I have been working every day on the linear algebra chapter in order to push them forward as much as possible before September 1st. I can’t say that it is going too well. The old cadence of one section per day seems to hold true regardless of how much effort I put into the process. I guess there is some natural daily capacity limit for the human mind (at least mine) for the production of thoughtful written word.
This is not good in terms of having Minireference ready on time for the first day of classes. Let’s do a quick assessment right now:
- Math: 90% done.
- Physics and Easy Calculus digression: 20% done (will require 4 days)
- Vectors: 95% done
- Mechanics: 80% done
- Calculus: 90% done
- Electricity and Magnetism: 70% done (couple of days)
- Waves and Optics: 20% done (~ a week of work)
- Linear Algebra: 60% done (~ a week to go)
From the above estimates, it means that I am about 3 weeks away from a finished product. But wait! Recall that any time estimate ought to be doubled if you want to have a realistic time estimate for the real completion date. What does that leave us with? Aug 19th –2 montsh–> Oct 19th. Not to mention that I have to give a talk in Singapore in the meantime. Hmm… Not good. Shall we aim for a launch date mid-term?
Perhaps more important to the whole entreprise and this September’s market test is the support material and not the actual book content. These include:
- Book cover design (Charlotte?)
- minireferece.com website (design, pitch text, PDF sample)
- One-page condensed content flyers for Calc & Mech
- lulu.com (print) / ejunkie (pdf) purchase page tests
- facebook page for Minireference Co. ?
- Who can sell for me at McGill while I am in Bulgaria?
- Concordia sales?
Wow! That is quite a bit of things to do before September 1st. It is kind of depressing to think about all that needs to be done. I have to go into another energy level if I am to get through this. Well it is not like I have never overcome obstacles before. I just have to stay together and minimize the down-days. Keep your eyes on the product. The world belongs to those that ship!
