I think I have the potential to write a great book based on my experiences as a dancer/stripper/lady of the evening, whatever name you prefer to give to my vocation. Someone blogged on here that he is fond of a few dancers who are about to age out of the industry with no marketable skills for a second career. Unfortunately, I am afraid I fall into this very unpleasant category. I do have a knack for the written word, however, and would welcome any suggestions on how to get started. Feel free to post here or PM me with any ideas. I don't want to be one of those people who lives off a stash of McDonald's gift cards that some of you carry with you. That would be so NOT brilliant!
Reminds me of a book from 10 to 20 years ago called "Ivy League Stripper". The girl who wrote it was a Harvard or Yale grad ( I think) and decided to be a stripper for 1 year and write a book about it. I don't know how long you've been dancing but I'm sure you have some interesting stories. Good luck.
Being a great author is like being a great hooker. The ones who are the most likely to make money are the ones who'd love it so much they do it all the time for nothing. I'm no expert, but if you haven't already done a lot of writing just for fun, your best bet is probably to partner up with an experienced writer. You provide the stories, they get them down on paper in a way that will sell. But you probably need to be careful that someone doesn't get your stories and then cut you out of the book royalties.
From what little I know, it seems like the hard thing about getting out of dancing is adapting to the 40 hour per week grind. Many dancers only work 3 shifts per week, and greatly enjoy the fact that they are not limited to a fixed number of vacation days per year.
Have you tried asking your local community college for career-change guidance?
As a side note: age is just a number. Strip clubs are "aging out". Internet escorts and cam girls are eating their lunch. Caming is mostly bad for the talent moneywise. I've been told the portal websites are the world's worst pimps in terms of how big of a cut they want. There's no sure way to keeps custies from recording your show and putting it on xvideos. And a lot of pressure to stick things in your butt on camera to bank well. Plus a bazillion time wasters. Only so many foreign women from poor countries can cross our borders, but there is no limit on the Internet, so it pushes the $$$ down for the talent.
Diva, I suggest you start by reading all of the books out there written by strippers. There are probably a dozen or so. They are easy to find on Amazon. I have read some of them, and I thought for the most part they were pretty poorly done. However, they should give you ideas on how to write a much better book.
I've met a few dancers over the years who have expressed a desire to write a book about the job. I think a well-written book, with brutal honesty and details, could be a great seller. I do also think the idea of teaming up with an experienced writer is a good one if you could ever find a way to make that happen.
Diva,, most colleges offer evening programs related to writing and if you find one about writing a book give it some consideration. I was looking at one outside of Boston, taught by a published author and the course description would give you the knowledge as to whether or not to pursue that idea or turn it into an avocation. I've been considering writing one about being a PL. As I thought about it, I realized that a novel about a PL and his adventures, disappointments, and the fantasy aroused. However, I think there needs to be a well planned plot (did your HS English teacher mention plot, setting, and characters?) those are the components of a story.
If you're unable to find such a course check out local bookstores to see if they have authors coming in to speak. If so, use your feminine wiles to get some alone time with the author to ask about the "mechanics" of writing - approaching publishers, copyright laws, getting an agent, the editing process, etc.
I have a brother who spent 16 years writing a book. Then publisher after publisher turned him down. So he had to put up $20,000 to get it printed. His is an $80 coffee table/research book, but it's in its third printing now.
If I were to write a novel (fiction) it would most likely have to be self published. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
My dad wrote a book. And published it straight to Amazon. It's actually easier to get a book out there now days than you think. The hardest thing is getting the book noticed with advertising aND shit.
Sorry, Diva1975, the market for a book about a stripper's experiences is very tiny. Even if you produced the definitive stripper book your sales would be squat.
Better you should choose genre fiction based on the strip club culture. Murder mystery or bodice ripping romance could be decent choices. Use your experience in strip clubs to set the backgrounds and characters but make the plot more universal in appeal.
A good book by an insider in the biz is "Candy Girl." The author is Diablo Cody who went on to write the screenplay for "Juno" and several other movies and TV shows. She does not sugarcoat the experience. She worked as a stripper and "Jack shack" model and the stories she shares are both humorous and depressing.
