Make: Online : Presses roll on The Best of Instructables

Even as I type this, the inky pages of our forthcoming Make: Books title, The Best of Instructables, are fluming their way through giant printing presses. Having been a printer for many years, I can hear the sounds and smell the ink from here. The book will be released at Maker Faire Austin, Oct 18th and 19th. We'll have a display of book projects in the Maker Shed and will be doing demos. The Instructables crew will also be doing demos in their area.

Putting this book together was an amazing process. We worked with all of the Instructables authors, several hundred people, to get their permissions, have them fix mistakes in their projects, take better photos, fact-check our layouts, etc. This proved to be very time-consuming and tedious, but it was also very inspiring. Everyone was so helpful and supportive. We got all sorts of encouragement and positive feedback, which kept us going as we burned oil late into the night. It really felt like the book was a nexus for several hundred people, enthused about DIY and the maker movement, to come together to make something truly great as an expression of that enthusiasm. When I read Phillip's wonderful piece here a few days ago, We can make things better..., I actually got a little verklempt. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but we were finishing up a project, this book, where I really experienced the power of that "can do" spirit, as a ground truth, and it really made me feel hopeful in a time that so many things seem to be coming unglued. Unglued? No problem. I've got the right adhesives and the C-clamps we need. I'll have this fixed a jiffy!

The book should be available by Halloween, and will be for sale at Maker Faire. You can pre-order a copy in the Shed at a pre-release price of $29.99 (regular price will be $34.99). The Maker Shed page also has links to some PDF excerpts from the book. The Instructables site also has a discussion area for the book.