Show HN: I'm writing an ebook about adventure and giving it away for free

http://www.adventureplaybook.com

by wheresclark • 13 years ago

47 23 13 years ago

adventureplaybook.com

dturnbull• 13 years ago

Registered. Just came back from an eight-month backpacking trip. Looking for something a little more unique though. :)

wheresclark7• 13 years ago

Awesome. I guarantee you'll find some unique stuff in the book.

guynamedloren• 13 years ago

Clark, this is a neat idea. I signed up.

A bit off topic, but what tools (if any) are you using to write, publish and distribute the ebook? Are you using version control, by chance?

monsterix• 13 years ago

A bit off topic, but what tools (if any) are you using to write, publish and distribute the ebook? Are you using version control, by chance?

Precisely what I meant to ask, given that you've the critical journey at hand to work and focus on.

wheresclark7• 13 years ago

I'm still in the 'butchers paper and lots of planning' phase of the book so have not yet chosen a suitable publishing tool. If you've got any suggestions I'd love to take a look. I've not yet decided about version control, but it's probably a smart idea.

danthewireman4• 13 years ago

Check out Scrivener. I've written a number of books on it, and it's the best way I've found to contain and organize a gazillion different ideas.

henryaj• 13 years ago

I love the look of this. A small suggestion: why not challenge the notion of 'adventure'? From the site copy, I'm thinking you'll be writing mostly about scenic voyages abroad. It would be cool to see some city adventures documented as well (e.g. urbexing, underground scenes, the kind of stuff not usually covered in travel guides).

VLM• 13 years ago

Its an ebook. An extra page doesn't cost you much. The first thing I thought of when I saw the title was:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Cave_Adventure

And aside from the text adventure aspect, its based (in part) on a real cave system, one you can crawl inside. As you can see in:

http://www.getlamp.com

kwx• 13 years ago

You mean something like: http://www.ninjito.com http://sleepycity.net etc?

Casseres2• 13 years ago

Awesome links! Thanks!

sleepycity has the best noscript I've ever seen:

  While sleepycity will (mostly) function without javascript, your experience will be improved by enabling JS for this site. Only google analytics is embedded, which you're already blocking anyway if you value your privacy. Suggested firefox add-ons: Adblock edge, noscript, request policy, betterprivacy. Save money, time, CPU cycles, electricity and tell advertisers to fuck themselves.

wheresclark7• 13 years ago

I know I have only given outdoor examples, but I live in a city and have found plenty of ways to have an impromptu adventure amongst the skyscrapers. I'll be adding a few urban adventures to the book for sure.

fbr• 13 years ago

Interesting, but you should probably add an example on your landing page.

wheresclark7• 13 years ago

I'm still writing the structure of the book, but as soon as I can, I will post an example adventure on the landing page for sure.

danthewireman4• 13 years ago

If you've got something that I can do with a wife, a 6-year-old, and that won't make me lose my job or blow through my savings, I'm interested. Otherwise, I'd just be reading fantasy.

Tichy• 13 years ago

You sound as if you don't believe you can have adventures with a wife and a kid?

danthewireman4• 13 years ago

Not at all - Hell, every day with a wife and kid is an adventure. I meant more that the big, exotic stuff can be really tricky or expensive with a family. Last year all of us went to Costa Rica with my parents for 10 days, and it was completely awesome, but damn expensive, and we were in cheap hotels in the rain forest, not resorts on the beach.

I think what Clark's writing about is great and inspiring and everyone should do more of it. However, for me to be interested in a how-to book, it has to be something that actually applies to me, and skiing from the North Pole isn't something I can do with a kid.

wheresclark7• 13 years ago

Hi there,

I am still mapping out the 100 different adventures and plan on having a range spanning a bunch of skill and difficulty levels. So hopefully you will find some that you can take your wife and a six year old on.

There are so many adventures out there though that I could write an entire book on "100 Adventure To Take Your Wife and Child On". If enough people want it anyway.

The other aim of my book is to spark ideas for adventure. So perhaps, even if you don't find something you like, it might prompt you to think of something similar that's adapted to your needs.

danthewireman4• 13 years ago

Well, you've certainly convinced me to sign up for the book. I'm always up for new ideas, and as long as they're not all Kite-surfing Naked Through Cannibal Country, I'll happily keep an open mind.

RobAley• 13 years ago

I think you might do well with the "100 Adventures To Take Your Wife and Child On". There are many adventure type books out there (none as good as your's will be, of course!), but most of us married-with-kids types will pass them up as we'll automatically decide its not relevant to us (and the lucky few without kids may already have bought the other books!).

Selling "the dream" to people with kids is something few try, and it's a very large market.

Casseres2• 13 years ago

Camping is pretty inexpensive and fun if you approach it with the right attitude.

toomuchtodo• 13 years ago

http://www.svwondertime.com/2013/07/03/how-to-move-to-new-ze...

No, seriously. I'm giving away my stuff, have already found a sailboat, and am preparing to sail from Chicago to New Zealand with my wife, where I'll continue my IT career and we'll have a kid or two. I'm 30, my wife is 29.

You can have any adventure you want; just decide to do it.

Show HN: I'm writing an ebook about adventure and giving it away for free

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