The holy grail of '80s hair metal merch probably isn't worth much to most people, but to Milwaukee author Jordan Hart, it's worth an entire book deal.

"Steel Rainbow: The Legendary Underground Guide to Becoming an '80s Rock Star" is Hart's "expose" of the end-all, be-all manual for surefire success for all aspiring hair metal rock gods. He's releasing all of its over-teased, animal-print glory to the masses this June in a satirical look at one of pop culture's weirdest decades.

"It was such a ridiculous period, you know what I mean?," said Hart. "The story of the book is that it's a fake manual written in 1984 by a record company that I found at a thrift store."

In reality, though, it was a project Hart had been tossing around for years.

"'Steel Rainbow' was an idea for a book I had in college, but I just never had time for it," he explained. "In February 2011 I had a freak medical emergency – I ended up developing a blood clot that passed through my heart and then exploded into my lungs. I was in the hospital for a bunch of days and they ended up putting me on bed rest for about two and a half months.

"I couldn't really do anything because it was February and the weather sucked, and I was like, 'You know, I'm not going to sit around and feel sorry for myself. Maybe this is my chance to finally write this "Steel Rainbow" book.'"

The idea to poke some gentle fun at the decade's most iconic androgynous music genre came primarily from Hart's childhood nostalgia.

"I grew up listening to hair metal. My dad loved hair metal, all of his coworkers loved hair metal, so when I was with my dad it was all Van Halen, Motley Crue, Whitesnake –all the real hair metal bands. I had all the albums, and it was just something that kind of always stuck with me," he said.

This isn't Hart's first foray into quirky niche markets, though. He's also the man behind 10percentnerd.com, a website for the tiny part of everyone that secretly revels in all things geeky. Before that, he worked in advertising in companies around Milwaukee until leaving to split his time between the website and independent graphic design work in October 2010.

In fact, his previous work life as an ad man served him well when he was marketing "Steel Rainbow."

"I did not go with a literary agent because the book is so graphical," Hart explained. "So, what I did was I made a preview book, and I laid it out with illustrations and stuff like that. I did this huge SWOT analysis – product overview, strengths, weaknesses, all that stuff – and I made these packets and I mailed it out to about eight publishers. Two months after I mailed it out, Globe Pequot Press got back to me saying they were interested and I had to go through a couple of pitches, and then it ended up getting picked up.

"Actually, I had gotten an email from them when I was at Comic Con last year, so I was in San Diego in, like, nerd heaven."

And, the recent '80s resurgence didn't hurt his selling point.

"You know, hair metal's quietly starting to come back," said Hart. "I knew 'Rock of Ages' was coming out this summer. Van Halen was back – they're on break, or they're feuding right now, or whatever – they came back with an album; they got really good reviews. Definitely '80s clothes are back everywhere you look. I just felt like the timing was perfect, and they agreed."

Fans and '80s aficionados can order their very own copy of "Steel Rainbow: The Legendary Underground Guide to Becoming an '80s Rock Star" online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com and in stores at Barnes & Noble, Hot Pop and Boswell Books June 5.

Those impatient to get their hair metal careers started, however, can join Hart himself this Friday, June 1, at a special release party at SPiN Milwaukee. He'll have copies of "Steel Rainbow" and posters available in SPiN's private rooms from 8 p.m. to midnight.

The event is open to the public, and everyone is welcome to dress the part.

"I'm encouraging people to dress '80s, but it's certainly not required," he said.