The lost last will and testament of Alexandros the great

I am in the advanced stages of turning a Masters Degree into a publishable book to be entitled 'The Lost Last will and testament of Alexandros the Great'. THis is the culmination of 8 years of research

Due to time constraints from other business commitments I am looking for an 'assistant' to help with editing (footnotes and content) and researcher to advance some undeveloped sections. The book focuses on the life and times of Alexander the Great , the early Hellenistic period, with frequent references to the broader history of Rome and Greece. At the centre is the running theme of the innacuracies and myth of history.
Job Budget
Job type: Fixed Price Job
Budget range: £5,000-£15,000
Approx: $7,965-$23,895
Budget type: Fixed Fee


Dear All
Many thanks for your reply to my posted project ‘The Lost Last Will and Testament of Alexandros the Great’. I have received a number of responses each asking a different set of questions. This is my first time exploring this method of bidding/editorship, so bear with me. Additionally I am currently in New Zealand hence the time difference in replies. Here is a consolidated answer/fact sheet that might sweep-up all questions and additionally help you (and me) decide whether the project is one for you. For this reason I think it’s best that the detail below is read before I enter into personal communications.

* Why are you doing this? A well known published Greek author Theo Antikas edited my an early draft and concluded ‘this has to be published’. 3 years later and now bogged down with 3 businesses, I am unable to lend the project the time it requires. Having an editor/researcher would discipline me to finish the final chapter ahead of that edit.
* The total text is outlined below per chapter
* The proposed book has 21 chapters, the headings of which are 1. A Tale of History and Forgery: Setting the Investigative Clock (37 pages, 8,087 words) 2. Terminology and Chronology of Unattested Intestacy, (22 pages , 5,364 words) 3. The Cast, the Case-File and the Conspiracy (28 pages, 7,095 words) 4. The Methodology of Uncertainty (32 pages 7,557 words, 5. Mythoi, Muthodes and the Birth of Romance (32 pages , 7,400 words) 6. Primary Historians and the ‘Alexandreian Exchange’ (36 pages, 8,683 words) 7. Secondary Sources, Rhetoric and Roma, (34 pages, 7,564 words) 13. Alexandros the Man: The Quest for who he was not (40 pages 8,404 words) 11. Sarissa Diplomacy (37 pages, 8,318 words) 8. Ghosts of the Journal and Pamphlet ( 37 pages, 8,919 words) 11. Babylon, the Rosetta Stone ( 59 pages, 13,802 words),13. The Didactic of Classical Deaths ( 31 pages 7,056 words) 14. Wills and Testaments in the Classical Mind (21 pages, 5,063 words) 15. The Lost Triumvirate: Eumenes, Hieronymos and Antigonos (32 pages, 6,971 words) 17. Nora : Rebirth of a Will (57 pages, 12,898 words) 18. Listening for Echoes of a Will (40 pages 10,047 words) 19. The Precarious Path of Pergamon and Papyrus (39 pages, 8,978 words) 20. Conclusions (26 pages, 6,436 words) 21. Squaring the Circle (10 pages 2,834 words) postscripts: 21 Comets, Colophons and Curtius Rufus (50 pages, 11,609 words) 22. Herakles, the Forgotten Son ( 41 pages, 12,363 words)
* Is there a deadline? No official deadline but the work is drifting due to other commitments, so I need a disciplined editor/researcher.
* Exactly what do you need from an editor/researcher? Assistance on a few different levels: checking accuracy of numerous footnote references (word formatted), checking validity of the historical content, dates, plus a more holistic check on repeats, double references, contradictions as chapter progress. And if new avenues of research or relevant detail present themselves, then these might need exploring.
* Is this a long-term assignment? Probably. If not undertaken as one continuous project, you would be faced with exactly what I am faced with now: infrequent stolen moments in which it takes me more time to get back up to speed and is useful.
* Any knowledge of Ancient Attic Greek or Roman required. Not essential it would help. I make numerous references to mistranslation and poor transmission of ancient texts where place names, proper names and verbs have become confused. Thus any linguistic knowledge useful.
* Is the book finished? Almost. The final chapter I will edit as you are editing the first.
* Do I need a knowledge of historiography? Probably; much of the book focuses on Quellensforschung, bias and style
* Is the book focused on Alexander? Yes and no. His is the central story but the work digresses into his Renaissance reincarnation, Greek and Rome, rhetoric, will and testaments, linguistic progression and the birth of ‘romances’ (amongst other themes). So a wider research perspective is required.
* Any protocol in working with you? Yes, my lawyers have asked that a Confidentiality Agreement is signed for the duration of the project, due the nature of some of the unique claims I am making on the subject matter. This would mean you could not share the contact of my book with anyone until its in the public domain thereafter.
* What research materials would I need access to? Tricky one. My bibliography is extremely long. Certainly the major works on Alexander and the classic works of the Greco-Roman period, a developed sense of web-based foraging for information and ideally access to an online facility to acquire academic articles (Jstor for example) .
* Can I see a sample or provide you with a sample edit based upon a select section of the book for mutual evaluation? Yes, that sounds sensible. I could extract relevant sections and send them to you so we can both determine whether the work suits.(on a no obligation basis)
* In what format would you supply the chapters? Microsoft Word ( MAC edition) (nothing handwritten). I am open to incorporating some preferred professional editing software for ease of tracking changes.
* what ‘style’ is employed? A controversial style which attempts to bridge the gap between current academic words on Alexandros and those designed for readers with a general interest in history. The book is iconoclastic and attempts to undermine much of the tradition behind Alexandros. Any editor should have an appetite for this type of approach.
* Do you prefer a quote as a project fee, hourly fee or chapter fee?. By project fee or chapter fee. I have no idea how long this might take to complete. So some element of unknown for both parties. I note many of the bids in so far are open to negotiation and I appreciate the bidders were running somewhat blind; as long as both parties appreciate there is no exact science here (perhaps art) we ought to be able to come to an accommodation on fees