Ladies, if you want to share your story in a published Book please keep reading! ~Ashley Nicole



Hi all,

I'm publishing a book in the late Fall (2011) called "A Silent Struggle: A Collection of Stories About Living with Endometriosis." I conceptualized this book because after suffering from endometriosis and adenomyosis for about 15 years, I wanted to do something. I didn't want other young teenagers and young women of all ages to go through what I went through. People didn't believe that I was really sick. They didn't believe that I was really in pain, not until I had suffered for almost 14 years. I can't tell you how many times I heard "you're just being dramatic, all women have cramps" and things of the likes.

The truth of the matter is that people do not understand this disease, and it affects more women than we even realize. It is affecting our lives in very profound ways, and truth be told, I think the psychological effects of not being taken seriously are very dangerous and potentially long-lasting. I know that I personally have a HUGE complex over going to the doctor and needing to ask for medication. I know that I just had a hysterectomy two weeks ago, and because I was taught that when you're not dying, you're a-okay, and so I spent the days RIGHT after my hysterectomy cleaning house, cooking dinner, and going grocery shopping. Let me tell you, I'm paying for that now.

All that said... this book is going to be a collection of stories from a group of women who suffer. Their stories will share all aspects of how this illness affects them. Their struggles with the pain, with emotional pain, with getting help from medical professionals, navigating the doctor scene, the whole nine. I can't tell you how many women tell me how even their husbands, their mothers, their friends, and family do not believe that they're really in pain, and have even gone as far as to try to get their doctors to tell them they're just making it up in their head. I can't tell you how many women I talk to who tell me they are literally just suffering in silence. They feel completely alone and don't have anyone to talk to. Sound familiar? Well, I want to change that.

Please join me in sharing your story with the world, to raise awareness about this horrible, life-changing illness. If you have a supportive spouse, partner, friend, or family member who is willing to tell THEIR side of the story, I'd like to include some of those, too. I want women from all walks of life. Every race, every color, every economic status, every age, every country. This disease does not discriminate, and I want the book to be an accurate representation of who it affects. If you would be willing to share your story, please email it to me at rhysharper@gmail.com. Please type it in a Microsoft Word document (.doc) or a Rich Text Format (.rtf) or a Plain Text Format (.txt). If you are not so computer savvy and would feel more comfortable hand-writing your story, please email me and I'll send you my mailing address and I'd be happy to type your story for you. You will be required to sign a release in order for me to include your story. The release will waive any liabilities, and will also state that you agree that I will not be making any money from this book and that all of the proceeds will be going to endometriosis charities. I would like to include professional photographs of each woman sharing her story, if you are willing. This is not required, but I really do think that it will help people connect to these stories on a deeper level. I want readers to truly connect and understand the human aspect of this illness. For this, I will need your city and state (and country) so that I can arrange for professional photographers to volunteer to do a professional shoot with you. This will also be a great opportunity to have some really nice, professional pics of yourself! I am a professional photographer myself (you can see my work at www.knnyc.com) and will be shooting some of the sessions if they are within traveling range of my location (New York City).

This book will be edited by myself and also a professional, freelance copyeditor. I will be the "editor" of the book, possibly with another leader from the endo community. I am still working to confirm that inclusion. However, I will definitely be editing the book on a content level. This means that I will be taking your stories as you send them to me, assessing the length and style of writing, and beginning to fix any grammatical errors and building a consistent style for the book. When I finish each story, they will be sent back to each of you for your approval. Once I have prepared all of the copy and worked out all of the kinks, I will put everything together for the professional editor to edit. They will edit the copy intensely and at a professional level (I am scouting copy editors that work for the major publishing companies, and have spoken with one) and then I will work with the editor to place the copy into the actual book's template, which is designed by me. (I am a graphic designer at my day job). Once the book is ready for press, a proof will be sent to each participant for your final approval. This will likely be sent to you in physical form, and you will be required to sign something in writing.

There will be a website to accompany this site, and I intend to create it such that you can join for free, and create a profile sort of like Facebook, but the profile will be geared towards endo stuff, and there will be a space for you to share your story (as long or short as you'd like) and interact with other users. It will be a great place for endo sufferers to meet, provide support for each other, comfort each other, and most importantly, share knowledge. So, if you do not get your story into this book (because of deadlines I will try to include everyone's story that sends it before the deadline despite how many I receive. So please make sure you send in a timely manner!) you will still have a way to share your story and get into the mix.

The book is being published online through Lulu.com. This is a self-publishing route, however, this book will be just as professional as any other publishing company, and self-publishing will allow us more freedom to sell these books at our own rate (to be voted on by the community I want this to be OUR project) and donate the money to an endo charity of our choice (also to be voted on by the community). It will be assigned an ISBN number, which means that we can get it into libraries, etc. It can be sold online through Lulu, directly, and also on Amazon, and through doctors' offices across the country. To get the book into doctors' offices, I will need your help, whether you are a participant or not. Once the book is launched, you can help doing this by purchasing a copy and taking it to your doctor and asking him or her to carry the book for sale in their office.

Another way you can help with this project, if you're not interested in sharing your story but still want to help, is to contact me if you happen to be an attorney. I am looking for an attorney to help me with this project, as there are obvious legal aspects of publishing a book, especially of others' writings. So, if you are an attorney or know one who is an endo sufferer or just would be interested in helping with this cause, please reach out. It would be greatly appreciated.

I know this is a lot of information, and apologize for the novella but I wanted to give you as much information as possible. If you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to reach out. You can reach me at the email listed above, or my Google Voice number at 646-820-5316. If you do call me, please be sure and leave a message. (My voicemail says Kate. Never fear, you are in the right location. Kate is my legal name, and is mostly still on my voicemail for my mother.) Though it is not my real, published number, however, it does ring my actual phone and I'm happy to speak with any of you if you have questions or concerns.

Thanks in advance for anyone who is willing to participate, and