I Want to Write a Book

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fourmedallions

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vaping is a hot-button issue that has been appearing in the news with alarming frequency, especially over the past couple of months. The problem is that it is all coming from the perspective of big tobacco, rabid anti-smoking advocacy groups and the like. Nowhere am I seeing or hearing the voices of the people who are actually at the heart of this controversy - vapers themselves.

Let's face it. The vast majority of us are ex-smokers who are very used to being silenced, vilified and marginalized. When the topic was about cigarettes, it was very difficult to come up with a response because cigarettes ARE just as bad as everyone says they are. That's really not the case with vaping, but it is still hard to find that missing voice.

I want to tell the story of vaping from the perspective of vapers themselves. I want to talk to the people who were the very first to develop this idea: creating vape mods from batteries, wire and altoid tins, to the front porchers: people who are sitting in their rocking chairs enjoying bubblegum candied cherry vape, to the brand spanking newbie who has just arrived and is trying to make sense of this acronym filled universe, the DIYrs who make it all themselves and finally, to the industry leaders who design and develop everything from the devices we use to the flavors we love, how they got started, what being in the business means to them and what losing their business would mean for them.

I thought about doing this a few years ago, but I think that there is no better time to do this than right now. A book like this could help to turn the tide of public opinion. I want to give vapers back the voice that they lost as smokers. We have terrified industry giants into full on seek and destroy mode and we need to fight back. This book will be marketed to the general public and I want it to be eye-opening, thought provoking and revealing.

Are you interested? If you are hit me up. If I generate enough interest, I will set up a kick starter campaign so I can fund this project. I am looking for people to interview for this project and any vaper qualifies! Designers, developers and business owners, most welome!

Let me know what you think.
 

bombastinator

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Vaping is a hot-button issue that has been appearing in the news with alarming frequency, especially over the past couple of months. The problem is that it is all coming from the perspective of big tobacco, rabid anti-smoking advocacy groups and the like. Nowhere am I seeing or hearing the voices of the people who are actually at the heart of this controversy - vapers themselves.

Let's face it. The vast majority of us are ex-smokers who are very used to being silenced, vilified and marginalized. When the topic was about cigarettes, it was very difficult to come up with a response because cigarettes ARE just as bad as everyone says they are. That's really not the case with vaping, but it is still hard to find that missing voice.

I want to tell the story of vaping from the perspective of vapers themselves. I want to talk to the people who were the very first to develop this idea: creating vape mods from batteries, wire and altoid tins, to the front porchers: people who are sitting in their rocking chairs enjoying bubblegum candied cherry vape, to the brand spanking newbie who has just arrived and is trying to make sense of this acronym filled universe, the DIYrs who make it all themselves and finally, to the industry leaders who design and develop everything from the devices we use to the flavors we love, how they got started, what being in the business means to them and what losing their business would mean for them.

I thought about doing this a few years ago, but I think that there is no better time to do this than right now. A book like this could help to turn the tide of public opinion. I want to give vapers back the voice that they lost as smokers. We have terrified industry giants into full on seek and destroy mode and we need to fight back. This book will be marketed to the general public and I want it to be eye-opening, thought provoking and revealing.

Are you interested? If you are hit me up. If I generate enough interest, I will set up a kick starter campaign so I can fund this project. I am looking for people to interview for this project and any vaper qualifies! Designers, developers and business owners, most welome!

Let me know what you think.
The better time would have been a few years ago. Then the book would be coming out now. Books are not quick things to do. Better late than never though. One really critical issue is publishing. You need a company willing to print, distribute, and promote the book. Publishers like anything that will sell and don’t like anything that won’t.
Generally step one is the writing though.
 
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fourmedallions

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I am a writer and well aware of the pitfalls and hill climbing any writer with a book has to face. But just as with big tobacco, publishers are facing a new normal kind of experience with the explosion of smaller 'indie' style publishers who are willing to accept manuscripts of a different stripe and I have a list of them, and have talked to them before although I was representing clients who were wanting to publish their own books.

