We wanted to get to know Amy Waters Yarsinske (NAIWE’s Nonfiction Expert) better, so last month we sat down with her. Here are some thoughts she shared with us.
Do you interview people for your nonfiction projects?
Yes, I’ve done hundreds of interviews (often 100+ on a single project with a significant research and investigative requirement), which I am quite sure are well into the thousands over my 35+ year career.
How do you manage controversial topics, or perhaps topics you disagree with?
It is not whether I concur or not with the subject matter but present it fairly and pointedly for the reader; I am not baited into controversy and believe it unprofessional to make something personal. Narrative nonfiction provides ample opportunity to parse controversial subjects. Investigative subject matter is a good example where getting into the controversies can be enlightening for the writer and the reader. Stories should be told honestly and with all the bark on. I don’t shy from that aspect of my writing, and readers and reviewers respect that by and large.
Do you come up with the ideas/topics for your manuscripts?
Yes, I do pick the subject matter for my books. The best work comes from what you know and what drives your interest.
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This webinar starts with a short introduction from NAIWE nonfiction expert Amy Waters Yarsinske followed by a time for attendees to ask Amy whatever you wanted to know about the multifaceted aspects of writing nonfiction and being successfully published.
You can join in this conversation on August 24, at 2:00 pm eastern, when NAIWE will host a discussion on refining your public speaking skills. The cost for NAIWE members is only $10! Nonmembers can join for $30. Register today!
Amy Waters Yarsinske is the author of several best-selling, award-winning nonfiction books, published regionally, nationally, and internationally. Amy’s proposal technique was featured in literary agent/author Peter Rubie’s Telling the Story: How to Write and Sell Narrative Nonfiction; she also did a National Press Club panel with Rubie during the No One Left Behind press tour. She has been a regular contributor with international, national, and regional media, to include continued guest spots on national radio. An American in the Basement: The Betrayal of Captain Scott Speicher and the Cover-up of His Death won the Next Generation Indie Book Award for General Non-fiction in 2014, and No One Left Behind: The Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher Story earned her literary awards, an incredible press tour, and national/international recognition. With over 30 years in the publishing industry, Amy has published over 85 nonfiction books, most of them spotlighting current affairs, the military, history and the environment with a few biographies and corporate histories interspersed. Amy graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she earned her bachelor of arts in English and economics and the University of Virginia School of Architecture, where she earned her Master of Planning and was a DuPont Fellow and Lawn/Range resident.
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