guess if I made some shorter trips of say 3 months to half a year I would write a better one with more focus on storytelling.

About the audience
One of my personal flaws is that i'm an doubter and have a hard time making choices. I had to decide what kind of book I wanted to write. Was it gonna be a pure travel book aimed at backpackers or a book aimed at the manosphere? It was a hard choice to make and that's why I mixed up both in one book.
My main audience would still be the mainstream backpackers which number in the millions while the manosphere is still a fraction of that. It's obvious when looking at blogrolls in the PUA/manosphere. It's the same list of 15 to 25 names with a lots smaller blogs in between. Let's face it, the manosphere is still very small and 95% of (beta) guys don't read it, don't agree with it or don't wanna hear about it because it brings out their own flaws.
Yes, Roosh makes a living of it but he's a very skilled writer and I think the only guy in the world who actually lives of this manosphere/pua writing. There are for sure some PUA marketeers making a living of ripping off dumb guys but I guess most of them have a job on the side. It's not like the bootcamp paradise of 2005-2007 anymore.
That's why I focused more on the backpacking folk but not in a way that it becomes a book that looks like the hundreds of other travel books written. Very beta and very political correct.

Post: #37

(10-08-2012 08:16 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:  About the writing
The main problem is that there was too much to tell and when I added my 103 separate stories together in one word file just to see how much I've gathered over those years it came to about a 1000 book pages.
Not need to mention I had a lot of cutting to do. I have visited 211 places/cities in the world, some multiple times so it's virtually impossible to give comprehensive descriptions of cities or countries and this resulted in a book with a quick writing style. If I wrote in flowery prose and much detail then the book would be around 3000 pages I guess.

You have a lot of extra, unused content there. Do you have plans to use it in follow-up books? Somewhere on here me and some other guys gave you ideas on other book topics you could easily and quickly write about using your experiences. Go find that info and get writing. DON'T FIGHT IT, DO IT! It will be quick and easy. If you want to make money, follow my previous advice. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to writing and selling books.

What you need now is 5+ tightly focused, low priced, books that come out to be 30-40 word doc pages. You could casually knock out 1 of those every 2 weeks easily. You need an army of $oldiers to fight your battle$.

Post: #38

(10-08-2012 10:33 AM)Big Nilla Wrote:  

(10-08-2012 08:16 AM)Neil Skywalker Wrote:  About the writing
The main problem is that there was too much to tell and when I added my 103 separate stories together in one word file just to see how much I've gathered over those years it came to about a 1000 book pages.
Not need to mention I had a lot of cutting to do. I have visited 211 places/cities in the world, some multiple times so it's virtually impossible to give comprehensive descriptions of cities or countries and this resulted in a book with a quick writing style. If I wrote in flowery prose and much detail then the book would be around 3000 pages I guess.

You have a lot of extra, unused content there. Do you have plans to use it in follow-up books? Somewhere on here me and some other guys gave you ideas on other book topics you could easily and quickly write about using your experiences. Go find that info and get writing. DON'T FIGHT IT, DO IT! It will be quick and easy. If you want to make money, follow my previous advice. I know what I'm talking about when it comes to writing and selling books.

What you need now is 5+ tightly focused, low priced, books that come out to be 30-40 word doc pages. You could casually knock out 1 of those every 2 weeks easily. You need an army of $oldiers to fight your battle$.

Yep, working on that. I put all the advice you and the others have give me in a wordfile and I'm planning on doing them step by step.
Right now i'm sending out books for reviews, next up will be gathering an mailing list and luring the people in with an "tips to..." pdf.

But we should not talk about it here but in my own book thread. Otherwise were hijacking a good book thread.

Post: #39

(10-08-2012 06:36 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:  One of the overall problems with the book is that Neil is not a natural story teller or writer and so,lack of flair apart, he has committed the mistake that many non writers who write 'Trip Books' make which is that their book ends up reading like one of those 'What I did in my summer holidays' school essays we all used to write. He has tried to cram everything he did on his trip in,even things we need not know and that add nothing to the overall narrative. So for example when he rents a bike,we find out how much he paid. We learn the price of various inconsequential things. However on the other hand he tells us almost nothing about the places he visits. He went to Kazan but what were his opinions on the city and its architecture or demographics? Ulan Bator? Fascinating places but what were
these cities like? I have no idea as there were hardly any descriptions and Neil seemed unwilling or able to verbalise his thoughts. Its a pity because it was a cool
trip but I never felt I was being taken there,as a reader,with him. His time in Cambodia could be seen as the fundamental core of the book,the chapter where e finally casts of any betaness and bangs his way to Alphadem. However due to his
lack of storytelling ability we just get a run down of him banging the girls. We don't learn anything about Cambodian women,what it was about Neil that made him seemingly irresistible to them,how his sudden alphaness impacted on him mentally. There was no depth to anything. He also relates stories that have nothing to do with women because he wanted to tell us about a hike up a
mountain or trip to a national park. He wants us to know about this cool trip that meant lots to him but ultimately will mean little to the reader.

