It’s really quite lovely being a self-published author.
I can do absolutely anything I like with the words that have emanated from my fingertips, without restriction from contractual obligations to publishers or agents, without the pressure to squeeze sales out of my readers in the hope of a royalty cheque that’ll do more than just pay for next week’s food shopping.
I am grateful for this luxurious freedom to do anything at all with what I create.
Such as, for example, serialising the entirety of my first book, Janapar, here on TomsBikeTrip.com.
The book tells the story of the time I spent on the road and off between 2007 and 2011 – my introduction to cycle touring, if you will.
It’s extremely personal. There’s much in it that my proud and childish side doesn’t want known to anyone. But it turns out that quite a few people think it’s a decent enough story. So, now it’s been a few years since it was published, I’d like to share it here in full.
There will be no strings attached. I will not be requiring you to sign up to my newsletter to read the last chapter or something dastardly like that.
(As the festive season nears, I may suggest that – if you like what you’re reading – you gift a signed copy to someone you know for Christmas. But that’ll just be a suggestion. Anyway, you might hate it.)
I simply hope you enjoy the pleasure of reading it, and that the story gives you a glimpse of what those years meant to me, and why the after-effects of the experience as a whole continue to drive everything I do today.
The serialisation will be starting on Monday next week. There’ll be a new section every weekday morning.
If you’ve not got round to reading it yet, you’re going to get to do so for free over the next few weeks and months, in nice little coffee-break-sized chunks.
(You’ll even get occasional photos thrown in, which the original paperback never had – incidentally, the subject of the book’s solitary and rather sad 1‑star review on Amazon.)
And if you have already read it, well – either you can read it again if you fancy it (I won’t blame you if you don’t), or you can ignore it and watch out for posts on other topics, of which there will still be plenty.
If you want to get the serialisation delivered directly to you during this time, there’s an email delivery widget for it below. Pop your email address into the form and you’ll get each new article instantly sent to your inbox:
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