I am not going to dissuade you from the effort; it is admirable to always strive to do something more. I am going to share my honest opinion and observations as sometimes it may reveal things you had not thought of since your support circle will often tell you all the right things you want to hear.
Who is your audience? As a long time Paramedic, the last thing I desire to read is a collection of other people's tales. I have so many of my own stories, some I never want to think of but still do. Many feel good, many funny ones. I do not have the need to relate to other's by reading their stories.
Contributions. You want our stories to complete YOUR book. My stories have a price.
BS Detectors. As much as I try to believe good intent from all, I have no doubt you will have greatly embellished stories, you will have borrowed stories, you will have rewritten stories. How will you ensure the integrity of this collection of tales?
What is your purpose for wanting to do this? Money? Recognition? Is it cathartic/therapeutic? What do you hope to achieve by this?
Who will this benefit? What do you expect your target audience to experience or gain from reading these stories?
This has been done many times already. I had an old coworker do this once, actually twice (yes he wrote Volume II). He pretty much had to self-publish and sales were abysmal. He gave away a lot of signed copies!
However, HE felt better...it was his therapy. Then I had another friend publish one as well. Let's just say they all had similar themes, and they were not terribly exciting reads. Aside from a newbie or a whacker, there simply is not much joy (my opinion) in reading of someone else's versions.
One last thought and absolutely not devaluing your EMT status at all. The majority of your stories will be from the EMT perspective.
I have other questions, but this is enough for now.