And that is the ultimate problem with the book: it seems Neil didn't know who his
audience was. And that is a fatal mistake for any author. Was it a recounting of a cool trip for backpackers to enjoy or was it a book aimed at the PUA/ Manosphere market? If it was the latter, as I believe it was, then he should have edited the fuck out of the book and cut out a third of the content. We didn't need to know what he ate for breakfast or for dinner,didn't need to know tbe cost of a bus trip or location of a hostel. What the reader needed was a developing character narrative of how a Beta slowly became an Alpha and how he went about it and his musings
on the consequences of his new alphaness. That was the story to be told but alas
it seems Neil either didn't see that,or simply didn't know how to tell it.

I may seem harsh for my criticisms and I debated whether or not to write this review but the thing is I paid $10 for it. That is what I pay for excellent writers such as Thubron, Theroux, Newby or Danziger. And if you're going to charge a quality book price,you'd better deliver a quality book. And unfortunately Neil has done anything but. It's enjoyable because we know Neil from the forum so it's funny to read his tale but it's very far from quality writing. Maybe I should not
expect quality writing in the Manosphere world but why not? Why just because a book is about banging chicks should the quality suffer? It should not. Neil Strauss
managed it.

And so I would issue a warning to the industry. We all have tales to tell and many have a desire to milk the golden manosphere cow and self publishing has made that option easy, however attempts like this do the sector no service.

I enjoyed reading your review. I actually was not put off by Neil's book as you were. I like this kind of book: travel banging and few people are writing in this genre. I also find that most travel writers are not good, or I should say they are boring. Can you recommend some good travel writers and books. I find most of these guys are either boring or whiny. I've read some later Thoreau and complains all the time. Few of the travel writers, I find I'd want to take a trip with because they are either very boring guys or too complaining and definitely not fun guys. So who should I be reading?

Who do you recommend in the Manosphere? I'm not sure I know anybody good there either. I read the Game and don't agree with all the silly PUA routines. The book is well written though.

This paragraph is to Neil: I don't think a straight travel book would sell worth a shit. Most get very few reviews on Amazon and that means to me they are not selling a lot. My guess is that you'll get a hell of lot more people buying your book from the manosphere than the backpacker traveler world.

Post: #40

If we're doing reviews, I really think Naughty Nomad smashed it out of the park. GREAT storytelling and rawness with just enough reflection and heart for you to not feel dirty holding it in your hands (or holding your kindle) lol. Amazing first book, the guy should definitely write more.

Post: #41

@Brianmark.
Yes, I figured there were already tons of plain old regular travel books and mine would be a novelty. I have read a few travel books but they can't really captivate me for a long time. I finish them but it will take ages.
If I will write another book then I would probably use a bit more flowery prose but not too much.
I think most sales are coming from the manosphere at this moment but the travel world might need some more time to catch on. I'm dying to get out there and to probe a few conversations with backpackers to see how known the book really is so far.

Post: #42

Quote:I'm dying to get out there and to probe a few conversations with backpackers to see how known the book really is so far.

I've said this to you already Neil but the chances of your book being well known in the backpacker community is probably slim to none. You've sold a few hundred copies, right? Most of those have probably come from people who follow this board or your blog. It's not like your book is going to be one of those books sold in every bookshop targeted at travellers that people pick up and read whilst on the road. Backpackers pick up books from stores and hostels or swap them with other people on the road, they don't order them from Amazon whilst backpacking.

Post: #43

I have to disagree here. I already had people "know" me when I was still traveling and my blog was still very unknown and amatueristic and only half a year old. Granted it were only a few people but I can imagine that now ,nearly 1.5 years later and with a book out, a twitter and facebookpage, a slick website and giving interviews I'm a bit more known. Don't forget that banging girls abroad is still a good subject to talk about while traveling and hanging in hostels so backpackers will talk about it.
Slowly but steadily i'm getting the word out. I have send out some free review books out to manosphere blogs and will do the same for the bigger names in backpacking. I still have to hit the forums too. I want to get the promotion over with and focus on new things +gaming/making money.

EDIT - Just noticed I replied to a banned member.
/thread-16764.html

Post: #44

I enjoyed Neil's book, but I will admit that it was a bit all over the place. However, we have to keep in mind that the book takes place over a long period of time and spans a lot of distance, including significant time being spent in certain places.

It may have been better to break the book up into several books; perhaps by region, year, one with just women he slept with, one about meeting foreign women...

Someone commented about his story telling ability and the details like prices, but for me the details made the book. Having been to some of the places and researched going to others, some of his details helped me to put myself into the narrator's shoes. The book was a bit lacking on details of his thoughts about some of the places, but I got the impression the book was more about his journey than it was a travel guide. For me, a natural skeptic, the details gave a bit of credibility to the story. I met so many people while traveling who tell the wildest stories and then clam up when pressed for details.

