who would buy a dozen SKIP books?

I had a meeting with Mike this morning, and I'm afraid I got a little obsessed with this question.  

The most obvious answer is:

  - people that “like this sort of thing” and will give them out ...  maybe to teens, maybe young adults ...  people that could be spared the rat race ....   Otises ...

  - people that are keen on doing PEP and want to entice a dozen other people to do it with them


And then we sorta got on a jag for high school students.  But who would know a dozen high school students?  

  - Counselor/teacher/mentor/coach wanting to encourage young folk to follow this path

  - 4H and scout groups

         o maybe a current group parent will buy a dozen for all of the kids
         o maybe somebody that used to be in the group when they were young will buy a dozen for the current group

  - Rawhide / outward bound / NOLS

  - home school groups

And then we thought about people in their 20s that are struggling to "get out" or find a better path.  This is really tough. We kinda talked through scenarios of people working jobs that they don't like, or even struggling to get a job that they won't like.  How would a dozen people have one person in common that would buy a dozen books?   This took a lot of head scratching.  In the end, we came up with:

  - church groups

        o somebody in the group gets a dozen books and gets them into the hands of the people that could really use it
        o especially mormons

  - AA / Al-anon / NA / GA

        o one person in a group might get something for the whole group.  Maybe a sub-group could find this to be an alternate path.

  - other support groups?


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This gets kinda tricky.  We can think of people that would groove on one book.  We are trying to figure out who are the people that would buy a dozen?  

For the "better world book", the whole thing about the tiny libraries is a rather perfect solution.  Buy a dozen books and plant them in tiny libraries and the world becomes a better place.   Easy Peasy.  But the SKIP book is less general.  It is good for people that are considering college.  Or people that want to get out of the rat race and go toward permaculture and homesteading.  Or Otises.  

So it is brainstorming time.   Who would want to buy a dozen SKIP books?  What is the story for this one person?

Off the top of my head I think of community gardens. I think a lot of folks who participate in those gardens would be potential fans of PEP and SKIP. I doubt that garden budgets are ginormous, but it is certainly a group of people who would be open to learning about PEP and SKIP...so potentially whoever runs a garden or manages the budget could get some SKIP books and give them away.

Not sure if this was what you were looking for, but it's something.

Homeschooling groups. You get one, you get them all.

I should add that the kids I know who are into this, were or are home schooled.

Sonja, how would you introduce homeschooling groups to this book?  Are the groups all networked together or is each group a remote self-running entity?  Do they get ideas like this from facebook or some other source?

I'm a high school teacher. Is there a place to learn more about the SKIP book?

Ben Gorski wrote:Is there a place to learn more about the SKIP book?

Oh, yes, there sure is. Here is the all about SKIP, etc. thread.

- Girl Guides
- Community Garden Societies
- Seed Exchanges
- Teachers - Shop Class/Textiles/Home-Ed
- Youth Support Groups (There a specific non-profits where I am that help young adults with job skills, connecting with others, counselling, things to do that aren't drugs, ect)
- Homesteading groups
- Survivalist groups
- Zero Waste groups
- Permies

Mike Haasl wrote:Sonja, how would you introduce homeschooling groups to this book?  Are the groups all networked together or is each group a remote self-running entity?  Do they get ideas like this from facebook or some other source?

There isn't really a national group but lots of state specific groups and smaller local groups.  Lots of reasons people get into homeschooling - don't like the school district, don't want the perceived indoctrination, religious (usually Christian), special needs, etc. so there are often groups that form with these various flavors.  And states have specific rules for how homeschooling can work in their state so unofficially there aren't national groups.  But there is still a lot of overlap.

I have a number of family members and friends who homeschool.  A lot of them know each other and they know others where they are therefore linked all around the US.  Almost without exception, they are enormously helpful and open about what works and what didn't.  They are always sharing resources with each other, making recommendations.  Definitely lots of Facebook groups.  Bloggers - many with free resources.

If it's not in the book already, I would highlight the boot offering.  It is a really great way to get these hard working, smart, well-rounded kids some more physically hands-on experience.  Get them from on a path to self-sufficiency and continuing on a non-traditional path that many would prefer to stay on.  Again, most of the homeschooled kids that I know are exactly what we need in this community, what Paul needs at WL.

I will write more later.  Just ran out of time.

I am wondering if county extension offices might be a good lead?

