2021 SKIP book kickstarter video script

A friend that wishes to remain anonymous made some suggestions and I am passing the ones that I like on to here:

paul wheaton wrote:Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!

A few years ago, before he died, my friend Mike Oehler called me with a problem. He asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’d been working on for most of his life.  Mike pioneered some natural building designs and his land was peppered with the results of his decades of genius.  He just needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for strip malls. Mike’s estate would include several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

Over the years, Mike had more than 100 interns but NONE of them made the cut! Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. SKIP is about bridging that gap.

And Mike’s just one example. I've had this exact same conversation with dozens of other landowners looking for somebody WORTHY.


Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  Even more land is converted to urban sprawl. Could we, instead, connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I came up with the idea of making a list of things people could accomplish and document.   Things that would impress Mike and people like Mike.  Something like a college degree in homesteading - but with purely physical accomplishments.  Accomplishments like growing a garden, building a shed, building a small pond or felling a tree.  And smaller, but still important accomplishments like  preserving some fruit, mending a tool, foraging for mushrooms or fixing a leaky faucet.



Thanks to the community at permies.com, that list has grown into something quite substantial!  We now call it SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property.  We also call that because it’s also an opportunity to Skip the rat race. That’s the core of all this:  if you complete Skip, there are hundreds of thousands of people like Mike prepared to leave their land to you.

We have now defined four levels.   The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.  The next levels get more impressive and take more time.  And then we defined another program that can be done by anybody, including people living in apartments.

We designed Skip to be free for everybody.  Your accomplishments are verified by the Skip community and later you will be required to verify the accomplishments of others.


Now people have asked for all of this to be in a book form that so they can hand the book to somebody they think would find value in this sort of thing.  The book is done.  And now there is editing, layout, printing and a list of other hoops to jump through to get the book in your hands.   This is the big kickstarter question:  Is there enough interest in this book to print it?

So this makes the current version:

paul wheaton wrote:Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!

A few years before he died, my friend Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’d been working on for most of his life.  Mike pioneered some natural building designs and his land was peppered with the results of his decades of genius.  He needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for strip malls. Mike’s estate would include several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

Over the years, Mike had more than 100 interns but NONE of them made the cut! Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. SKIP is about bridging that gap.

And Mike’s just one example. I've had this exact same conversation with dozens of other landowners looking for somebody WORTHY.


Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  Could we connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I came up with the idea of making a list of things people could accomplish and document.   Things that would impress people like Mike.  Something like a college degree in homesteading - but with purely physical accomplishments - like growing a garden, building a shed, building a small pond or felling a tree.  And smaller, but still important accomplishments like  preserving fruit, mending a tool, foraging for mushrooms or fixing a leaky faucet.



Thanks to the community at permies.com, that list has grown into something quite substantial!  We now call it SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property.  It’s also an opportunity to Skip the rat race. That’s the core of all this:  if you complete Skip, there are hundreds of thousands of people like Mike prepared to leave their land to you.

We have defined four levels.   The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.  The next levels get more impressive and take more time.  And then we defined another program that can be done by anybody, including people living in apartments.

We designed Skip to be free for everybody.  Your accomplishments are verified by the Skip community and later you will be required to verify the accomplishments of others.


Now people have asked for all of this to be in book form that  they can hand to somebody they think would find value in this sort of thing.  The book is done.  And now there is editing, layout, printing and a list of other hoops to jump through to get the book in your hands.   This is the big kickstarter question:  Is there enough interest in this book to print it?

Any more suggestions for whittling?

I just timed myself reading this:  3 minutes exactly.  

Can we carve off ten more seconds?

How about:

Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!

A few years ago, before he died, my friend Mike Oehler called me with a problem. He asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’s been working on for most of his life.  Mike was a natural building pioneer and his land was peppered with the results of his genius.  He just needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for strip malls. Mike’s estate would include several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

Over the years, Mike had more than 100many interns but NONE of them made the cut! Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. SKIP is about bridging that gap.

And Mike’s just one example. I've had this exact same conversation with dozens of other landowners looking for somebody WORTHY.

Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  Even more land is converted to urban sprawl. Could we, instead, connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I came up with the idea of making a list of things people could accomplish and document.   Things that would impress Mike and people like Mike.  Something like a college degree in homesteading - but with purely physical accomplishments.  Accomplishments like growing a garden, building a shed, building a small pond or felling a tree.  And smaller, but still important accomplishments like  preserving some fruit, mending a tool, foraging for mushrooms or fixing a leaky faucet.

Thanks to the community at permies.com, that list has grown into something quite substantial!  We now call it SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property.  We also call it that because it’s also a chance an opportunity to Skip the rat race. That’s the core of all this:  if you complete Skip, there are hundreds of thousands of people like Mike prepared to leave their land to you.

We have now defined four levels.   The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.  The next levels get more impressive and take more time.  And then Recently we defined another program that can be done by anybody, including people living in apartments.

We designed Skip to be FREEfree for everybody.  Your accomplishments are verified by the Skip community and later you will be required to verify the accomplishments of others.

Now people have asked for all of this to be in a book form so they can hand itthe book to somebody they think would find value in this sort of thing.  The book is done.  And now there is editing, layout, printing and a list of other hoops to jump through to get the book in your hands.   This is the big kickstarter question:  Is there enough interest in this book to print it?


Notes: I took out the:
"more than 100" since "many" is still a big number.  Or maybe A LOT would be better?  I just think the 100 might make people think Mike was overly weird
"Hundreds of thousands" because it still sounds awesome to say thousands and the "hundreds of thousands" might sound too good to be true.  It isn't, but that's how people may interpret it

I found some more data:

According to National Geographic, "Sprawl is claiming farmland at the rate of 1.2 million acres (10.5 million hectares) a year. Throw in forest and other undeveloped land and, for net annual loss of open space, you're waving good-bye to more than two million acres (10.8 million hectares)."

From other context that is in the US, not globally.

Using the suggestions of people here and a few other suggestions, plus a few ideas of my own, I whittled it down to this.  Now I am worried I have screwed up some points of grammar.

Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!

A few years before he died, my friend Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’d been working on for most of his life.  Mike was a natural building pioneer and his land was peppered with the results of his genius.  He needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for strip malls. Mike’s estate would include several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

Over the years, Mike had more than 100 interns but NONE of them made the cut! Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. SKIP is about bridging that gap.

And Mike’s just one example. I've had this exact same conversation with dozens of other landowners looking for somebody WORTHY.


Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  Could we connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I made a list of things people could accomplish and document. Things that would impress people like Mike.  Kinda like a college degree in homesteading - but with purely physical accomplishments - like growing a garden, building a shed, building a small pond or felling a tree.  And smaller, but still important accomplishments like  preserving fruit, mending a tool, foraging for mushrooms or fixing a leaky faucet.



Thanks to the folks at permies.com, that list has grown into something substantial!  We call it SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property.  A chance to Skip the rat race. That’s the root of all this:  if you complete Skip, there are hundreds of thousands of people like Mike prepared to leave their land to you.

We have defined four levels.   The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.  The next levels get more impressive and take more time.  And then we defined another program that can be done by anybody, including people living in apartments.

We designed Skip to be free for everybody.  Your accomplishments are verified by the Skip community and later you will be required to verify the accomplishments of others.


People have asked for all of this to be in book form.  After years of effort, the book is now done!  Now there is editing, layout, printing and a list of other hoops to jump through to get the book in your hands.   This is the big kickstarter question:  Is there enough interest in this book to print it?

I know there has been whittling, but when I read the script, I am now coming out at 3 minutes and 4 seconds.   We still need to cut more!

Whittle, whittle, whittle .....

Now at 2 minutes and 46 seconds!

Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!

A few years before he died, my friend Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’d been working on for most of his life.  Mike was a natural building pioneer and his land was peppered with the results of his genius.  He needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for strip malls. Mike’s estate would include several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

Over the years, Mike had more than 100 interns but NONE of them made the cut! Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. And Mike is just one example. I've had this exact same conversation with dozens of other landowners looking for somebody WORTHY.


Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  How can we connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I made a list of things people could accomplish and document. Things that would impress people like Mike.  Kinda like a college degree in homesteading - but with purely physical accomplishments - like growing a garden, building a shed, building a small pond or felling a tree.  And smaller, but still important accomplishments like  preserving fruit, mending a tool, foraging for mushrooms or fixing a leaky faucet.



Thanks to the community at permies.com, that list has now grown into something substantial!  We call it SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property.  A chance to Skip the rat race. That’s the root of all this:  if you complete Skip, there are hundreds of thousands of people like Mike prepared to leave their land to you.

The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.  The next levels get more impressive and take more time.  And then we defined another program that can be done by anybody, including people living in apartments.

We designed Skip to be free for everybody.  Your accomplishments are verified by the Skip community and later you will be required to verify the accomplishments of others.


People have been asking for a book. After years of effort, the book is done!  Now there is editing, layout, printing and a list of other hoops to jump through to get the book in your hands.   This is the big kickstarter question:  Is there enough interest in this book to print it?

Here are my thoughts.  A couple little points of grammar and a couple bigger changes.  Culling out the "mending a tool" may gain you 2-3 seconds but I'd only do that if it's really needed.  I propose describing the PEA program as another program we have, not the latest thing we added.  That way it doesn't seem like the program is as open to change as it might sound.

I changed around the sentence about Mike's struggles.  I wanted to clarify that the part of his problem we're trying to solve is that he had to vette all the interns.  If they came with a homesteading resume it would have helped him a ton.

Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!

A few years before he died, my friend Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’d been working on for most of his life.  Mike was a natural building pioneer and his land was peppered with the results of his genius.  He needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for a strip malls. Mike’s estate would include several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

Over the years, Mike had dozens ofmore than 100 interns but NONE of them made the cut!  Mike needed a way to winnow the candidates so he wouldn't have to test each one out himself.Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. And Mike is just one example. I've had this exact same conversation with dozens of other landowners looking for somebody WORTHY.


Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  How can we connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I made a list of things people could accomplish and document. Things that would impress people like Mike.  Kinda like a college degree in homesteading - but with purely physical accomplishments - like growing a garden, building a shed, building a small pond or felling a tree.  And smaller, but still important accomplishments like  preserving fruit, mending a tool, foraging for mushrooms or fixing a leaky faucet.



Thanks to the community at permies.com, that list has now grown into something substantial!  We call it SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property.  A chance to Skip the rat race. That’s the root of all this:  if you complete Skip, there are hundreds of thousands of people like Mike prepared to leave their land to you.

The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.  The next levels get more impressive and take more time.  We also have a And then we defined another program that can be done by anybody, including people living in apartments, anywhere in the world.

We designed Skip to be free for everybody.  Your accomplishments are verified by the Skip community and later you will be required to verify the accomplishments of others.


People have been asking for a book. After years of effort, the book is done!  Now there is editing, layout, printing and a list of other hoops to jump through to get the book in your hands.   This is the big kickstarter question:  Is there enough interest in this book to print it?

Which is better:

A few years before he died, my friend Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’d been working on for most of his life.  Mike was a natural building pioneer and his land was peppered with the results of his genius.

or

A few years before he died, Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit his land - sporting his natural building genius.

2 minutes and 39 seconds!

Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!

A few years before he died, the natural building genius Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit his land. He needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for a strip mall. Mike’s estate would include several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

Over the years, Mike had more than 100 interns but NONE of them made the cut! Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. And Mike is just one example. I've had this exact same conversation with dozens of other landowners looking for somebody WORTHY.


Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  How can we connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I made a list of things people could accomplish and document. Things that would impress people like Mike.  Kinda like a college degree in homesteading - but with purely physical accomplishments - like growing a garden, building a shed, building a small pond or felling a tree.  And smaller, but still important accomplishments like  preserving fruit, mending a tool, foraging for mushrooms or fixing a leaky faucet.


