Thanks. Giving.
It's a holiday weekend so I figured now is the best opportunity to deliver an update (after all, plenty of time on our hands).
pictured: Thanksgiving sunset 2014 by Astronaut Terry Virts
First, thanks everyone for giving. Your backing means that this book—The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens—has been green-lighted and we are readying now for publishing.
This past week, Thad Woodman and I conferenced briefly for the first time since the success of The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens ("The AIM") crowdfunding campaign. We even figured out a tentative publishing schedule.
One of the things I have learned is that publishing schedules pretty much circle around two sale dates, roughly March and October. Each of those dates has a 6-month lead time, allowing for pre-sales, publicity, advance reviews, etc.
What this means for The AIM is that our general public release date is going to be October 2015. Which is 10 months from now.
However, for backers, we will be producing a special edition. This is a special edition used specifically for advance reading copies. It is the finished book but otherwise not for sale. Thad and I are discussing when this edition is to be created, released, and put into our backers' hands.
In the meantime, some of you may have anticipated a copy sooner than that. Towards that end, I would like to make an offer.
If there is anyone who would like a copy of The AIM sooner than next year—say, before Christmas, Kwanzaa, or Chanukah—let me know. I will personally produce a hand-signed, custom-bound copy (or 3 copies for our Shareholder backers) so that you may have a working Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens in time for the holidays.
Otherwise, we will produce and distribute the special editions of The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens to you our backers late-Winter 2015 to begin readying for an October 2015 launch date of The AIM.
Again, thanks for your backing. We are readying for a launch that will put The AIM in as many young students hands as possible. We would not be here without you.
Let me know and keep up the good work.
Mike Mongo
PS ...oh yes! If you or someone you know would like having an Astronaut Teacher address your school or students, just let me know. I am constantly traveling and if possible I will be happy to include your classroom or school in my itinerary, or else build a trip around visiting your location.
WE DID IT—100% FUNDED!
My friends, family, fans, and allies: YOU ARE AWESOME! We did it! The Astronaut Instruction Manual is 100% funded!
Speaking of allies, special commendation goes to Bert Carson, the father of 13-year old future Mars walker Alyssa Carson. Bert watched the campaign like a hawk—then came in with the final $500 to push the crowdfunding up-and-over the top! When the email popped up with Bert's name on it, my very first thought was, “That guy! That guy, indeed. Great dad, great believer, great ally.
There are so many people to say thank you to (hello my wife Leonie) but first and foremost ALL OF YOU. What a great team we all are, old friends and new!
Do you realize what we accomplished together? Inkshares, you and I have funded the publishing a book that:
In other words, WE ARE AWESOME.
Keep up the good work, if you were all here I'd hug us all!
Mike
BACKED BY US CONGRESSMAN JOE GARCIA
There are days, there are good days, and there are days that your book crowdfunding campaign gets backed by a STEM-supporting US Congressman!
Here's the tweet if you want to share the news (please do!)...
https://twitter.com/MikeMongo/status/534816359361019904
...and thank you, Congressman Joe Garcia (D-FL)! For your support of science and STEM education, we are honored!
Mike
UPDATE #3 ALYSSA CARSON WRITING BOOK'S FORWARD
More really great news! “#1 Space Kid in US”, Alyssa “NASA Blueberry” Carson, has come on board and is authoring the forward to The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens.
Alyssa is an amazing person! Besides completing 14 Space Camps—including two outside the US—and being the 1st person to complete the NASA Passport program—going to all 14 NASA Visitor Centers the US and getting “stamped” at each one—Alyssa was recently profiled by BBC News and this past summer presented her first TEDx Talk. Pretty impressive for an individual who only just turned 13 this year!
We are honored to have Alyssa write the forward to The A.I.M. As she herself puts it, “My generation is the people that will be walking on Mars.”
12 days to do—tell a friend: We are 35% away from achieving our goal!
Mike
UPDATE #3 ALYSSA CARSON WRITING BOOK'S FORWARD
More really great news! “#1 Space Kid in US”, Alyssa “NASA Blueberry” Carson, has come on board and is authoring the forward to The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens.
Alyssa is an amazing person! Besides completing 14 Space Camps—including two outside the US—and being the 1st person to complete the NASA Passport program—going to all 14 NASA Visitor Centers the US and getting “stamped” at each one—Alyssa was recently profiled by BBC News and this past summer presented her first TEDx Talk. Pretty impressive for an individual who only just turned 13 this year!
We are honored to have Alyssa write the forward to The A.I.M. As she herself puts it, “My generation is the people that will be walking on Mars.”
12 days to do—tell a friend: We are 35% away from achieving our goal!
Mike
RACHEL ARMSTRONG ENDORSEMENT
Great news! TED Talks Fellow Dr Rachel Armstrong has given one of the strongest endorsements yet for The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens.
If you are on twitter, here's the link to retweet & favorite:
https://twitter.com/livingarchitect/status/530816000699400192
Keep up the good work, everyone, we are getting there together!
Mike
TWO MORE WEEKS—IT'S GO TIME!
We are 35% away from hitting our funding, with 2 weeks to go. That's just about 2.75 backers a day. Meaning, we are green-lighted for reaching our goal!
Here is how you can help this weekend. Email this link to 2.75 friends:
http://kidastronaut.com
It's that simple. Pick 2-3 people you know will be interested—peers, friends, relatives, teachers, parents—and email them the link with a word or two of "YES."
That's it. Let's do this. IT'S GO TIME!
Mike
LEE BILLINGS ENDORSEMENT
Terrific news! New York Times Bestsellers List author Lee Billings (Five Billion Years of Solitude) has given his generous endorsement of The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens! Check out the updated campaign page...
...and share with friends. We are getting closer to our goal—all with your support!
VIP MESSAGE FOR OUR BACKERS—GOOD NEWS FOR THE A.I.M.
Call it an 11th-hour reprieve. With days left on our crowdfunding effort, Inkshares has extended our goal deadline 30 days. Many of you may not have realized but this is a real crowdfunding effort. It is all-or-nothing.
Inkshares, publisher of The Astronaut Instruction Manual for Pre-Teens, actually met this AM and discussed our campaign. Spectacularly, Inkshares' board and staff are genuinely behind The A.I.M. "We all believe this book is going to be huge," Inkshares' General Counsel Adam Gomolin shared with me, "So we're sticking with it. We pushed the deadline forward 30 days."
In a word... Whew! I mean, Awesome. Thank you, Inkshares! Thank you for standing behind and believing in The A.I.M.
Now, what you-as-a-backer can personally do to give the campaign a real boost in the arm is take charge and share a personal endorsement along with this link...
...to individuals who you know would make terrific backers of The A.I.M. We are in it to win it—and this is a real grassroots campaign!
And stay tuned. If this campaign isn't exciting, I don't know what is!
Mike
My favorite words of wisdom from Christmas space—Apollo Astronaut Bill Anders from the orbit of the moon, December 24, 1968:
"We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the earth."
Happy Holidays and Blessed Day to everyone! I give thanks this year for Inkshares and for all our supporters, not the least of whom is my own wife.
Glad tidings from Key West, FL, my friends! Have a lovely holiday!
Mike Mongo