Reaching Escape Velocity book

I have contemplated publishing a book on this subject for years, and only now (2009) have decided to do so. It can be considered the collection of "trade secrets" that have made my adventures possible... the art of working with sponsors, media, and volunteers to get an insanely ambitious project off the ground and keep it moving on its own momentum.

This 74-page book has a very specific audience: those who are attempting to "reach escape velocity" with a massive feat of engineering. It is not about hardware or software technical methods; it is about the meta-hack of developing enough support and buzz to get your project to take on a life of its own. Large corporations can do this with brute-force methods (unlimited money and people), but individuals face daunting hurdles when competing for mindshare and resources. Without the ability to leverage larger forces as a sort of "martial art," it is exceedingly difficult for a lone geek to escape the gravity well.

My own strange career has been the proving ground for the techniques revealed here. In 1983 I took off across the US on a computerized recumbent bicycle, freelance-writing and consulting while underway. This was bizarre at the time, though it would now be unremarkable. But the project took on a life of its own, and I eventually covered 17,000 miles on three versions of this increasingly geeky machine. With a handlebar chord keyboard, heads-up display and head mouse, console Macintosh, and 24/7 satellite net connection (in 1990) it was a sort of geek extravaganza... and the project had about 150 corporate sponsors, 45 volunteers, and almost continuous mainstream media coverage. It became self-supporting, then segued through the '90s into the Microship project - an amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran with similar technological overlays.

This book is not about any of that, but what it does do is explore the methods I used to pull the whole thing off without having a job or money in the bank. In these days of faltering economy, such techniques are more relevant than ever.

Here's what's inside:

• Introduction
• The Business Angle
• Getting Educated
• Sponsorship
• Product vs. Cash
• Win-Win Relationships
  • Media Exposure
  • Enhancing Corporate Culture
  • Marketing Participation
  • Field Testing
  • Sharing the Hacks
• The Media Dance
• The Digestive Tract of a Horse
• The Project Moniker
• The Art of the Demo
• Leveraging the Media Portfolio
• Maintaining a Public Presence
• Building the Team
• Attracting a Volunteer Community
For the Glory!
• The Bottom Line is Fun
• Geek's Vacations
• Social Engineering
• Education
• Sharing the Wealth
• Paying for It
• Tapping Academia
• Making the Academic Connection
• Closing Notes

In addition, there is an Introduction to Gonzo Engineering that explores the kinds of lean, intuitive, art-and-engineering thinking that are necessary to proceed rapidly despite scarce resources.

As I said, this publication is not for everyone - mainstream R&D has little room for such social engineering, and if you're just carving out a niche as a freelancer, most of this is a bit over the top. The readers who will benefit highly from this information are those who are trying to pull off the impossible with an insanely audacious project, do an end run around traditional linear approaches to product design, or explore that strange territory best summarized by David Berkstresser's immortal observation: There's glory in using inappropriate tools. You can tell you're pushing a new frontier when all available tools are inappropriate.

If any of that sounds deeply familiar, this will pay for itself very quickly.

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If you would like the book signed, please let me know if it is for you or a gift recipient (and provide any other information that will help me personalize it). This book is also available on Amazon for the cover price of $15.00, if you prefer to purchase there; I offer it with a discount here since the margin is higher on my own inventory. Also, this shopping cart software (Zen Cart) is apparently only offering international buyers the Priority option at an absurd $26, but it is only a 5-ounce package that can travel most anywhere for about $5.00. If this is affecting you, please contact me and we can Paypal directly, bypassing the store. For US delivery, I recommend First Class instead of Priority.