Thanks to the community at permies.com, that list has now grown into something substantial!  We call it SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property.  A chance to Skip the rat race. If you COMPLETE Skip, there are hundreds of thousands of people like Mike prepared to leave their land to you.

The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.  The next levels get more impressive and take more time.  Then we made another program that can be done by people living in apartments, anywhere in the world.

We designed Skip to be free for everybody.  Your accomplishments are verified by the Skip community and later you will verify the accomplishments of others.


People have been asking for a book. After years of effort, the book is done!  Now there is editing, layout, printing and a list of other hoops to jump through to get the book in your hands.   This is the big kickstarter question:  Is there enough interest in this book to print it?

paul wheaton wrote:Which is better:

A few years before he died, my friend Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’d been working on for most of his life.  Mike was a natural building pioneer and his land was peppered with the results of his genius.

or

A few years before he died, Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit his land - sporting his natural building genius.

First one is better!

Mike Haasl wrote:

paul wheaton wrote:Which is better:

A few years before he died, my friend Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’d been working on for most of his life.  Mike was a natural building pioneer and his land was peppered with the results of his genius.

or

A few years before he died, Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit his land - sporting his natural building genius.

First one is better!

How about this most recent version:

A few years before he died, the natural building genius Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit his land.  

??

Oh, seeing it in context with the rest of the paragraph, option 3 is good :)  Or in other words, the last big script you posted is glorious.

Mike had some feedback, so we made some small modifications to the script and recorded it again:

Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!

A few years ago, the natural building genius Mike Oehler asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit his land. He needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for a strip mall. When he died, Mike’s estate included several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

Over the years, Mike had more than 100 interns but NONE of them made the cut! Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. And Mike is just one example. I've had this exact same conversation with dozens of other landowners looking for somebody WORTHY.


Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  How can we connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I made a list of things people could accomplish and document. Things that would impress people like Mike.  Kinda like a college degree in homesteading - but with purely physical accomplishments - like growing a garden, building a shed, building a small pond or felling a tree.  And smaller, but still important accomplishments like  preserving fruit, mending a tool, foraging for mushrooms or fixing a leaky faucet.


Thanks to the community at permies.com, that list has now grown into something substantial!  We call it SKIP: Skills to Inherit Property.  A chance to Skip the rat race. If you COMPLETE Skip, there are hundreds of thousands of people like Mike prepared to leave their land to you.

The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.  The next levels get more impressive and take more time.  Then we made another program that can be done by people living in apartments, anywhere in the world.

We designed Skip to be free for everybody.  Your accomplishments are verified by the Skip community and later you will verify the accomplishments of others.


People have been asking for a book. After years of effort, the book is done!  Now there is editing, layout, printing and a list of other hoops to jump through to get the book in your hands.   This is the big kickstarter question:  Is there enough interest in this book to print it?

He asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he’s been working on for most of his life.  Mike pioneered some natural building designs and his land was peppered with the results of his decades of genius.  He just needed to know his projects would continue to move forward and not be bulldozed for strip malls. Mike’s estate would include several homes, vehicles, cash and a strong income stream from his books.

"He asked me to find someone WORTHY to inherit the land he's been working on for most of his life so it wouldn't be bulldozed for strip malls. Mike pioneered natural building designs and had projects, homes, vehicles, and other assets that he wanted to know would continue to... something something represent his values?" Struggling with the wording here.

Each year in the US, millions of acres of farmland are abandoned.  Even more land is converted to urban sprawl. Could we, instead, connect those acres with people that want to build a better world?

I would move this part up after the first paragraph. It makes more sense to me in the flow.

Over the years, Mike had more than 100 interns but NONE of them made the cut! Mike needed MORE than what any of them brought to the table. SKIP is about bridging that gap.

"Over the years, Mike had more than 100 interns, but NONE of them had everything that Mike was looking for. SKIP is about bridging that gap."

We also call that because it’s an opportunity to Skip the rat race.

"It's also an opportunity to SKIP the rat race."

The first level is about 80 tasks that can be done in two or three weeks.

I would specify that it's two or three full-time weeks. Or maybe a certain number of hours.

