I need some advice and/or assistance
I’m in need of some assistance or possibly some advice.
Here is the situation.
Some years ago I began writing a book on the reconstructive nipple/areola tattooing that I do. The reason for this was that I was getting multiple inquiries from practitioners who had been assigned the task of making these tattoos with little or no training. Often a doctor or a “superior” had assigned this task to someone who was (in the interest of protecting their job) unable to refuse to do so. The results are dismal. Patients are being experimented on by untrained professionals without their knowledge.
My greatest hope was that in putting the information involved in making these tattoos in print – that these practitioners would be given a tool to bring to their “superior” to explain to them that this is a specialized (and important) skill and can’t just be done by anyone. Or on the other end that tattoo artists who already have the training and the skill-set necessary to make these tattoos would be given the information that they need to cross over to working with medical practitioners.
Secondary to that was the hope that if these practitioners were forced to make these tattoos anyhow – that the damage to patients would be minimized.
I have been working on the book for years. I have a whole lot of information and experience in my head and some of it has actually made it to the book. I want this information to get out there. To help these people.
Unfortunately I am failing at being able to finish this book. I get disorganized. I get frustrated. I think of new information that I would like to include. At this rate there is a very high likelihood that this book will never get finished.
I feel that this information even in it’s raw form could still be beneficial. I want to get it out to the people that need it. My attempts to find someone who could ghost write/edit or in some way assist me in making the last hurdle over the finish line have not gone well. Not that people haven’t tried. (Kyla you have been especially helpful).
So what to do? Leave the manuscript in it’s current form to moulder on my hard drive? I’ve been doing that for far too long already.
Right now what I think my best option is – is to put the whole mess online for people to learn from. What is there is not pretty, but it could still be massively beneficial for a lot of people. I would like to take it online – but I do not want it available to just anyone. I am thinking some sort of passworded site (perhaps a forum where I could answer questions?) would be a good solution.
So now I am asking for help in one of two forms. Either someone who can help me figure out how to set up a passworded site OR a better idea. Please. I can’t stand having this project go nowhere anymore. Can someone help me with this?
Just TeeJay's Blog 
I hope someone with the time and ability to pull this together into book form sees your post. I have ability, but sadly, no time. If you devised a co-authored text with another person, I could see this as being desirable to a few populations of people – tattoo artists, reconstructive surgeons, and people facing reconstruction.
There are many underemployed academics that could help you. It would be mutually advantageous for a sociology of the body person (for instance) or someone that does academic work on body modification to partner with you. They need the money and the publishing opportunity, you need to clear this part of the work off your plate.
I get the wanting to add more and feeling like work will never finish. It’s important to start with a clear outline and stick to it. I can absolutely help with that part.
Dina, that may have been part of the problem. I have no experience writing and so there was no outline to begin with. Just a spewing of information. Later on someone gave me a suggested format and outline, but the text was just too cumbersome for me to try and rearrange cohesively at that point. It was around the time where I started to feel like this was a never endable project.
Hi TeeJay,
You have done some great work for me, that always gets compliments, the only reason I have stopped is because I had a heart valve replaced anyway the reason I am writing is I would be willing to ghost write or help arrange the information into book form for you. I have a vested interest in this project because my wife is a breast cancer survivor but the reconstruction got a staph infection, it was a botched job, and she is now scarred the only way it can be fixed is with more surgery, while reading this she commented that she would like to have you do this for her if she does the new surgery.
Some background on me, I am a retired engineer, live in Greenville, SC and visit family in Rochester about once a year (that’s when you did my tattoos). If you are interested my e-mail is there and my wife’s cell phone is 864-***-**** (we may drop our land line). We will be out of town for a couple weeks but have an I-Pad and wife’s cell.
Bill