OK it's settled. farmerart recounts his adventures in the Great White North, and Diva ghost-writes his auto-biography. 45-45 split after the 10% consulting fee for me.
Diva, I'm not sure of the legality of reprinting my DS posts. But honestly I don't think my DS stories would do you any good. In my view you need original material based upon your personal experience.
But if you want to meet up so you can experience what the DS has first hand, we might can work out a way to develop some book material together. :)
I don't agree that a good book about strippers and strip clubs would gave a small audience. While the percentage of the population who visits clubs may be somewhat small, I think a lot of people would be curious to read a tell all book by a stripper that had great reviews.
I personally know a stripper that has written a book after taking a course in "Creative writing". She briefly posted on TUSCL but for the most part quit posting about 2 years ago but did log on this month. I do communicate with her by email and phone. If you want her TUSCL name PM me. And if she doesn't respond to it I can send her an email asking her to contact you.
Actually, the last time I was in the club, one of my faves was saying the same thing. She's barely 25, yet she has enough wild tales from in and outside of clubs to fill a shelf full of books. I jokingly offered to ghost write it with her, and she thought we should get started on it right away. I'd love to help, but when we get together there's always other business I'd rather focus on.
I'd have to agree with farmerart here. Use your experiences as the backdrop, rather than the subject. Incorporate them into your plots, characters and locations.
Make sure your don't use any one person as a character. :)
I might suggest a story based on an actual person, to get your target audience involved, could even have a few characters in it, customers who get involved with dancers and the dancers themselves, that way you might get more people thinking, I can relate to this character or that character. Have an overall plot to it and a happy ending. Girl gets married or gets a real job in the real world. If it gets made into a movie, people like happy endings. Hold out for royalties especially if it gets made into a movie. Otherwise you could have a top seller and not get much. I have no experience writing books but this logic makes sense to me. I do have some good ideas.
If you have multiple characters, you could still bring reality into it by having the not so fortunate characters still stuck in the strip club world in their 50's and 60's. Customers might not think it was that bad, for dancers to still be dancing and approaching 60, well you don't need to talk about that one very much. People like entertainment more than reality. That's why I was thinking a book based on a story. Actually starting small on a single short story might be easier to get noticed. maybe, not sure.
I for one would have trouble describing a nice strip club with a lot of detail without boring the hell out of everyone. Maybe if it came in pieces, not as boring.
Thank you for the great advice james, shark hunter, and the rest of you! You have given me the motivation to actually start this thing. I will try to get my hands on a copy of candy girl and the happy hooker. Lopaw, that would be awesome. I think a chapter examining the female customer would be most intriguing! I'll PM you when I get this thing going. I knew I wasn't just killing time on this site lol
Last night before I left the strip club, I saw a few guys and girls come in and watch a very hot dancer on stage. One or two of those girls were wearing crowns and all were wearing short skirts. if there hadn't been a hotter dancer on stage, I might have watched the girls more. I was wondering where they came from at 3 am. I always wondered about girls with guys hitting strip clubs late at night like it's just a continuation of a party they might have left. I just mentioned it in case you wanted a section on young people popping into strip clubs on the weekend late at night after coming from somewhere in their outfits. I think at a nude club at the beach, I think they had bachelorette parties or a continuation of them at the strip club on Saturday nights. the club I was in has free admission for girls on Saturdays I think. I guess the appeal of strip clubs for bacheloretes is the party atmosphere and if they like some guys there, well they are at strip clubs already. not sure.
If I wasn't already familiar with seeing this on occassion, the last place in the world I would expect to see a number of college age girls to party at would be a strip club. Mentioned just in case you wanted to add a section on it.
my suggestions are the following:
-if you do pursue this project, you better make it real good. like in music guns 'n roses appetite for destruction good. your first try might be the only shot you have just like the gunners.
-make the book so good that a movie studio would actually want to make a movie out of it. and a good movie too. not like that elizabeth berkeley "showgirls" shit movie.
