Crankypm's first & last book: A how-to guide for all product management.Snark/comics/misery/humor. 20%+ new, < 80% recycled blogs.
The author of the popular Cranky Product Manager blog (www.crankypm.com), will write a 200-250 page book on the fine art and science of high tech product management. The book will strive to be the first tome on product management that will keep you awake with laughing/crying, instead of compelling you to take a nap.
Here’s the thinking about the book:
- About 200-250 pages.
- Snarky with plenty of attempts at humor.
- Full of REAL, PRACTICAL advice, tips/tricks," do this", "don’t do that", …
- 15 or so illustrations/comics.
- Available as a Kindle Ebook and a self-published REAL, PHYSICAL BOOK.
- Some stories of how real product managers (anoymized) dealt with real-world sticky situations.
- It will NOT just be republishing all the blog posts. The book will be structured to actually give you ADVICE.
- At LEAST 20% new content: 4+ new articles, 4+ new illustrations/comics, plus new introductory text and transition text for existing content.
- About 75-80% of the book would be recycled content from the crankypm.com blog – restructured and updated to fit within the structure of a book.
- I will hire a PROFESSIONAL book editor to help structure and copy edit
it. It will not be amateurish (unlike the typo-riddled blog or this pathetic project descripton) and will be tighter and more concise.
So, what am I going to use the money for?
- $3500 for a book editor, to help me tighten up the content and structure it into a good read.
- $500 for book cover design.
- $500 in fees from Kickstarter and credit cards companies.
- $500 setup fees from Lulu or Amazon or whatever self-publishing house I end up selecting.
- $400 - Print rights to the famous "Cranky PM Butt photo" (you know, the Cranky PM's logo). It's a stock photo, and securing rights to print it in for-sale or physical products is a lot more expensive than putting it on your blog.
- $1000 in baby sitting, to give me time to write the book.
- plus at least $12/copy to get the physical book printed and shipped.
- And then there are taxes. Income tax on the funds I raise. Sales tax (and maybe even international VAT taxes) on the physical books and prizes. I don't even want to think about how I am going to deal with the logistics around that. But let's just say that I'm sure taxes are at least 25% of my target, or $1250.
If you are paying attention, you will note that these expenses total about $8000,a lot more than the $5000 I am aiming to raise. That's because I am willing to dig into my own pockets to get this thing out (although I really hope we exceed the fundraising goal).
Why? Just so I can one day, on my deathbed, whisper to someone that _I_ actually once wrote a book. Because, as you know, the Cranky Product Manager is anonymous and will likely stay that way until that imminent deathbed moment.
FAQ
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That has international tax implications that freak the Cranky PM out. Every country has different VAT / import taxes and it's enough to make a girl's head spin. Seriously, I hope to select a vendor to publish/print the book who has the ability to also handle customers outside the USA (and appropriately collect and pay their taxes). But she has not yet selected a vendor, so cannot promise that at this time.
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Funding period
Jul 26, 2012 -
Sep 9, 2012
(45 days)
- First created · 0 backed
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- Website: crankypm.com
Pledge $15 or more
71 backers
Get the book in electronic (Kindle-ready) format. Your name will also be listed within the book in the acknowledgments as an "Esteemed Member of the Crankerati".
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $25 or more
39 backers
A physical copy of the book, shipped to you bulk rate within the USA. Your name will also be listed in the acknowledgments as an "Esteemed Member of the Crankerati".
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $35 or more
23 backers
Get the book in both physical (shipped to you within the USA) and in electronic format (Kindle). Plus your name in the acknowledgments as an "Esteemed Member of the Crankerati".
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $60 or more
30 backers
1) The physical book (shipped to you within the USA), 2) the Kindle E-book, 3) your name in the acknowledgments as a "Wicked Awesome Product Manager" 4) an "I am a Cranky Product Manager" coffee mug.
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $75 or more
9 backers
1) The physical book (shipped to you within the USA), 2) the Kindle E-book, 3) your name in the acknowledgments as a "Wicked Awesome Product Manager" 4) an "I am a Cranky Product Manager" T-shirt
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $150 or more
3 backers
The Cranky Product Manager will call your boss/co-worker/colleague/mom/spouse and let him/her know that YOU, in fact, are NOT the Cranky Product Manager. So they can stop accusing you over and over. Or alternatively, the Cranky PM will just call you and we can have a nice chat for a bit. Plus the book in both its physical and electronic incarnations, and acknowledgement listing as a "Wicked Awesome Product Manager".
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $300 or more
1 backer Limited (2 of 3 left)
The Cranky Product Manager will immortalize your tragic/funny product management or product development story within the book. She'll write it after interviewing you. You can be fully anonymized or go full monty. CAVEAT: your story must actually be funny/cranky, or she might take artistic liberties to make it that way.
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $500 or more
2 backers Limited (13 of 15 left)
Half-page ad in the back of the book. You know how your high school yearbook had a bunch of ads in the back? Same idea here. Advertise your consulting firm, your training firm, your software for product managers, your eternal love for the Agile Church of Development, whatever, ... in a 1/2 page advertisement, to be found in the back of the book. Black & white, graphics are okay.
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $800 or more
0 backers
WHAT A GREAT TEAM BUILDING EVENT FOR YOUR PM TEAM. Forget about trust falls and rope courses. Come have a nice lunch with the Cranky PM. Watch in amazement as she guzzles 12 cups of coffee, gets food in her hair, and drops the F-bomb twice per sentence. 8 copies of the book (both physical and ebook), 8-coffee mugs, plus your team of up to 8 people gets lunch with the Cranky Product Manager, at a mutually agreeable location in the Silicon Valley, California (somewhere between San Jose and Burlingame, near the 101 or 280). NDA required of all recipients to not disclose her identity, take photos, etc. (lunch not included)
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge $1,000 or more
0 backers
You receive a perpetual, non-exclusive license to infinitely reprint and reproduce one (and only one) of the Cranky Product Manager's posts, in any form, electronic or physical, royalty-free. You may select one post that is currently already published to the blog.
Estimated delivery: Sep 2012Pledge $10,000 or more
0 backers
The Cranky Product Manager will give a funny in-person presentation about product management and product development based on the book's content. For up to 500 people, up to 60 minutes in length. If outside the SF Bay Area, you pay travel expenses. (Subject to our mutual schedule availability.)
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013
