Science fiction writers and game designers face an overwhelming challenge when they try to get the science correct. Information is scattered thinly, the terminology is confusing, the implications are left as an exercise for the reader, the math is hard.
I'm here to help.
My
Atomic Rocket website is one-stop shopping for science fiction based creators, containing tutorials, advice, ideas, quotes from SF literature, equations and diagrams that does all the heavy lifting and quickly gets the creators up to speed. The information is concentrated and categorized, the terminology is explained using simple English, the implications are explicitly stated, only the vital equations are presented and the math is carefully explained with examples. Plus it is lavishly illustrated with relevant images from 1940's pulp SciFi magazines to make it more entertaining to read than dry walls of text.
You may have heard about it.
Why am I doing this? I really enjoy reading novels and playing games where the science is accurate and well integrated. Which is conspicuous by its absence nowadays, especially in media science fiction. I figure if I want such content to be produced, the least I can do is give the content creators some help.
The problem is, I currently have approximately a
five-year backlog of material to add. Worse: science marches on so new material appears every day and existing material become dated or obsolete. But unless I can find a way to fund all the time it takes to do this work, it will only be done slowly or not at all.
This is where
Patreon comes in.
Patreon is a crowdfunding site similar to Kickstarter, but instead of one-time donations toward a single project, it allows supporters to make small monthly continuing donations toward a stream of ongoing creations. It is sort of like an internet version of the patrons who supported Leonardo da Vinci and allowed him to create. Here is the
FAQ. Note that unlike Kickstarter, this is a tiny donation that happens every month instead of a huge lump sum that happens just once.
Your patronage will give me the breathing space to regularly update the Atomic Rocket website, and to integrate the backlog into the site. Not to mention helping to defray the cost of hosting the site. Updates will be
at a minimum of once a week or four times a month.
The patronage is a monthly amount, not a "per-piece" pledge, so you always know how much you will be paying. You can change (or cancel) your pledge at any time. There are more details
here
And to be clear, the Atomic Rocket website will continue to be free to view, with no paywall, and free of ads.
Patrons will also have access to the activity feed, where they can see my progress and comment on it. Only the bare basic feed will be visible to non-patrons, patrons will be able to see more detailed information according to how much they pledge.
