She's Building a Robot

by Mick Liubinskas

  The idea became an outline, then a plan, and then some chapters. I was plodding along until NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) coincided with a break in my work projects and I went for it. I went from half a book to a full book in one month. All done. Or so I thought.

  When they tell you that finishing the book is halfway there and that the process takes years, you nod and say, “Sure, but I’ll get it out faster.” You’ll be wrong. I shared the book with teenage girls, got some feedback, did a rewrite, ended up getting help from Mary Kole (who’s literally wrote the book on writing for kids), she said I write a better voice in the first person, which lead to a big rewrite.

  Then someone told me about Publishizer, which is a crowdfunding platform for books. Thank you to Kate Miller and the team at Publishizer who really get stuck in and help make the whole thing work. I decided to go for it while it was a lot of work in preparation and promotion, I sold 589 copies. My big supporters were Charlotte Yarkoni at Microsoft, Rob Casteneda from ServiceRocket, and the Sandstad family—thank you!

  Here are all my other supporters—thank you all for making a huge commitment to me, the book, and the cause. Anne-Marie Elias, Carrie and Jesse Sandstad, Annie Parker, Nola and Bob Liubinskas, Brittany Maalona, Jason Calacanis, Natalie and Joe Power, Lars Janowski, Matt Barrie, Michelle Duval, Kellie and Phil Morle, Shannon Brayton, Timothy Brewer, Jeanmarie and Ray Labonte, Katherine Lancman, Toby Eggleston, Yasmin Grigaliunas, Alan Jones, Anastasia Cammaroto, Angela Manners, Bob Hitching, Caty Germon, Elizabeth Jamae, Georgina Beattie, Karen Kaushansky, Michael Parker, Nick & Petra Dacres-Mannings, Simone James, Karen and Steven Prowse, Tarra Adam, Vicky Clare, Alex De Aboitiz, Alex Germon, Anthony Mansour, Ben Reid, Bob Plankers, Bryan Jackson, Casey Schulz, Cat Mitsunaga, Cate Hull, Clare Hallam, Colleen Blake, Courtney Markgraf, Darren Rogan, David Brown, Emilija Poposka, Erica HooperLee, Gary Culmer, Greg Denehy, Hamish Hawthorn, Holly Cardew, HUMM Corporation, Jaime Fitzgibbon, Jon Fyfe, Kate Kirwin, Klaudia and Ryan Liubinskas, Marcus Schappi, Mikell Taylor, Millie Zinner, Natalie Yan-Chatonsky, Nerida Clare, Nicola Farrell, Paul Millar, Phoebe Adams, Pierre Sauvignon, Rob Antulov, Robett Hollis, Ryan Unmack, Saxon Druce, Silvia Pfeiffer, sunny Goldberg, Terry Hilsberg, Theresa Lim, Tim Bull, Tristan Alexander, Voidan Kardalev, Warwick Anderson, Sally and Wayne Liubinskas, Zoe Alexander, Aileen Guina, Alex Medick, Alice Tiller, Andy Rhodes, Angela del Pino, Ayala Domani, Bryan Luoma, Caroline Lepron, Catherine Hughes, Craig Sisk, Darren Crawford, Diana Barrett, Donna Vyse Hamilton, Drake Taylor, Elane Johnson, Graham Lea, Guy Vincent, Jenny Broderick, John Mabbott, Julie Trell, Katie Nee, Keiji Kanazawa, Leila Pohl, Lizzy Hearne (you were amazing!), Mark Jones, Marshall Taylor, Matt Cameron, Max Antonov, Maxime Girault, Molly Perotti, Natalie Morrone, Nirmal Mehta, Prashan Paramanathan, Rebecca Paget, Ricardo Lopez, Sylvia Bargellini, Terry Parkerpayne, and Tristan Alexander.

  Based on the great support (thank you!) I was very lucky to get signed with Mango Publishing. My editor, Natasha, has been a constant source of support, help, and wisdom—thank you so much. To the rest of the Mango team—I was blown away by your teamwork, dedication, and care—you rock!

  Extra thanks for to the following people who read through the book at various and multiple points and gave me feedback, ideas and typo fixes: Lizzy Hearne, Caty Germon, Kathey Carreiro, Tim Bull, Sofia Labonte and her book club (as well as Jeanmarie, Ray, Roman and Siena Labonte for being the best neighbors in the world), Karen Kaushansky, Erica Lee, Pippa Galway, Mary Kole (Check out her book on writing kid-lit), Kate Kirwin, Erica HooperLee, Angela Manners, Joanna Dale, Alan Jones (the geeky one), Adelaide Kennedy, Bethany Rawle, and Penelope Brewer. I’m sure I’ve forgotten someone and I’m so sorry. Please reach out and I’ll make it up to you.

  And lastly to all the amazing women in the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics who are building, creating and leading the way—thank you!

  About the Author

  Mick Liubinskas is a loving dad of two girls and a boy and married to a wonderfully supportive (and patient) woman. He is a high-energy, technology entrepreneur, investor, author, speaker, and industry leader.

  He is a big believer that the world will be a happier, better place when we have fairness across gender, race, and culture. He has interviewed more than fifty women in robotics, technology, science, engineering, and math to share their stories and inspire young girls.

  Mick is passionate about what individuals can do day in day out to get the planet to sustainability and avoid catastrophic climate change. He doesn’t like take-away coffee cups. He programmed his Commodore 64 at age eight, sold computer networks at age seventeen, raised capital at twenty-two, and ran marketing globally for Kazaa at twenty-six.

  He has co-founded four technology startup companies, and spent three years in San Francisco. This has included evaluating thousands of ideas, building first products, getting first customers, launching globally, raising capital, closing businesses, selling businesses, and all the emotional rollercoaster rides in between.

  Mick is known as Mr. Focus due to his strong drive for starting small and fast, doing fast testing on the road to success and avoiding the entrepreneurial distractions. He co-authored a workbook called Startup Focus which sold five thousand copies.

  For fun, he loves surfing, playing football (the round ball variety), and singing bad karaoke. To learn more, visit him online at

  www.shesbuildingarobot.com.

  Mango Publishing, established in 2014, publishes an eclectic list of books by diverse authors—both new and established voices—on topics ranging from business, personal growth, women’s empowerment, LGBTQ studies, health, and spirituality to history, popular culture, time management, decluttering, lifestyle, mental wellness, aging, and sustainable living. We were recently named 2019 and 2020’s #1 fastest growing independent publisher by Publishers Weekly. Our success is driven by our main goal, which is to publish high quality books that will entertain readers as well as make a positive difference in their lives.

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