[edwest]

Dear Richard,


I've been devoting a little time to fringe claims and yes, a lot of solid research needs to be done. As a book editor who has to do research about things I'm totally unfamiliar with, I have to find the best resources, and triple check them. Sometimes, I only have a week or two to zero in on the best knowledge, and I get a small budget (usually around $100.00) to get what's needed. Sometimes, I find bits of knowledge scattered all over the place, especially when doing historical research.

After 2008, Historical Non-Fiction as a category took the biggest hit. Then there is ignoring the naysayers. The internet, like all human inventions, is good and bad, especially if you're not careful. A project I'm working on now has taken 3 years and most of that time has been checking, rechecking and reevaluating the material while discovering more fragments along the way. Presenting it well matters, or any reader will not keep turning the pages.

Putting together a well-written fiction book takes only a little less time than doing a really good non-fiction book.

My advice. Put together what you have, make sure it flows, and has all the citations you'd expect from a well-written historical work. I don't worry about the financial reward. I would just like to get some information out there that I think is worthwhile. My maxim is: if there's nothing to my thesis then I will find nothing to support it. In over 25 years, I've only failed once in finding what I was looking for. And yes, if I do publish and find more later, I'll just put out an updated edition.

Chin up and all that.



Best regards,
Ed