The editing phase of the the book process has finally begun! I was contacted this week by my production editor, who is responsible for coordinating the production of the book from this point forward: copyediting, rendering/quality control of art, typesetting, proofreading, and indexing. Apparently my chapters are well written, and he is “expecting an overall light copy edit.” Note: the screen shot above is from the “light copy edit” of the first chapter – phew, I wonder what a heavy copy edit looks like!

I’m learning a lot about the book making process my first time through. One thing that amazes me is the amount of people involved in the project, both at McGraw-Hill Professional (MHP) and freelance consultants they hire. Here are the titles of the people associated with the book so far:
MHP editorial director
MHP acquisitions editor
MHP project editor
MHP copy editor
MHP senior art director
MHP senior marketing manager
MHP senior manager, marketing and publicity
freelance production editor
freelance art production consultant
indexers
… and that’s not counting my book agent who has been with me the whole time!

According to the latest schedule, the text editing should be done and sent to layout by September 9th. This means that right now the copy editor, project editor, and production editor go through each chapter and make some corrections, then send it to me to accept/reject/comment on the changes before final approval. Then, the text of the chapters will be sent to layout with all the art for each chapter, and I’ll get to review proofs over the first 2-3 weeks of September. I can’t WAIT to get a copy of this book in my hands!

The first project in chapter 10 of the book, Not Lazy Susan, won 3rd place in the Gadget Freak Design Contest! The relevant part of Make’s post is below, but check out the original for a full listing of winners. Thanks to Eyebeam interns Stina and Sam for all their help! Also, thanks to Design News – the contest’s other half – for their post!

Third Prize: Not lazy Susan

MAKE buddy, occasional guest author, and all-around wondergal Dustyn Roberts built a custom board and enclosure from scratch to create this hands-free Lazy Susan for the dinner table that rotates with just a wave of the hand:

In this project, we’ll use at lazy Susan (also called a turntable or thrust bearing) to create a rotating platform. To make things interesting, we’ll use an infrared LED and phototransistor to make the table rotate with just a wave of your hand. You can use this as a table to magically serve food to dinner guests, or to make a fun interactive centerpiece for the next wedding you plan.

Dustyn will receive one of two $100 gift certificates redeemable at the Maker Shed. Congratulations, Dustyn!

I’ve been doing a little bit of outreach when I have time to start generating some buzz for Making Things Move. First, the SADbot project I did with Ben Leduc-Mills for the book was posted on IEEE Spectrum’s automaton blog, then picked up by the adafruit industries blog and gizmo watch.

Then, I noticed June was physical science and mechanics month at the Make blog, so I commented that I was writing a book with a lot of that kind of stuff in it. Gareth (the Editor-In-Chief) wrote back, and a few weeks later we posted an excerpt from the book! The How-to: Make your own gears post also got picked up by Ponoko, Hackaday, adafruit industries, and How-to blogs.

Then, I got this email from aspiring engineer:

***********
Just found out about your upcoming Making Things Move book that McGraw
Hill is publishing from this fall—that’s how I found out about this
website. I have been trying to find a traditional book that deals with
the fundamentals of both the electrical and mechanical aspects of
mobile robotics. I looked at the Table of Contents for you book–seems
just what I need. I am just getting into robotics—hope to earn at
least a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electro/Mechanical Engineering
with emphasis on mobile robotic programming and design someday. Can’t
wait for your book!
***********

Ken is a production worker currently taking robotics classes at a local college, but hopes to work on mobile robotics in the future – even if just for fun. Best of luck to you Ken, and I hope the book helps you out when it’s published! I’m not sure how he found out about the book, but I’m happy to see the news has escaped my network of friends and colleagues and made it out to Ohio.

So if anyone has any ideas on creating more buzz to make a successful book launch and help more aspiring engineers/hobbyists, let me know in the comments. Thanks!

SADbot’s public debut is tonight at Eyebeam, in conjunction with the public opening of Eyebeam’s summer exhibit, Re:Group: Beyond Models of Consensus. Ben and I spent a LOT of time working on this, and are very happy with the result. I just uploaded the pulleys we 3D printed for the motors to Thingiverse, and check the project page soon for full documentation.

SADbot is the name of the installation that Ben & I are developing for the window gallery at Eyebeam. It will be solar powered and interactive – two things that might be a first for window galleries in general. We realized early on that the costs for project supplies would be pretty high, so decided to try Kickstarter to get funding. We just launched our project this afternoon, and in less than an hour already had three backers! Come join the fun and support SADbot on Kickstarter, then come to Eyebeam starting June 8th to see it in person.

Both SADbot and the mini SADbot we’re offering for higher pledge amounts will be in the examples and projects in Making Things Move.

Photo credit: Flickr user Budzlife, CC-BY

There are a few new members of the Making Things Move team coming on board in this last month before submission. Sam Galison came by Eyebeam for the first time yesterday and will be helping out on a bunch of projects and examples, the first being the Rube Goldberg machine for chapter 1. He’s currently a student at NYU and did an independent study based on my class this past semester. He’s already learned to use the laser cutter and a Dremel and is working out some egg cracking magic as I write. Next up is one of Eyebeam’s student residents, Jade Highleyman, who will be helping on an example for chapter 8 called the agreeable sheep. Finally, next week Stina Marie Hasse Jorgensen, currently a student at Columbia Computer Music Center, will be joining the team a few days a week to work through some of the more technical examples. With all this help I feel a lot better about being ready for the book & bribe party and hitting my final deadline!

My illustration intern at Eyebeam, Sean Comeaux, put this together for the evite to this event. If you want to come and help review, I will bribe you with food and drinks! The event is June 5th at Eyebeam from 5:30-9pm.