I enjoyed Neil's book and Naughty Nomad's book. I would not really say that one was better than the other, but Naughty Nomad's was a bit easier to read. It seemed to have more structure and at the risk of getting flamed, it read like a piece of fiction with a collection of exaggerated stories with exaggerated characters.

For example, Nomad's book has a story about a underwear model in China with a dad who was a Triad and a bodyguard. The story of distracting the body guard and then sneaking out of the club with the girl, while entertaining was hard to believe.

Although there were parts of Neil's book where I felt like he did not understanding why something was happening, I never questioned whether or not it happened the way he said it did.

Neil's book read like a bit of a travel journal more so than a novel and for most people reading a novel is easiest. Although the story itself was not as entertaining, I did feel like I got to know his character better than Naughty Nomad's. At the end of Naughty Nomad's books I felt a stronger connection to the side character's than the main character, unlike with Neil's.

Neil, I hope you keep writing and I would read a book about your time in Russia alone. You may want to consider taking a couple of writing courses. Another idea might be to ship a few copies of your book to some of the better known hostels around the world.

Post: #45

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it because feedback gives you an insight on what to improve on the next time i'm writing something.
I agree the books lacks a bit in certain mainstream writing things like direction and deeper insights in the characters. This is also due to the fact that i met hundreds of people and so many girls of different nationalities. It hard to describe them all so i had to shortcut on a lot of details.
One thing I blame my editor a bit for is that he never really gave advice on what parts to cut out of the book and which ones to emphasize. This is a lesson learned for the next time and I will use several proofreaders before finishing the final work.

Cheers

Post: #46

ETX is a 43-years-old guy (from southern U.S.) who made a career out of teaching English-language abroad.

And this is his Russian sweetie (who wants to keep him):

Post: #47

Neil, you can't blame your editor. Ultimately it falls on your shoulders. Didn't you say he wasn't a professional editor? He probably has no idea about how to write a book. There are a lot of books out there that can help you become a better writer, and how to better tell your story.

Post: #48

(10-14-2012 11:44 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  Neil, you can't blame your editor. Ultimately it falls on your shoulders. Didn't you say he wasn't a professional editor? He probably has no idea about how to write a book. There are a lot of books out there that can help you become a better writer, and how to better tell your story.

Neil how'd you go about finding the editor and the person who made your cover?

Post: #49

(10-14-2012 11:44 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  Neil, you can't blame your editor. Ultimately it falls on your shoulders. Didn't you say he wasn't a professional editor? He probably has no idea about how to write a book. There are a lot of books out there that can help you become a better writer, and how to better tell your story.

Well,he is an editor but I don't think he has much experience with editing books. He offered to edit my book and I have asked him to proofread the book to see which parts could be cut out. During the editing he made notes of things that needed clearing up or would left questions and afterwards we would start cutting. He changed all the things he commented on but I guess he was not happy with the pay in the end and was slacking a bit in the final editing. He has lots of theatrical experience so I assumed he would know where to use drama and where to emphasize on certain parts a bit. He didn't and yes, in the end i'm responsible for the whole project.
Since he asked the right questions in the beginning I had trust in him. Don't get me wrong he still did an good job editing the book for grammar and some comprehensive editing but yeah, in this part he was lacking.

After the selection round I had 4 people left from to choose from. 3 girls and 1 guy. All native English speakers. The all edited a part of the story (four pages) and then there were two left. One woman and one guy.
The woman was a bit better in story editing but also asked for more money later. I choose the guy because well, he's a guy and would have better understanding of picking up women and emotions like sex and approach anxiety.
I think I got a pretty good deal for 400$ for a 500 page book. I gave him 50$ bonus. I was planning on giving a hundred but since he didn't deliver on the cutting I paid half that.
Maybe I made the wrong choice but I can't go back in time and there's only a small chance I will ever change anything again. I've been writing/formatting/editing/promoting and web designing for 10 months now. Pretty much living a hermit lifestyle. I have to say stop some time. From now on I will only focus on promotion.
Last week I made a mailinglist via mailchimp, giving away a free short pdf ebook when subscribing and made a small pop up screen. I've send out review copies to several manosphere sites and this week I will send out review copies to backpacker sites.
After this I will invest some time at other manosphere and perhap travel forums but for promotion purposes only. I also need to spend more time working on the social media side. It's kind of a neverending story.

In the meanwhile real life goes on and I have another project in mind. One far more profitable. PM if you want to talk about that.

Post: #50

(10-14-2012 11:44 AM)RioNomad Wrote:  Neil, you can't blame your editor. Ultimately it falls on your shoulders. Didn't you say he wasn't a professional editor? He probably has no idea about how to write a book. There are a lot of books out there that can help you become a better writer, and how to better tell your story.

Braddahs,

I did the best I could editing Neil's book. I was up all night. Stop giving me shit.

Aloha!