I already have a pretty well detailed outline in my head - which is a very good sign. I am quick with a quickness when I want to be, and right now - I want to be. I think this is a story worth telling and I also think that the time is now because vapers can address and discuss all of these concerns that people may have. When I came up with the idea several years ago, Vuse and Juul didn't even exist or if they did, they were so small I hadn't heard of them.

I think this is a great time for a book like this.
 

bombastinator

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I am a writer and well aware of the pitfalls and hill climbing any writer with a book has to face. But just as with big tobacco, publishers are facing a new normal kind of experience with the explosion of smaller 'indie' style publishers who are willing to accept manuscripts of a different stripe and I have a list of them, and have talked to them before although I was representing clients who were wanting to publish their own books.

I already have a pretty well detailed outline in my head - which is a very good sign. I am quick with a quickness when I want to be, and right now - I want to be. I think this is a story worth telling and I also think that the time is now because vapers can address and discuss all of these concerns that people may have. When I came up with the idea several years ago, Vuse and Juul didn't even exist or if they did, they were so small I hadn't heard of them.

I think this is a great time for a book like this.
I think it might be. There is also a crowdfunded documentary film in some sort of stage around here somewhere. Connecting with them may prove fruitful.
 

fourmedallions

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I think it might be. There is also a crowdfunded documentary film in some sort of stage around here somewhere. Connecting with them may prove fruitful.

Thank you, I do too and I am definitely going to see if I can find them!
 

fourmedallions

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Search bars are such handy things.

“you don’t know nicotine” thirdlinefilms.com

I found it and it looks like a fascinating film and I subscribed to 'You Don't Know Nicotine' on YouTube. I was having dinner while watching another film produced in France. Both of the films are reinforcing my instincts.
 

evan le'garde

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The success of any vape related book is going to rely on the demographic it is aimed at.

If it's aimed at the general public at large then it needs to fall into the "narrative" category (The on-going narrative which has been created by the media and believed by the public). A book which could draw an audience in , using the narrative, and then introduce the actual facts in a way which could be easily understood by the layman.

So a book which pretends to one thing, the "hook" (as a selling point) but turns out to be something of a revelation once it's been read.

On the other hand, a book which simply contains the facts from front cover to back isn't going to be picked up by a public who think they already know what's what. So the only people who'll buy it is the vaping community.

You need a hook !.

The origins aren't interesting. What is interesting is what the industry is made up of. AND IT ISN'T MADE IN CHINA. There are lots of companies who manufacture top quality hardware. All those out in the Philippines who make mechanical mods for example. The history of Svoemesto would be interesting. If you could get information from all those guys it would be worth a read. Stuff people simply don't know. Create an illustration of what the vaping industry & community is actually made up of. Why did "Provape" go out of business ?. There's loads of interesting stuff you could research to illustrate why things have turned out the way they have.

Bring the general public up to speed.
 

United States

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"Thank you for vaping" is my stab at a name.

Taken from the movie "thank you for smoking", which was about the life of three folks who are hated by many in modern society……lobbyists for alcohol, tobacco and fire arms. A sort of "dromedy" style storyline.

A book about vaping in 2019 could kinda be the life of a vaping advocate?
 

fourmedallions

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If it's aimed at the general public at large then it needs to fall into the "narrative" category (The on-going narrative which has been created by the media and believed by the public). A book which could draw an audience in , using the narrative, and then introduce the actual facts in a way which could be easily understood by the layman.

You bring up some really good points and one thing I do know is that in order to write a book like this, you have to be good at your craft. You have to intuitively understand what moves people - and then move them. I could spew statistics all day long, but statistics are meaningless unless they come together with something else that almost forces them to put their cup of coffee down.

We all found our way here individually. How did you find your way here? What was that cathartic moment that spurred you to look at that cigarette in you hand? Do you remember the day you got your first kit, what you were thinking when you unpacked it? Do you remember the day you first found this forum and said, "You mean there are others?" We all have POWERFUL stories to tell about how we ended up here and became that community that we are.

We are not even being given a voice in this discussion.
 
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