It's Working!

I had no idea how many people had their Kickstarter accounts primed to snap up our book the minute we opened it.  There were a bunch of purchases between clicking "launch," and the few minutes it took me to paste the final link into the announcement.

A big thanks.

I'm sure there's a lot more work to be done, but for now, it just feels great to finally have the project launched, the book in my capable publisher's hands, and be floating on a huge wave of social support.

Highlights from today:

- Connecting on a personal level with people from very different backgrounds, and realizing how much we have in common.
"Here in the rural Okanogan, we each get used to wearing so many hats that we have to look under the brim to recognize someone."

- Hearing nothing but support from family, friends, and opinion-makers like Paul Wheaton and Maddy Harland all on the same day. 

- Feeling a weight lifted after a year or more with the same top item on the to-do list:
"It's like the retinal after-image of self-imposed anxiety, glowing and fading away."

-Beautiful, quirky compliments on Facebook - like Deston comparing our last decade-plus of work with "eating an elephant" - at least metaphorically - one bite at a time.  I wonder how many elephants-weight of earth and stone we've moved literally, one lump at a time?


Speaking of one bite at a time:

We have kind of a lovely problem on the Kickstarter.  So far, everyone is skipping right past the little $1 and $3 incentive rewards, and going straight for the book.  Which is great - please get the book!

 But I think the lack of minnow-nibbles means that we are not reaching enough of the nieces, nephews, casual browsers, quirky homesteaders, and people looking for a little spot of humor at the end of the work day (or an inspiring reason to take early retirement).  They are the next growth ring of interest and enthusiasm, the healthy hatchlings that let us look forward to a solid silver salmon run in 3 to 5 years.

The whole point of writing this particular book, not an uber-geek's technical manual, or resting on the anti-establishment Evans original: we want to make this stuff more accessible to a mainstream audience. 

So we need to reach the broad range of strangers, and hopefully, give them the casual impression that we are cool enough to tell people about. I need a Cool Kid Consultation. 

If you are a die-hard rocket mass heater fan - what's the first thing that you tell or show someone who's never heard of them, so they understand your enthusiasm?

If you are a die-hard Kickstarter supporter or campaigner, what could I tweak on our campaign that would give us a better first impression when "strangers" or casual friends drop by?

Any other marketing ideas, strategies, etc. are more than welcome.  I've been documenting what I've already tried on www.permies.com in case you are a permaculture entrepreneurial geek.  A lot of it is new to me.   But it turns out we've done some things right without knowing it, too.

Thanks for the great response so far, and please keep it up!

The biggest thing you can do right now is share the link with people, ideally with a little note that tells your peeps exactly why this feeds our common dreams.
It will be different for different audiences.

We have 30 days, and the countdown is ticking.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rmhbuildersguide/the-rocket-mass-heater-builders-guide