Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm under contract to write the Complete Idiot's Guide to Aquaponic Gardening for Penguin. I've already fleshed out my table of contents and have drafted 50% of the book. But before I have to finish (15 August!) I wanted to reach out to the major forum communities and make sure I'm covering all the questions you had when you were a newbie. I know I'm covering the questions *I* had...

Also, I would like to include awesome photos, and have decided to pay $5 for any I decide to include in the book. If you have a picture you'd like me to consider, you can send it to me at meg@aquaponicsassociation.org (or stoutmtc@gmail.com).

Thanks!

What sort of photos are you after Meg???

Please, no offence meant.. but what's the intended "niche" for the book....

The title suggests a sort of "aquaponics 101" for beginners... but the poll options you placed on Murray's forum seem to suggest something more in depth than whats already been covered by other basic "introduction to aquaponics" books, including Sylvia's....

First question is What experience have you had in Aquaponics to be writing a book on how to do it?

Question Two If you pay for the photo do you get complete ownership of the photo for life?

Meg certainly has a wealth of literary experience Ccbear... she's published many fiction books...

Was not questioning that Rupert, just asking a logical question or two. At lest I think they are logical but I was proven wrong once. Cheers

Meg has been around for a year or two ccbear...

Any "idiots guide to aquaponics".... is just going to be a correlated rehash of existing information gleaned from the forums, or prevously rehashed correlations of information anyway ccbear...

Most are, or were... written by authors with limited, or even sometimes no prior aquaponics knowledge anyway...

Whether there's a need for such a book is perhaps debatable... but if there is, or if it is to be... then any value will be in how the information is presented... to the intended audience....

And Meg's experience would probably enable her to produce a readable book for the novice...

That's where my confusion arises though... the poll content seems to suggest that she's looking beyond the exisiting "aquaponics 101" e-books, and other aquaponic books currently available...

And frankly, I think some of the simplified information in existing publications... is already pretty generalised, vague, and in some parts... just wrong...

The Idiots Guides are normally informative books. I have read many on computers and systems as well as others. I still believe if you are going to do a Reference book which this will be then the author should have experience in what they are writing about.

If you, EB and Murray were to approve before printing I would have no problems with someone who has not had personal experience over time writing what is a Reference to aquaphonics for people to follow. Who is to say the author is not just trolling the web and is going to use the mistake which so called authorities on aquaphonics have been passing of in their efforts for the quick dollar.

I state again This is not personal about the author but her experience and knowledge of the subject.

I have been here on and off or a few years and still have many simply question I will soon be asking on my system. Cheers

Actually... that's a valid point... I was thinking more of the "for dummies" range of books... rather than the "idiots guide"... which is a bit more technical....

Not sure why input is being sort... apparantly the book is already published....

I like the more interactual experience that comes with this great forum..... and the new IBC of AP website for the simple stuff.

Well I know one book I will not be buying.

According to Amazon due out April 2nd, $17.95.

There's certainly not a better reference point for anything aquaponics... and experience... than this forum, and spin off websites... consistanly... for many, many years....

It's a complete reference manual in itself... but there's such a wealth of information, that a "newbie" can sometimes be a little overwealmed, or lost in the sheer content...

And some might not want to have to wade through the "banter" of an interactive forum... so a good reference book could well be warranted... but I think it needs to be good... and thoroughly researched...

The interactive IBC PDF manual is brilliant... and the new online website will undoubtably be even better....

I agree, my first post on here got a response from OBO telling me what an idiot I was.
Havent looked back and am still doing stupid things

Well I'm interested to see what comes of it...

On Murray's forum he says...



Perhaps he's ghost writing it.... .... I so hope it doesn't contain the "1 fish per 10 L of water" recommendation...

I'm wondering where the reference material for the basis of the book is coming from... or indeed what the focus of the book is...

Apparantly it's not from Australia... as on Gary's forum... Meg says she's...



Given that 18 months ago... some people in the US... didn't know their "upstand" from their "standpipe"...

I can hardly wait to see how aquaponics can be made to work here in Australia....

Most of the above is tongue in cheek... but no doubt it'll go down like a lead ballon