Vermicules, thank you...the book store idea is brilliant !
I think that the mailing to NASA etc would be a waste as it would go directly into File 13 like all of our correspondance, but maybe smaller newspapers, magazines, radio and Tv programmes may be a start ?
I have to agree with the points the above poster mentioned so will not go over those again. In general I am quite pleased with the book, and it is excellent to have such a tool in your hands. For one thing it makes it much easier to share this type of research with others when you have a book in your hands as suggesting a website for someone to look at usually doesn't get them to go there.
So far I have had a great amount of positive interest, and there is literally a list of friends and co-workers who want to borrow it to read. I have brought it with me to my hangouts and to work and have received a bit of skepticism, but surprisingly little outright disbelief.
Save for the points mentioned above I think it reads decently well and presents the evidence clearly. It is a good primer for this line of research and I feel that even had I not previously followed such research I would quickly come to believe in its merits.
I should note however that I am not very impressed with the editing in this book. While correct grammar and sentence structure may not seem all that important in such a work it lends a lot of extra credibility. I can barely make it through a couple of pages without rearranging words and sentences and making other corrections in my mind. Then again I look for such things without thinking about it as I've edited things before. I'd be happy to edit the next one in fact.
Anyway, the editing doesn't detract much from the whole. It's a great feeling to hand the book to someone, see a bit of curiosity in their eyes as they look at the cover, then watch as their mouth drops open upon scanning through the photos. Several folks have mentioned their doubts about the photos until I told them they could verify it from NASA's own archives.
(On a side note, should we be calling every bookstore in our areas asking if they have this book to try and get it on shelves? Should we be ordering extra copies and mailing them to every NASA office, science magazine, and whatever else?)
I am a little more than halfway through the book, so these are just some of my opening thoughts.
There are a lot of images which are not on his website, and Mr. Skipper brings up some excellent points directed at scientists and geologists in terms of challenging them about what they think they know.
I have been looking forward to this book for a long time and I am not disappointed in the least.
However, I do have some critical observations.
First, I think it is very important, and should have been Chapter 1, that there be some sort of section About the Author. In other words, what makes Mr. Skipper such an authority on this subject? Why should anyone believe him? What qualifications does he have that make the reader accept his observations? For those of us who have followed his website for years, we know he brings a level of experience about Mars imaging that few others possess; the average scientist, however, will not pay attention to the author without some sort of authority behind him. So, a brief bio proving that Mr. Skipper is an authority on the subject should have been included.
Second, he should have a chapter, right at the beginning, about How To Read This Book. He keeps pointing out that the quality of the images printed in the book are far inferior to the ones on his website, almost to the point that it appears that he is "selling" is website through the book. Obviously, this cannot be further from the truth; the website is free and is a powerful means of information distribution. However, hou really have to be sitting right next to a computer, using the book as a reference and the screen for better imaging. I am satisfied with the pictures from the book, but truthfully, I have yet to compare them against his book-specific website imaging.
Third, I figured he would have started with some notes about image tampering. He makes several comments about tampering and the secrecy agenda, but does not necessarily warn the reader up front about tampering and the secrecy agenda. There is a chapter early on about the military industrial complex and secrecy, but it does not go into image tampering and/or the reasons behind a secrecy agenda. It is a very thin line that he is balancing upon here; the more he blames the secrecy agenda and image tampering, the more he appears like a crackpot, blowing his own horn in the wind without any proof because it's been tampered. Again, those who follow his website know that not to be true, but putting yourself in the position of a first-time reader of his material, a well-defined explanation about the mechanics of image tampering might make the other observations more understandable.
If I haven't said it yet, I will say it now. I am very happy with the book and excited to be reading it. It's not something you can enjoy while sitting out at the pool; treat it like a textbook or a reference manual. Like Mr. Skipper says, think for yourself and make your own judgements.
Are you planning to set up a sub-section for reviews of Mr. Skipper's book? I am about halfway through and would enjoy discussing it wiith other readers. I am not sure the Mars Anaomaly Research Guestbook is the best place to do it, that maybe we could have a more open discussion *off* of his website.
