I’m about to launch another Kickstarter project to actually publish the Space Safety book (current title: Safe Is Not An Option: How Our Futile Obsession To Bring Everyone Back Is Killing Spaceflight). I’m trying to raise a few thousand to allow me to pay some people for a professional editing and illustration, and to start planning a symposium on the subject in conjunction with the Space Transportation Conference in DC in February, less than three months from now.
The book will probably be about a hundred pages, paperback. I don’t expect it to be a best seller at any price, but is ten bucks a reasonable number to get a book as a Kickstarter reward? I could sell for less, but I wouldn’t make much on it, unless I get enough interest to do an offset printing.
Wow. That is some title. I’m imagining the cover art.
I’ll go for $20. $10 seems a bit puny. Your work is worth more. You deserve more.
I agree. And I wouldn’t need a hard copy, a PDF would be fine.
Self-published stuff seems to sell well at 99 cents and $2.99 on Amazon and other such sites as a digital download. The Laffer curve applies.
At those prices, Amazon takes a big chunk in royalties.
Because they provide a large marketplace. $10 is reasonable. I’d go for ten copies for $100 (for something tangible I could hand out to friends that know me as a martian nut.) I’d take a PDF as well, but would still like books.
I hope you do well with it Rand.
Rand,
FYI a good article on the Dragon’s “Radiation-Tolerant” Design for its computer systems.
http://www.aviationweek.com/Blogs.aspx?plckBlogId=Blog:04ce340e-4b63-4d23-9695-d49ab661f385&plckPostId=Blog%3A04ce340e-4b63-4d23-9695-d49ab661f385Post%3Aa8b87703-93f9-4cdf-885f-9429605e14df
Dragon’s “Radiation-Tolerant” Design
Posted by Amy Svitak 4:55 PM on Nov 18, 2012
Basically they suspect a computer malfunction in the Dragon might have been the result of radiation damage and the interview discusses SpaceX philosophy on dealing with responding to radiation damages to Dragon’s computer systems.
I thing this would be a good input to your chapter on managing system failure from radiation damage. I wonder how its being handled in the Orion which is being designed for the much harsher environment involved in trips to the Moon and NEOs.
Since you brought it up… Curiosity is finding that mars radiation is livable as is. However, a meter or more of dirt on you house isn’t a bad idea anyway (there are events to mitigate.)
I don’t have a chapter on that subject. The book is not about how to achieve safety in space (there is no such thing as “safe,” in space or anywhere else). It is about how much safety we should expect, or demand.
Try to have the minimum reward to get a book reflect less work than printing, sending them the book, postage, etc. There should also be some price discrimination. That is, one should be cheaper and one should be more expensive compared to the labor input. E.g., $10 for an electronic copy, $50 for a signed paper copy. Then sell the unsigned book for anything more than $10 so the electronic people aren’t unhappy.
I’ve been getting free ice cream for over a decade. I’m happy to contribute something. My issue is the payment method. The easiest thing for me is to borrow a car and drive 140 miles to put money on a walmart card and pay by visa. Or perhaps sending the number for a gift card (which involves the same travel.) But at least I enjoy this cool mountain air and no large community of meth addicts as in Phoenix (yeah, they do have a few here including one guy that shot the sheriff and now lives in town after getting out of prison. Ok, he’s perhaps only an alcoholic. The sherriff’s picture hangs in a memorial at the county office.)