A personal request from SFScope editor Ian Randal Strock:
Dear friends, fans, and family, acquaintances, associates, and everyone else:
I’m writing to ask you to help me spread the word: I’ve just launched a Kickstarter Project to help fund the publication of my next book, Ranking the Powers Behind the Oval Office. This new book will be the companion volume to my Presidential Book of Lists (which Random House published in 2008), focusing on the Vice Presidents and First Ladies.
I’m taking this new funding/publishing route, rather than going with a traditional publisher, for a couple of reasons. The first is that, while I think the book will have wide appeal, it’s probably not on a level that interests a big house like Random. Second, now is the time to get the book on the market, with this year’s Presidential race heating up. And third, technology has changed to make publishing a book like this, with a somewhat smaller press run, financially feasible, assuming there are enough sales to back it.
Kickstarter is a new concept for funding creative projects like my book: potential customers pledge money to a project with the knowledge that they won’t be paying anything unless and until the project is fully funded (at which point, they’ll receive their rewards: a thank you, a copy of the book, or something more). In short, I’m pre-selling copies of my book, but won’t ask anyone to pay for it unless there are enough people buying copies to print them all.
Full details are on Kickstarter at this link: www.kickstarter.com/projects/667435382/ranking-the-powers-behind-the-oval-office.
Please help me by telling everyone you know, anyone you think might be interested in my book, about this project. And if you (or they) have any questions, feel free to ask. Also, you can point people at my Presidential blog: this link) February 20th, talking about children of the Presidents.
Thanks very much!
—Ian