this page is located on my server, but it is hidden, and not linked to, my website or the internet.
this page is located on my server, but it is hidden, and not linked to, my website or the internet.
A better description of the scope and focus of
...
The reason that SKATEBOARD MUSIC is stylized as such in in hopes that a kid might look at it as if it were a book of spells. It is HAND DRAWN in an effort to produce something that can not be replicated on a computer. And the animations are not computer generated to separate it from videogames, and describe skateboarding as something organic. It's probably the most ENCOURAGING work about personal skateboarding progress that I could write.
Books have an obligation, I believe, at this juncture in time to prove more valuable as physical objects than digital media. And what I mean by that is that books are IMPORTANT as physical objects because they can be accessed without turning anything on, or opening any file.
In that, skateboard music outperforms the computer's ability to function in the real world because it is portable, accessible, and durable enough to last in the back pocket of a skateboarder.
The book itself actually teaches skateboarding in the best method possible. It can show you how to actually land the trick, by assisting the reader in the visualization of how to perform the maneuver. It can also be used as a checklist for skateboarders to record their progress and ability.
It ascends in levels of complexity as it progresses, in an effort to give the younger readers something to look forward to understanding when they learn more complex math in school. that means that the book itself will retain relevance on their shelves for as long as there are sections that they don't understand. Since the book promotes writing in the pages ones' own personal notes, it also keeps an intrinsic value that it would not have, in the event where that section or feature did not exist.
Reinforcing the point about the co-relation between music and skateboarding, the Analogy there is that a melody is a sequence of different notes to create one familiar effect. A skateboarding trick is also a sequence of movements that, when performed correctly, also create a familiar effect.
Beyond skateboarders, I believe that it will attract an audience of people who are interested in animation sequences, and people who are attracted by the graphical format. The book also simulataneously teaches animation technique, as each page contains information on how to draw a flipping skateboard. If for nothing else, kids who do not learn how to skate can use this book to learn how to draw animations.
There are no popular books on skateboarding techniques available on the market, because skatebaording instructionals are almost always videos, and what few books do exist, use pictures to describe moves, not separating elements graphically. What's important now is to create something that is entirely new, that cannot be replicated or mistaken for anything else.
Options
F1 - F2 - F3
F1 - formatting
When the internet emerged, what first concerned me was how it could affect a writer. If people could simply copy and paste material anywhere, and if anyone could print anything, how does one retain relevance?
The best answer I could find was to hand-draw everything. .
I'm not opposed to the idea of using computers, obviously, because I do have knowledge and experience with computer code and site administration. But I do believe that if you want a book to look like it's valuable, every "a" has to be written differently from every other "a" in the book. Every "C" needs a slightly different curve because then each and every "C" is entirely original and unique to that page.
F2 - flipbooks
I am trying to produce educational entertainment, and that's what I think Workman is all about. Books that actually perform a certain function. That's what I think makes Workman relevant, and that's how I want my work to be percieved; as relevant.
Flipbooks are more than just entertaining. It may seem like not a very good use of paper, since each page has a read time of a split second. But if you make the pages refer to other pages, then it reinforces the context of the manual and helps the reader visualize the manual's non-moving pages as animated.
F3 - the future
If Skateboard Music is successful, I am prepared already with a path of progression that, if that audience is willing to follow, will explain many things better than school probably could.
If Skateboard Music is successful at achieving all that i believe it will, the next book to follow in the "Notebook Series" would be Audiomatic Expressions.
Audiomatic expressions does not teach how to use software. It teaches something more conceptual. It tries to use MIDI (quantized notation, the universal format of computer music) as a tool to explain music theory visually, rather than standard notation. That within itself is another first in literature.
You don't even need software to appreciate the book. The book is accompanied by a CD containing original songs that I produced. The book refers to the songs and teaches the reader how to sight-read. Once you can sight-read on paper, it becomes infinitely more simple to understand how to produce music when you're actually working on a song in front of a computer.
marketing strategy
united states in a TDI Station Wagon
As part of the agenda of promoting the book, I will generally not contact the skateboarding media community. They're all advertisers and if it doesn't financially benefit them beyond the payment for the advertisement, they will not "endorse it" as a beneficial piece of literature.
The actual plan for marketing is entirely grass-roots, and involves a summer tour across the USA using the website, SKATEBOARDMUSIC.ORG as an insular skateboarding community that promotes community as well as skateboarding. In each town that I go to, I hope to do a signing at a bookstore, a PKN-like presentation somewhere, as well as a stop at the local skatepark, in addition to the possiblity of being on NPR.
As part of my NPR strategy, I would like to donate all of my original music material [link] to them to use royalty free on their networks of stations as a way of finally pledging something to them.
As for SkateboardMusic.Org, one section of the website will contain user-submitted videos of kids that i meet, performing skateboarding tricks. In effect, that section of the site will be more organized and searchable for viable information than Youtube. In fact, viability of information is the major deficit of the internet right now. Due to advertising, the most powerful seach engines dilute their own purpose by supplanting good information with marketing. While this is a disadvantage at the moment, it offers the potential opportunity to create something better, simply by eventually building a search engine that presents query results more intelligently with no bias.
In effect, i want to launch a counterculture that is self-sufficient in producing its own entertainment.
international
It's my assertion that the book "Skateboard Music" will do well in an international setting, because so much of it is not in English.
In essence, the most informational parts of the book are the graphical representations of a moving skateboard, which is visually universal. That translates well in any language. I really think that this will assist its marketing viability in an international climate.
most important goal
The goal of this book is to unite the skateboarding community in one piece of literature that describes the zen that skateboarding truly is. The work also strikes back at advertisers by producing something that promotes no product- it only promotes skateboarding.
The one "product" the book does actually promote does not exist.
That product is listed on the page labeled "invention."
The proceeds from Skateboard Music are going to the research and development of a skateboard part that absorbs shock. It's a revolutionary design involving a combination coil spring and leaf spring. The manufacturing process is relatively simple and the product should be affordable. it will also contain fewer parts than the currently established design.
The product will absorb vibration, lessen the shock of impact, and be more responsive than the average skateboard truck. It will save peoples' knees and eventually boost the sport by giving skateboarders more capabilities with better equipment.
try!
and i will do everything i can to follow through to make the book popular and well-recieved.