-don't rush this project. haste makes waste.
yeah, i've been to a few clubs in the northeast where i've seen 50+ yr. old women dance-if it come s a time when they no longer can afford to pay the club house fees then eating at soup kitchens if there are any around, collecting micky dee's gift/food cards and dumpster diving will probably be the only ways to eat for survival.
Diva
Always have a back up plan. I have advised other girls they need to have an exit strategy from dancing. That might mean some part time work now at different jobs to see what you like to do. Dancing can only last so long. You need to get something lined up ahead of time and start managing your money for the future. Good Luck !
I made my living as a writer for a few years. It's hard to get published and harder to make money.
But I don't want to discourage you. You have a subject--strippers--that attracts a lot of interest. You should be able to find an audience.
I would suggest that you start a stripper-related blog. You can write up your experiences and put them out on the internet. The more you write, the better your writing will get. You can develop an on-line following. Once you have blogged for a couple years, you will have enough material to turn into a book. If you have attracted a lot of followers, publishers will be interested in you.
Don't fall for the "self-publishing" schemes. Those are just ways for someone to take your money to print a bunch of unsellable books. If you want to make money as a writer, the publisher will pay you.
You say "metaphors". Go for it, but I tend to agree with farmerart. Go with fiction based interwoven with your experiences. Just don't mention TUSCL. :)
Keep this in mind, the fantasy is better than the reality. It may sound like a brilliant idea to publish all your wild and crazy exploits from your career, but they won't have the same affect on your readers like it did for you and your companions. Of all the stories from my past that I thought were wild and crazy, which they were, the people hearing me retell them never appreciate them the same way I do. The same goes for whenever I hear someone tell me a wild and crazy story that happened to them. When they are finished I give them the obligitory "that's sounds like it was awesome" as my voice fades away to another topic.
Stories are just a bunch of bs even if they are true, because humans tend to exaggerate 100% of the time. Like farmer art said, you will need to carve out a niche for this type of genre, because if I haven't heard it once, I've heard a thousand times how a stripper has a juicy book they are writing and they are going to publish it because they have some great stories to "sell"(tell). Ho-hum.... I think this is where the word histrionics comes into play. Sorry to make it appear like I'm such a downer on your dream, but u really need to make it unique in order for it to sell with such an over saturated market. Most people would rather try to live the stories instead of reading about them second hand and getting jealous that they may never get to experience what you have. Sex, religion, and politics falls into that subjective category most people recommend to not talk about, so your target market will be small to begin with. For example, look at us crazy bastards who come on TUSCL and write the same shit over and over again. It's not that any new people come on board clamoring to chime in. It's the same old same old. Best of luck Diva, but just trying to be a voice of reason.
I second the recommendation above for "Candy Girl". It's pretty entertaining. There are not a lot of stripper non-fiction books but there are a lot of movies with strippers. I read private eye detective fiction and the plotline where a stripper is murdered or kidnapped sometimes is used. There is even one set in Indianapolis where I live called "Circle City Shakedown".
My only advice is hurry up. I know at least three other strippers here in Detroit with the exact same idea. I guarantee their market area and client base will be more of a page turner than yours. Best to be first out. But what do I know
^ she hasn’t posted since 2015 you fucking retard - someone bumped a 7 year old thread. No wonder your wife left you, she decided you’re too fucking stupid to even find internet access in Silicon Valley.
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From what little I know, it seems like the hard thing about getting out of dancing is adapting to the 40 hour per week grind. Many dancers only work 3 shifts per week, and greatly enjoy the fact that they are not limited to a fixed number of vacation days per year.
Have you tried asking your local community college for career-change guidance?
As a side note: age is just a number. Strip clubs are "aging out". Internet escorts and cam girls are eating their lunch. Caming is mostly bad for the talent moneywise. I've been told the portal websites are the world's worst pimps in terms of how big of a cut they want. There's no sure way to keeps custies from recording your show and putting it on xvideos. And a lot of pressure to stick things in your butt on camera to bank well. Plus a bazillion time wasters. Only so many foreign women from poor countries can cross our borders, but there is no limit on the Internet, so it pushes the $$$ down for the talent.