EDIT: Whoops, I didn't scroll down far enough before replying! Glad to see it's finished!

I moved the final copy to the top post and mentioned that this part is a wrap.

[b]
I am really interested in this topic!!!
Currently living in Central Alberta Canada and looking for a property around here with no (if possible) buildings on it.[/b]
Looking forward to discuss this further.....

Regine Seibert wrote:[b]
I am really interested in this topic!!!
Currently living in Central Alberta Canada and looking for a property around here with no (if possible) buildings on it.[/b]
Looking forward to discuss this further.....

It is all free and it is all ready for you to begin.  Spend the next ten minutes deciding what your first BB will be.

https://permies.com/wiki/skip-pep-bb

It sounds like our kickstarter video will be fully animated!  The animators are putting together a story line.   So in the first bit I say "Hi, I'm Paul Wheaton and THIS is my 10th kickstarter!" text appears at the bottom and it says "Do ten kickstarters and get a free piece of pie!" and the image shows a punch card with nine punches.

Then we see animation versions of mike.   I think mike's interns are gonna be funny.  

I think we are gonna see the permies logo gal as a kid doing all-the-things.  

It sounds like fun!

Mike Haasl wrote: "Hundreds of thousands" because it still sounds awesome to say thousands and the "hundreds of thousands" might sound too good to be true.  It isn't, but that's how people may interpret it  

Not as a script change, but as part of the Kickstarter it may be worth documenting a few specific cases of this happening. If I were new to this whole concept, the skeptic in me would say ‘how do I really know if I jump through all these hoops there are actually hundreds of thousands of people looking for someone like me to give their property to?’ Granted, these are all good skills to have regardless, but if the point is the potential reward, then some real life examples would be a great motivation.

.  I found some more data:

According to National Geographic, "Sprawl is claiming farmland at the rate of 1.2 million acres (10.5 million hectares) a year. Throw in forest and other undeveloped land and, for net annual loss of open space, you're waving good-bye to more than two million acres (10.8 million hectares)."

From other context that is in the US, not globally.  

More of an abstract observation than anything, but, aside from this being disturbing, it also makes me wonder what sort of farms these are. A person interested in inheriting land may not be willing or able to handle thousands of acres, which is what a typical farm is now. The other real problem is that most abandoned farmland happens because it simply isn’t economically viable to own anymore, and often the reason for that is taxes. If you are actively farming there are tax exemptions, but if farming is no longer viable (trade imbalances, tariffs, no available labor force) that land can be heavily taxed based on its potential use (ie- sprawl) for residential or commercial land, and now the farmer can’t afford to keep it, and the only buyers are developers. Inheritance of property that carries a heavy tax burden may not be desirable by most folks who can’t afford to buy land to begin with.

Yeah, it's hard to document Otises without "outing" them.  It's also hard to get them to self-identify since they don't want to get undue attention.  Even if we included a paragraph write-up in the book from some Otises, people might just assume we made their stories up too.

I feel good about the numbers because I personally know of 3 people that fit the bill for Otises and 1 who is a committed Otis.  I've also heard from several official Otises who are permies members.  So they are out there :)

Yes, the sprawl data is just one data point that helps show how many acres turn from farm/wooded land into developments.  Many of those properties wouldn't be good for a new homesteader but others would.  If I had a 600 acre farm on the outskirts of a growing city, maybe I'd want to break it up into thirty 20 acre parcels and give each one to a PEP person.  Then they'd have a little cluster of friends.  If the farm was paid for, they'd only be on the hook for the taxes.  I suspect taxes on 20 acres of farmland (or maybe even if it wasn't farmland anymore) could still be cheaper than renting an apartment.  Plus Otis may just give them a bit of money to help them get established.  

Lots of options...

Maybe this is something to go in the book, possibly in the FAQ:   if the otises are real why don't you share a list of those you know about so we can verify it?   And then the answer would be about how we started to do that and those people were bombarded with requests of "will your land to me, I'm worthy!"  So the otises play it safe - but they are willing to open a line of communication they find to be worthy.