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!