- people in their 20s that are struggling to "get out" or find a better path

How do you reach these people? I know a lot of these people, If not in their 30s. People with degrees & debt and can't see a way out. I know them personally but I don't know where they congregate ... besides bars & coffee shops.

- Hipster Coffee Shops?

When Mike and I were trying to figure out the answer to these questions, we kept coming up with individuals that would by one book, but we struggled to come up with an individual that would buy a dozen.   We came up with 4H groups stating

        o maybe a current group parent will buy a dozen for all of the kids
        o maybe somebody that used to be in the group when they were young will buy a dozen for the current group

So one person buys a dozen for a group.  Like somebody with a kid or grandkid in that current group.  "Hey, I got one for everybody!"

- people in their 20s that are struggling to "get out" or find a better path

How do you reach these people? I know a lot of these people, If not in their 30s. People with degrees & debt and can't see a way out. I know them personally but I don't know where they congregate ... besides bars & coffee shops.

That is one that we wrestled with for a while.  My guess is that when we send out the monthlyish about the kickstarter, 2000 people will buy one copy of the book.  Zero of those people would have even a tiny clue what they would do with a second book.  Maybe for a friend that they wanna do it with.   The best we could come up with was church.  So a mormon might buy a dozen for a bunch of young mormons.  Young mormons that are getting a bit less connected to everything - in the hopes that it will be grounding.   Plus, for some weird reason, mormons super duper love me.  

So then we think ...  outside of church ....   where might there be 20 people getting together and trying to get their shit together.  Where there could be 20 people that need something to sink their teeth into to build something - possibly build a better future.   That's where we came up with:

- AA / Al-anon / NA / GA

       o one person in a group might get something for the whole group.  Maybe a sub-group could find this to be an alternate path.

- AA / Al-anon / NA / GA

       o one person in a group might get something for the whole group.  Maybe a sub-group could find this to be an alternate path.

I just checked for Missoula.  There are lots and lots of AA meetings.   Like 50.  If there are a dozen people at each meeting, maybe somebody can say "i bought a dozen books - I hope there are 11 others that would be up for joining me on trying this."

??

Maybe here is a better question:  Is it fucked up for me to suggest that this book would be super good for folks attending AA?

Cam Haslehurst wrote:Off the top of my head I think of community gardens. I think a lot of folks who participate in those gardens would be potential fans of PEP and SKIP. I doubt that garden budgets are ginormous, but it is certainly a group of people who would be open to learning about PEP and SKIP...so potentially whoever runs a garden or manages the budget could get some SKIP books and give them away.

Not sure if this was what you were looking for, but it's something.

Maybe there are 50 gardeners.  And maybe one of those people grabs a dozen books and tries to give them out to fellow gardeners?  


Hmmmmm .....    kinda thinking that maybe we need a new thread.   Kinda like "when you have a dozen SKIP books, who do YOU give them to?"   And then one of the answers could be "one or two people I know through the community gardens program."  Or maybe "two copies go in the tiny library of the community library program."

??

I am not sure where to sell 12 books _at once_ but maybe you can put them up in https://permapeople.org/marketplace and sell 12 very easy :)

Ben Gorski wrote:I'm a high school teacher. Is there a place to learn more about the SKIP book?

Our plan at the moment is to finish the last few bits of PEP3 and PEP4, and then finish PEA, then mash it all into the SKIP book, then do a kickstarter like we did for this book:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/better-world-book


As we talk about the kickstarter for the SKIP book we think "Getting a dozen of BWB makes sense.   Does getting a dozen of SKIP make sense?  Who would buy a dozen?"   And that last question is the root of this thread.

Stacie Kim wrote:I am wondering if county extension offices might be a good lead?

Please tell me more!

A member of a maker-space could buy the book for all their co-members


I'm aware this is only slightly different than what's already been said.

paul wheaton wrote:

Cam Haslehurst wrote:Off the top of my head I think of community gardens. I think a lot of folks who participate in those gardens would be potential fans of PEP and SKIP. I doubt that garden budgets are ginormous, but it is certainly a group of people who would be open to learning about PEP and SKIP...so potentially whoever runs a garden or manages the budget could get some SKIP books and give them away.

Not sure if this was what you were looking for, but it's something.

Maybe there are 50 gardeners.  And maybe one of those people grabs a dozen books and tries to give them out to fellow gardeners?  