I've met a few dancers over the years who have expressed a desire to write a book about the job. I think a well-written book, with brutal honesty and details, could be a great seller. I do also think the idea of teaming up with an experienced writer is a good one if you could ever find a way to make that happen.
If you're unable to find such a course check out local bookstores to see if they have authors coming in to speak. If so, use your feminine wiles to get some alone time with the author to ask about the "mechanics" of writing - approaching publishers, copyright laws, getting an agent, the editing process, etc.
I have a brother who spent 16 years writing a book. Then publisher after publisher turned him down. So he had to put up $20,000 to get it printed. His is an $80 coffee table/research book, but it's in its third printing now.
If I were to write a novel (fiction) it would most likely have to be self published. If it was easy, everyone would do it.
Better you should choose genre fiction based on the strip club culture. Murder mystery or bodice ripping romance could be decent choices. Use your experience in strip clubs to set the backgrounds and characters but make the plot more universal in appeal.
But if you want to meet up so you can experience what the DS has first hand, we might can work out a way to develop some book material together. :)
I don't agree that a good book about strippers and strip clubs would gave a small audience. While the percentage of the population who visits clubs may be somewhat small, I think a lot of people would be curious to read a tell all book by a stripper that had great reviews.
Make sure your don't use any one person as a character. :)
Type up your best stories as individual chapters. You can always rearrange them later.
Read The Happy Hooker. It was the first classic Sex Worker biography. It's dated, but a good example of a book that sold well, at the time.
First time authors don't make a lot of money for their efforts.
-if you do pursue this project, you better make it real good. like in music guns 'n roses appetite for destruction good. your first try might be the only shot you have just like the gunners.
-make the book so good that a movie studio would actually want to make a movie out of it. and a good movie too. not like that elizabeth berkeley "showgirls" shit movie.
-don't rush this project. haste makes waste.
yeah, i've been to a few clubs in the northeast where i've seen 50+ yr. old women dance-if it come s a time when they no longer can afford to pay the club house fees then eating at soup kitchens if there are any around, collecting micky dee's gift/food cards and dumpster diving will probably be the only ways to eat for survival.
Always have a back up plan. I have advised other girls they need to have an exit strategy from dancing. That might mean some part time work now at different jobs to see what you like to do. Dancing can only last so long. You need to get something lined up ahead of time and start managing your money for the future. Good Luck !
But I don't want to discourage you. You have a subject--strippers--that attracts a lot of interest. You should be able to find an audience.
I would suggest that you start a stripper-related blog. You can write up your experiences and put them out on the internet. The more you write, the better your writing will get. You can develop an on-line following. Once you have blogged for a couple years, you will have enough material to turn into a book. If you have attracted a lot of followers, publishers will be interested in you.
Don't fall for the "self-publishing" schemes. Those are just ways for someone to take your money to print a bunch of unsellable books. If you want to make money as a writer, the publisher will pay you.
And I bet you and sharkhunter could collaborate on a brilliant sci-fi strip club book! :)
You say "metaphors". Go for it, but I tend to agree with farmerart. Go with fiction based interwoven with your experiences. Just don't mention TUSCL. :)
Perhaps "The Brilliant Strip Club List" = TBSCL!
Stories are just a bunch of bs even if they are true, because humans tend to exaggerate 100% of the time. Like farmer art said, you will need to carve out a niche for this type of genre, because if I haven't heard it once, I've heard a thousand times how a stripper has a juicy book they are writing and they are going to publish it because they have some great stories to "sell"(tell). Ho-hum.... I think this is where the word histrionics comes into play. Sorry to make it appear like I'm such a downer on your dream, but u really need to make it unique in order for it to sell with such an over saturated market. Most people would rather try to live the stories instead of reading about them second hand and getting jealous that they may never get to experience what you have. Sex, religion, and politics falls into that subjective category most people recommend to not talk about, so your target market will be small to begin with. For example, look at us crazy bastards who come on TUSCL and write the same shit over and over again. It's not that any new people come on board clamoring to chime in. It's the same old same old. Best of luck Diva, but just trying to be a voice of reason.
SJG
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