Recently I've been turned onto the idea of ebooks while my next novel is brewing in my mind; and I've made a rudimentary list of things I could potentially write about. One of the things I'm passionate about is helping teenagers and young people, as I personally had a lot of trouble during those years. One area I worry about writing though, is sex-ed/puberty stuff. I believe strongly more accurate information needs to be available to young people, but are these topics too controversial to deal with? Is it better to write something marketed at parents instead, or perhaps a "sex ed" book for those my own age (24)? Just wondering if anyone else has written anything controversial and if so, how did you go about it?
You're talking about non-fiction? And self-publishing, I assume? (e-books are just a format, not a business model). I wonder what your credentials are for writing this kind of "informative" material. And I wonder if it's true that there isn't plenty of accurate material available, for those who look for it. A publisher would be looking for someone with a platform for non-fiction. Self-publishing removes this requirement, but doesn't address the rationale behind the requirement: non-fiction books are much easier to market when the author has established expertise and a reputation in the field. Do you have anything like that going for you?
As above, pen names aren't all that secure, but also it means that you really have NO platform at all. A pen name is a blank slate. It'd be unethical (possibly illegal? fraud?) to make up false credentials for the pen name, and absent that... we're back to wondering why anyone would want to read your book rather than, say, https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002LLRE78/?tag=writingfor07a-20, a sex-ed book from the AMA...
Seconded. Addressing sexual material towards children is not going to help you get or retain a teaching position. Pen names are fine and good, but they are hardly the witness protection program. Once something is on the Net, it is there forever. This could come back to haunt you in the future, especially if you come under investigation for an allegation by a student, which is far from uncommon these days.
@InkDemon some could say my WIP and more so my sequel are controversial due to content. But I am little old nobody that like maybe 5 people have actually read, and I don't teach anybody anything. Granted mine is more violence and knowing ones self, than in sexuality. But you might find that there are, as others have said complications due to the interwebz dilemma. It is true that what one posts online remains as such. And a determined individual can find damn near anything if they choose to. It just depends on how you feel about things. You have to ask yourself if it is worth the risk to your reputation as an educator to put out such things, be they informative or other wise. If it is worth the risk. It is too hard to know for sure, but you will do what you think is right in the end.
I cant really see whats all that controversial about a sex education book? Unless you're planning to aim it at priests? Actually, thinking about it, that's not a bad idea. You could call it coitus on the cloisters.
Controversy and books is hardly new. Dracula's brides frightened contemporary readers because they were sexually overt women which was not the status quo back then. Then there's the homoerotic notes of Dorian Gray, which in turn was used as evidence of Oscar Wilde's trial. Here's a rough outline of sex ed around the 90s and 00s, when I was in school. 10- girls and boys have separate classes to talk about adolescence, can't talk about the what the boys learned but the girls were talked to by the school nurse about adolescence and periods. 14- more on adolescence and how it was to do with our primitive ancestors showing signs of being ready for mating. 16- GUM clinics, age of consent, STDs for those taking the highest GCSE certification in science. Always, the UK's biggest brand of feminine hygiene products, also had a speaker going around schools to talk to girls about periods and dealing with them. I don't know if they still do. Now, I can't vouch for where contraception is taught because I went to Catholic schools. In religious studies we noted differing opinions about whether or not, and if so, who can, use it. That, and when we covered AIDS they had to say that condoms where the way to stop it spreading. But then, GCSEs are regulated by examining bodies outside of the schools. The NHS took talking about contraception into their own hands with a series of ads where they named the pill and other female contraception available for free through them. I'd have to say depending on the message you want to convey the target audience is critical. I've given my personal experience as a rough guide for that purpose. But I also agree that you should ask yourself if you're ready to handle the anger. Abstinence supporters and conservatively religious groups would be furious with the thought of their kids having access to such materials, and if you're promoting it on social networks you'll be guaranteed to be hit with online venom big time.
Have you done a thorough search to confirm that books with this information don't already exist? I can't imagine why they wouldn't exist.
I'm going to wrap this is a spoiler just for politeness' sake; it's a US television commercial advertising for a "First Moon Party" pack for young ladies. It's also pretty damn funny. Spoiler: First Moon commercial
They could even have their own version of the Karma Sutra. The popal position Dog collar style The bellringer Missionary, obviously. You've read the good book. Now it's time for the even better book.