Hmmmmm .....    kinda thinking that maybe we need a new thread.   Kinda like "when you have a dozen SKIP books, who do YOU give them to?"   And then one of the answers could be "one or two people I know through the community gardens program."  Or maybe "two copies go in the tiny library of the community library program."

??

That sounds like a neat idea. Anything to get those ideas out there.

I don't know about individuals purchasing a dozen books, but if you were looking to get +10,000s of books out on a yearly basis, here's a target audience for you to consider:

Transitioning military veterans.

In the US, each year approximately 200,000 veterans transition from military service to become civilians.  
(This is a great representation of young America: According to Pew Research Center, in 2015, roughly 2/3s of active duty military were 30 years old or younger, with racial and ethnic minority groups making up 40% -- compared to 44% of all Americans, aged 18-44).  

From a systems perspective, to get your information (or book) into the minds (and hands) of these men and women each year, you'd want to connect with DOD TAP (Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program: https://www.dodtap.mil/)  Every US military vet leaving the service goes through DOD TAP , which happens +365 days prior to leaving the service.  The program helps veterans map out their plans post-military service, including topics like resume writing, interviews, budgeting, higher education planning, and starting up a small business.  It covers what benefits they are entitled to via Department of Veterans Affairs representatives, and enables vets to meet with other USGOV agencies (https://www.dodtap.mil/partners.html) for education and business planning.  Often the government representatives will hand out planning books and flyers and documents to servicemembers.  So your PEP system and book could be of value as a handout if the program is sound, especially for younger vets who might not be interested in college, and are looking for a big change of pace from the heavily industrialized lifestyle that is military service.  I don't know the ins-and-outs of contracting such a large sale** for distribution, but that's a start.

Other methods to reach this audience:

MWR (Morale Welfare and Recreation) programs.

The "MWR Digital Library" program is available to servicemembers so they can check out and borrow library books digitally.  (I've actually read a couple permaculture-related books through that program, including Sepp Holzer's and Masanoba Fukuoka's.)

Navy Chaplains.  Chaplains afloat warships often maintain (small) onboard libraries, as well as distribution of care packages.  Occasionally veteran support groups will mail care packages, and books/magazines/personal care items, etc. are distributed to sailors freely.  A single aircraft carrier will have thousands of people onboard.

Farmer Veterans Coalition. It's a non-profit which could certainly distribute books to veterans who are usually new to farming and perhaps are seeking future land access.

**As an alternative, you could first find a group willing to receive the books (e.g. DOD TAP, Chaplain Corp, MWR, Farmer Veterans Coalition), and then outsource the purchasing part to the Kickstarter community.  Something like, "Click here to donate 12 books to transitioning military veterans."  Altruism to the rescue!

One more unique group on the altruistic and transitional front: prisoners (and the formerly incarcerated).

https://prisonbookprogram.org/ might be a starting place for connections.  Perhaps they could advise on how to get books permanently into the hands of those just about to finish serving their sentences?  

I think prisoner reentry programs would be a great option in a "Donate 12 books!" department.  The programmatic nature of SKIP PEP could offer the formerly incarcerated a good sense of community, too.

*Edit:* Here's a website listing various US libraries which appreciate book donations, including prisoner programs, high schools, and tribal/Native progrmas: http://adoptalibrary.org/#US

Hello!  I have interacted with Permies through the years but it wasn't until I saw the skip book through the kick starter that I signed up.  This is my first post; hello, and thank you!

I figured it worth while to chime in here as I just purchased a dozen skip books.

I, like any usual skipper, just want one, but I have many friends who would be interested in something like this and more of them have $10 then the gumption to order a book for $23.  So I figure it won't hurt me to put my $110 on layaway while I distribute them, and certainly, I'll likely end up giving half of them away.

Looking forward to beginning the PEP certifications!

Farmer's markets are another place they could be made available.

I see that the Skip book is now available on Amazon, which means it has an ISBN, which means people can put in requests for their library to buy a copy.

Most public libraries allow anyone with a library card to request a book. I just requested it at mine, the Fort Vancouver Regional Library system. It has a simple online form to fill out. Several months ago I requested the Building a Better World book, and they got it in within two weeks. Let's see if we can all get the Skip book into our local libraries!

Great idea Jeremy!  Also getting some verified purchasers reviewing the book on Amazon/Goodreads/etc would be extremely helpful.