Should I bother writing this book?......First time author/ student/ writing about African conflict

As a writer of non-fiction history myself, interested in such topics, i would say that i might be interested in such a book if you will eventually write it.


Now in regard to writing, since you are an undergraduate, it would be good for you to have a more experienced supervisor. Someone, for example, like a professor in international relationships or diplomacy, that would look on your manuscript, and give you helpful suggestions and insights. You need it, because the subject that you want to research is very complicated and with many shades. Once finished, he might also write a foreword to your book and guide you in finding a publisher. If you have a foreword and a recommendation from an established name, things will go very well.

RajivGolla said:

I'm currently an undergrad and have spent the last two years intensively researching South Sudan. A few months ago a few South Sudanese in Washington DC approached me about writing a book about the current conflict there. Since then, I've interviewed survivors of the 2013 ethnic cleansing, military commanders, government officials, rebel leaders, American diplomats, NGO workers, and human rights advocates in my research for this book. I'm currently traveling through East Africa meeting with rebel officials and filming interviews with peace negotiators and getting some on-the-ground experience in South Sudan. I've been doing a bit of freelance writing through my travels as well. I wanted to know if I should bother writing the book in the sense of would any publisher/ agent be interested in a book about African conflict written by an undergrad? Or will I end up writing it because I can't bring myself to give up and have to self-publish/ give out free pdfs?

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Definitely write it; South Sudan is largely neglected while people are dying. I'm sure you can find a publisher, and even if not, even if it's a free PDF, you would still do a good thing getting these peoples' plight out there, which is the most important in my opinion. You took an interest, they approached you, you are one of the FEW voices even considering to speak out on their behalf, so whatever the outcome, you should do it.

This is just my opinion, and I've not been published... that said.

It occurs to me that writing a book, whether novel or nonfiction, has less to do with academic credit and more to do with making a compelling book. Compelling stories, fiction or not, is what sells, unless you're writing a text book I guess, but this doesn't sound like that kind of party so let's just not open that can. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on that assumption.

Definitely write the book. If nothing else it'll be 100k words under your belt, something you finished, you get the primary stripe when it comes to book writing (actually finishing one) which will give you courage for future projects, the knowledge and experience you've gained will be out there for others. I could go on for days to the upsides.

The downside (if you could call it a down side) is that you're investing time and energy.

So the real question is, how much is your time and energy worth to you? I don't believe that anyone here can answer that but you. You have the time on the ground. You have done the interviews. You have done the research. If it were me (and it isn't) I would write it just to put it on my own shelf and share with family, and anything beyond that is just extra whipped cream.

~the geckgo

Exactly, after all the work you've already put into it, I think it'd be a bit of a crime not to put it to use. You have the power to make a difference now.

Before you write contact Oxford, Cambridge, etc. with a proposal (seriously those university presses first - an offer would see you with a funded research masters at any university ). You would stand a good chance with an academic publisher.

There are 2 approaches you could take:

1. Apply for a research masters (not a taught masters) with this project and apply for funding (Oxbridge closes funding applications at Christmas, most other universities do in May). You could then develop it with the help of a supervisor, earn an MA, draw on the feedback of examiners, and then try and submit it to academic publishers. This is the easier and more straightforward route that would give your proposal more weight.

By 'funding' I mean that at the very least your fees are paid, you may also get living expenses depending on the funding.

2. More difficult without a postgraduate degree, is contacting academic publishers and outlining the proposal to them as you would with the above procedure. With an offer for publication from an academic publisher, it would be very easy then to get a funded MA by research.

Essentially, option 2 is the reverse of 1.

I think 1 is your best way of going about it, but it all depends on whether you want an MA or not.

I would write your book as the topic is interesting. One of my best friends did a documentary The Lost Boys of Sudan. Besides being the first black photographer at the famous Magnum Photos, and a runner up for the Pulitzer, he is a Clinical Professor of Photojournalism at the University of Texas, Austin. I've known him for 22 years and I'm sure he would be a wealth of information. He's also a Nieman Fellow from Harvard.

Though he's very busy as he's also the personal photographer for Russell Crowe, Ron Howard, Tommy Lee Jones, etc. Just Google Eli Reed, or go here: http://www.magnumphotos.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&ALID=2K7O3R14GI0B or here on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Reed

His Facebook is: https://www.facebook.com/eli.reed.7 While I'm personal friends with him, have his cell and home number, I won't give that out without his permission. He travels all over the world. Today I know it's his birthday and he's in California, FYI. I hope that helps! Rolando